Module Code: LT5078
Module Title: Sustainability, Business and Responsibility
Individual case study report (2000 words)
The assignment is individual.
Students are required to choose their own case study company [based on given criteria], and then advise the company’s sustainability managers on actions that will lead toward more sustainable business model.
Case study criteria:
- A company with an up-to-date ESG materiality report (2022 and later) available in full [use www.responsibilityreports.com to find it]. Please note, that the generic info about the company’s sustainability approach and actions, as often found on websites, will not be sufficient.
- The company must be included in the database of MSCI ESG Ratings & Climate Search Tool [https://www.msci.com/our-solutions/esg-investing/esg-ratings-climate-search-tool] to ensure the availability of information on industry-specific materiality issues
- You can choose a company from the industry sector relevant to your degree or personal priorities. We recommend choosing a large, established company since assignment tasks will be easier to apply to an established company than to a small one.
As the module is designed with your future employability in mind, the assignment focuses on consultancy and applying knowledge. It takes the form of a [consultancy] report.
The final report asks you to present the chosen company and its sustainability-related impacts, e.g. what is the company’s ESG Risk Score and what does it say about its position? Next, you need to use a materiality map and critically assess claims that the company made in its ESG report. Are these justified and evidenced? Is the level of actions taken suitable? Do the actions LT5078 A1 assignment brief described in the ESG report address the key issues, or maybe just the easiest ones, or those that show the quickest results?
To verify your company’s sustainability position within other businesses in the sector, you will use the Industry Materiality map. These allow you to identify key global, material challenges prevalent in the sector. You need to discuss how those challenges directly impact your company. What threats and risks do these bring? – to operations, financial security, assets, human resources, branding, distribution chains, etc. Here, you can argue if the company has correctly identified material challenges in its ESG report, or maybe it has missed on/diminished the value of important ones?
Finally, based on all the information gathered so far, you will write a compelling business case addressed to the company’s sustainability manager, suggesting specific actions to incorporate sustainability further into the strategy. You need to offer relevant, convincing arguments that will illustrate how, and with what effect, could new sustainable business models be applied, e.g. what business opportunities can the adoption of circular design bring?