Sustainability and Circular Economy Strategies

Course Overview

This course explores the strategies that companies could deploy to create and become sustainable businesses. It examines company-specific activities that firms can take not just to improve the running of the business but also to create a better society. It also concentrates on the ever-increasingly important concept and practice of circular economy. As the concept of sustainability impacts different aspects of business, students in all disciplines including strategy, finance, marketing, human resources and operations management, etc., would be able to think across individual business subjects and look at a business as a coherent whole. 

This course offers students a good opportunity to have a glance at what the future of business could be like and what kind of new markets could be opening up. Looking through this lens, students can be better prepared for tomorrow and today. The subject of sustainability should be of interest and relevant to a wide range of aspirations, be the students aiming to be company executives or entrepreneurs. Students who seek to have a good understanding of the latest thinking in management, especially in the field of sustainability would find this course valuable. 

Cambridge Faculty Fellow:  Terrence Tse, Ph.D. 

Terence is an Associate Professor of Finance at the London campus of ESCP Europe Business School, the oldest business school in the world. He is also Head of Competitiveness Studies at i7 Institute for Innovation and Competitiveness, an academic think-tank based in Paris and London. Before joining academia, he worked in mergers and acquisitions at Schroders, Citibank and Lazard Brothers in Montréal and New York. Terence also worked in London as a consultant at Ernst & Young focusing on UK financial services. 

Learning Outcomes 

• Understand how sustainability works at the firm level and how it is related to the current business and social landscapes
• Critically apply sustainability terms when looking at company strategies and identifying new opportunities 
• Apply sustainability concepts to benefit various aspects of business and management