Online introduction to sustainable business for non-business majors course this fall quarter

ESRM 320, Marketing and Management From a Sustainability Perspective (SLN 14447) is an online course (except for two mandatory in-person exams) that does not charge an additional fee and offers 5 credits, NW, and I&S. Below is overview info, and details are on the website at

https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/989152/assignments/syllabus.

Marketing and Management. In ESRM 320, we explore two of the four primary business dimensions: marketing and human resource management (companion course ESRM 321 explores finance and accounting). Marketing refers to promoting, pricing, and distributing new and existing products and services that are aimed at satisfying consumers’ wants, needs, and objectives. Human resource management refers to developing, managing, and motivating human capital and resources.

Sustainability. Refers to integrating environmental, social, and financial elements in order to meet the needs of people today without compromising Earth’s capacity to provide for future generations. We will explore the meaning and importance of sustainable business practices that respect and adhere to best environmental science methods and ethical social responsibility standards. The context for this exploration will be reviewing corporate sustainability reports.

Learning Objectives (at the end of this course, students should be able to do the following):

1. Explain the vocabulary, concepts, and models of marketing, human resources, and sustainability
2. Summarize how a market orientation and commitment to sustainability can enhance customer and employee satisfaction
3. Describe how consumer markets are segmented, targeted, and products positioned to satisfy individual, government, and business consumers’ wants and needs
4. Compare techniques for creating value-added products, services, and ideas; valuing environmental and social externalities and managing traditional pricing; developing distribution strategies and “greening” the supply chain; and creating and implementing promotion campaigns
5. Define managerial and leadership styles and theories of motivation, persuasion, and influence
6. Summarize the human resource process of recruiting, interviewing, hiring, training, motivating, and evaluating employees
7. Describe sustainability reporting and the GRI indicators for measuring sustainability performance
8. Assess real world sustainability performance using corporate sustainability reports and GRI indicators
9. Analyze and interpret sustainability performance data
10. Learn how to use Excel spreadsheets