Research-based teaching that addresses the wider society’s grand challenges and ethical dilemmas
Research-based Teaching that Addresses the Wider Society’s Grand Challenges and Ethical Dilemmas
In the Department of Marketing at Copenhagen Business School (CBS), we deliver research-based teaching that contributes to a holistic understanding of interactions, relationships, and activities in the marketplace. Using conventional indicators of research impact and relevance, our vision is to build on our Nordic heritage—at CBS, we operate with the so-called Nordic Nine capabilities—and become the undisputed leader in excellent, research-led marketing education in Scandinavia and a leading one on a European level. Our graduates are highly attractive candidates because they have developed disciplinary skills and transformational capabilities. These independent, critical thinkers can apply their skills and capabilities to practical settings.
To that end, in our teaching, we ensure that our students have deep business knowledge placed in a broad context, and that they recognize the wider society’s grand challenges and ethical dilemmas.
For example, our newly developed Marketing Signature Course Pack (the first ever signature course pack at CBS) consists of a range of materials that teachers across the university can use online and on-campus. The signature course pack deals with all fundamentals of marketing management, and it deals with critical issues such as sustainability (e.g., such as more environmentally sustainable business concepts), ethical questions (e.g., the role of corporate social responsibility and of vulnerable consumers), and the challenges that digitization brings about (e.g., data transparency) throughout all modules.
Another example is our Consumer Behavior course in the BSc in Business Administration and Psychology program. Students identify, relate, discuss, and apply different models, concepts, and theories of consumer behavior research to cases. In doing so, students not only are trained to understand the importance of such theories and apply them to actual consumer behavior, but they also reflect critically on the impact of consumption on society and the individual consumer. The course concludes with a critical discussion of consumption vis-à-vis the marketing function, where students are encouraged to form their own opinion about sustainability of consumption, societal threats fueled by new forms of consumption (e.g., gentrification fostered by Airbnb), and threats to transparency and privacy in various consumption-related processes (e.g., digital consumer data).
The Ethical Sales Method course in the HD program is based on principal agency theory combined with an ethical perspective on how different sales methods are developed and applied. This course attracts students from all HD concentrations and not just the Strategic Sales & Marketing concentration. Mirroring this course, the MSc in Economics & Marketing program offers the mandatory course Marketing Ethics. This course concerns companies’ societal and ethical challenges and responsibilities. The course seeks to increase students’ competencies in analyzing and reflecting on holistic and global challenges such as sustainability and ethical challenges, among others.
In our newly developed one-year Master: Sustainable Tourism & Hospitality Management graduate program (the first ever one-year Master program at CBS), the Tourism Value Chains and Sustainable Business Models course focuses on sustainable value creation and capture to alleviate unequal distribution of benefits from tourism operations; and the Collaborative Platforms and Tourism elective focuses on collaborative, cooperative, and communitarian business models. This group of colleagues offer at PhD course on consumer culture theory at Stockholm Business School, specifically on transformational consumer research: critical and emancipatory approaches.
Recent geopolitical developments such as the tension in US/China relations, the uncertainty caused by Brexit, and the war in Ukraine all have disrupted markets worldwide. This impact has a direct effect on consumers, companies, and other organizations, who change attitudes, decisions, and behavior to accommodate these external disruptions. Marketing management and consumer behavior courses in the BSc in Economics and Business Administration, BSc in Business Administration and Commercial Law, and BSc in Business Administration and Market Dynamics and Cultural Analysis programs address geopolitical developments through analysis of their disruption on consumer behavior, company practices, and general market dynamics. The courses also discuss and formulate recommendations for managerial issues and ethical dilemmas that companies and political leaders face on this backdrop.
As a final example, the department offers a Mindfulness and Decision-Making course for MSc students at CBS. Students are taught how to practice mindfulness themselves and how to apply mindfulness in their lives and workplaces. This practice leads to stress reduction, as well as higher level of focus, concentration, compassion, and creativity.
Many thanks to all my colleagues who engage in the department’s research-based teaching.