20820 - IMPACT AND SUSTAINABILITY MEASUREMENT
Department of Accounting
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 26
Course Director:
FRANCESCA FRANCO
FRANCESCA FRANCO
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
Management, measurement and disclosure of sustainability and impact performance metrics are considered to be key drivers of sustainable development. Several frameworks have been designed to serve this purpose, and new ones are in the process of being developed. However, a consolidated set of standards are still far to come. The course aims at introducing the students to the main issues related to sustainability measurement and reporting, for both external and internal purposes. After an introduction to non-financial disclosure and to the main extant frameworks, the students will have the chance to link sustainability issues to performance measurement and to managerial incentives systems. Furthermore, the students will learn and apply tools to manage impact integration processes, analyse different impact measurement functions across a spectrum of organizations (from purely philanthropic to hybrid and for-profit organizations) and, ultimately, identify methodologies and define robust processes to meet the needs of different stakeholders. Throughout the course, cases and incidents from real world companies will be used, and students will have the chance to develop team-work and presentation skills. Students are expected to be familiar with the basic concepts and terminology of accounting and financial reporting. Students without a business/economics background are strongly advised to attend the financial accounting and management accounting pre-courses.
CONTENT SUMMARY
The course is structured into two main parts.
The first part focuses on external and internal reporting issues and addresses the following topics:
- Non-financial disclosure
- EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities
- Communicating sustainability: frameworks and materiality issues
- Sustainability and performance measurement
- Sustainability-related managerial incentives
The second part of the course will be devoted to impact management and related measurement issues, in particular:
- The impact integrity concept
- Impact measurement and management functions for new hybrid actors
- The evolution of different impact measurement tools and methods
- Technologies for measuring and managing impact
- Impact measurement and management processes
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course students will be able to...
- Understand the main standards and frameworks on sustainability disclosure
- Understand the main metrics employed to measure sustainability and impact outcome
- Understand the links between sustainability and performance measurement systems
- Understand the links between sustainability and managerial incentives/compensation systems
- Understand the business scenario and sustainable solutions to produce positive change in society
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
At the end of the course students will be able to...
- Read and analyze non-financial and sustainability reports
- Measure sustainability and impact outcome of businesses, projects and activities
- Introduce and apply sustainability metrics to performance measurement systems
- Introduce and apply sustainability metrics to managerial incentives systems
- Develop new processes and transformative solutions to manage a positive impact on evolving business, industry and social scenarios.
- Re-interpret traditional managerial tools to manage impact integration processes
- Apply different impact management models to different organizational forms, so to improve their scalability and non-financial performance.
Teaching methods
- Face-to-face lectures
- Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
- Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
- Group assignments
DETAILS
Throughout the course, the instructors will use real-world cases and incidents to illustrate and apply what is taught during the lectures.
We plan to have guest speakers who will share their own experience on the major issues they have faced when dealing with sustainability and impact management, measurement and reporting.
Attending students will be also required to work in groups and present real-world-based group assignments in class.
Assessment methods
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ATTENDING STUDENTS
Students attending the course will be evaluated based on an individual written exam (either through partial exams or a general exam) and on two group assignments: the first one based on a real-world case consisting of an executive summary and an in-class presentation; the second one will consist of developing an impact measurement and management process using real cases. Further details on the group assignment will be provided at the start of the course.
Attendance is not compulsory, although strongly recommended. The attending status is related to the decision to participate in the group assignments and will be defined at the start of the course. To avoid behaviors that can damage other members of the team, switching from attending to non-attending status is not permitted once the decision has been made.
NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
The evaluation of non-attending students is based on an individual written final exam. Non-attending students cannot take partial exams.
Teaching materials
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
- Class notes and slides
- Primer
- Case studies and incidents (handed-out)
- Articles and reports
The teaching material will be provided through the course website at: https://blackboard.unibocconi.it
Last change 07/09/2023 16:34