Best Free MOOCs In Business For April

Strategy and Sustainability

School: IESE Business School

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: REGISTER HERE

Start Date: April 10, 2017

Workload:  Not specified.

Instructor: Mike Rosenberg

Credentials: Rosenberg joined the IESE faculty in 2000 after spending 13 years as a consultant. Armed with an MAA from IESE and a Ph.D. from Cranfield University, Rosenberg’s research focuses on long-term strategy, climate change and alternative energy, and the automotive industry.

Graded: After completing the course, students can earn a signed Statement of Accomplishment from the instructor.

Description: What comes first: Making money or doing good? These days, businesses are expected to do both. Shareholders expect a return on their investments. At the same time, customers are organizing to hold companies for their actions through activism, social media, press coverage, and even buying power. Is there a middle ground to keep both sides happy?

This push-pull between short-term and long-term interests is at the heart of the sustainability movement. In this course, students will look at the types of tradeoffs involved in meeting revenue targets while limiting environmental degradation. The course begins with examining the underlying principles and pressures that each stakeholder — corporate governors, shareholders, activists, consumers, and legislators — must address in their interactions. For example, businesses must remain competitive while staying in everyone’s good graces in order to be successful. From there, Rosenberg will introduce six strategic approaches for businesses to achieve both, whether they decided to follow the letter of the law or the spirit of the times. In addition, the course will evaluate the specific issues that executives must wrestle with to bridge the long-term and short-term in industries ranging from energy to automobiles. Finally, students will peer 10-20 years into the future to understand both the threats and opportunities that companies must manage to save their company…and their world.

Review: “Excellent presentation, solid lesson plan, and one of the most educational approaches to strategy. Professor Rosenberg illustrated comprehensible presentations and lesson that kept me engaged. Highly recommend for those learning about Sustainability.” For additional reviews, click here.

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