Netherlands: Sustainable Business Development for Emerging Economies

MENA scholarships available! Apply before 13 March 2016!

Contribute to economic and social development This program demonstrates how external issues such as globalization, climate change, environmental pollution and the social media can be successfully managed through a cooperative development approach transcending the traditional boundaries between the public and private sectors.

This program consists of two main blocks of one week each. During the first week the program will address issues related to the value chain. What is a value chain? How does it contribute to sustainability of businesses from a policy perspective and how does it relate to local economic development? Apart from the theoretical concepts we will practice different value chain analyses. Next we will discuss its relations to sustainable business. Different forms of public private partnerships for development will be presented and the pros and cons of these partnerships will be addressed. Finally we will address policy issues related to value chain analysis.

In the second week we address issues regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR can be seen as an example of what in general terms is stated by Business Ethics: ethics deal with values, norms and standards that we ­ both individually and collectively ­ apply to our behavior and our activities. This is an important aspect for those who are or will be the frontrunners within society. In a global society the debate about these values, norms and standards is essential in order to (prosperously) co-exist and contribute to a life worth living. An open dialogue is also -­ if not predominantly – required for economic arena, where different stakeholders might have different views on the responsibilities of corporations, investors, governments and the civil society. During this week we will both provide theoretical and practical CSR skills. We will start with a discussion on the different theoretical aspects of CSR: what is CSR? What are the internal and external elements of CSR? And what is the role of ethics within CSR? Finally, we will bring this into practice by applying the concepts to your own practice and you have the chance to develop a CSR strategy for your organization.

What to expect? Our experts help you explore ways to contribute to the sustainable performance of your organization and/or regional economy, enabling you to gain substantial insight into policy making, involving tools such as stakeholder management, corporate social responsibility (CSR), the “greening” of organizations, developing global value chains, and collaboration through partnerships and stakeholder dialogues. You will attend work visits and guest speaker sessions that will provide deeper insights and highlight best practices of sustainable development and management at organizational level. The individual action plan you develop during the program enables you to put your newly acquired knowledge and skills into practice in your daily work.

Your profile The program is designed for:

• Senior executives and policy makers involved in local economic development, CSR management or who have a strong motivation to learn more about sustainable development issues
• Lecturers and researchers in fields related to local economic development, sustainable development and CSR

Tuition fee**:* € 2,500 Lodging expenses (approx. € 35 / night)**: € 525
Food and living expenses (approx. € 20 / day): € 300

* MSM Tuition fee includes all course materials and fieldwork expenses, study materials and basic medical insurance.
** Limited availability. Please contact the Admissions Office for more information.

(All fees are subject to change)

Please click here to apply for the NUFFIC scholarships, including a description of how you need to apply.