Course Title: Apply corporate social responsibility to public relations

Part B: Course Detail

Teaching Period: Term2 2020

Course Code: MKTG7881

Course Title: Apply corporate social responsibility to public relations

School: 650T Vocational Business Education

Campus: City Campus

Program: C6140 - Advanced Diploma of Business (Public Relations)

Course Contact: Felicity Burns

Course Contact Phone: +61 3 9925 5486

Course Contact Email: felicity.burns@rmit.edu.au

Name and Contact Details of All Other Relevant Staff

Nominal Hours: 60

Regardless of the mode of delivery, represent a guide to the relative teaching time and student effort required to successfully achieve a particular competency/module. This may include not only scheduled classes or workplace visits but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.

Pre-requisites and Co-requisites

None

Course Description

This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to apply corporate, social responsibility (CSR) to public relations (PR) policy, i.e. planning for and communicating the establishment and maintenance of resource efficient and environmentally sustainable work practices.

National Codes, Titles, Elements and Performance Criteria

National Element Code & Title:	VU21661 Apply corporate social responsibility to public relations
Element:	1. Explore how CSR applies to workplace PR strategies
Performance Criteria:	1.1 Identify opportunities to apply CSR policy to appropriate PR strategies. 1.2 Identify and consult stakeholders as a key component of policy development process 1.3 Incorporate strategies for minimising resource use, reductions in toxic material and hazardous chemical use, and employment of lifecycle management approaches at all stages of work. 1.4 Develop a policy that reflects the organisation's commitment to CSR as an integral part of PR business planning and as a business opportunity. 1.5 Agree on appropriate methods of implementation
Element:	2. Make recommendations on CSR application to PR policy
Performance Criteria:	2.1 Make recommendations for policy options based on likely effectiveness, triple bottom line, timeframes and cost. 2.2 Promote the CSR policy and its expected outcome to key PR stakeholders. 2.3 Assign responsibilities and inform those involved in implementing the policy of expected outcomes and activities to be undertaken.
Element:	3. Apply the policy
Performance Criteria:	3.1 Implement strategies for continuous improvement in resource efficiency and business  3.2 Establish and assign record systems for tracking continuous improvements in CSR approaches.
Element:	4. Evaluate CSR policy
Performance Criteria:	4.1 Document outcomes and provide feedback to key PR personnel and stakeholders. 4.2 Analyse CSR policy and document successful aspects and possible improvements. 4.3 Monitor records to identify trends that may require remedial action and use records to promote continuous improvement of performance. 4.4 Modify policies and procedures to ensure improvements are made.

Learning Outcomes

Students have a full understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility and how to develop and implement policies and procedures to continuously support positive organisational initiatives through iactivities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all impacted members of the public sphere.

Details of Learning Activities

This course is structured to provide you with the optimum learning experience. A range of learning activities are provided during the semester and are designed to enhance learning and understanding of the topics.

You will be required to participate in a combination of group and individual learning activities. These activities will be provided through classroom work time and additional learning activities will be provided to you to complete outside of the scheduled class time.

A range of in class activities, case studies and independent research is included as the learning activities for this course. We expect you to participate and contribute in all scheduled learning activities.

The learning activities will also include group discussion, group problem solving activities and opportunities to practice your skills in a simulated workplace environment.

Teaching Schedule

Apply Corporate Social Responsibility to PR & Workplace Sustainability
Week	Topic	Assessment
Week 1	Introduction to course/ Course Induction • Course delivery and assessment details • Course support documents • Online learning environment • Grading • Plagiarism • Appeals • Extensions • Feedback • Privacy • Submission requirements • Resubmission policy • Where to get support  • Student responsibilities • Blackboard	Activity 1 due
Week 2	CSR concepts	Activity 2 due
Week 3	CSR & Ethics	Activity 3 due
Week 4	CSR Work practices
Week 5	CSR Stakeholders	Activity 4 due
Week 6	Assessment 1 -CSR Planning	AT1 Due: CSR Planning
Week 7	Implementing CSR work practices
Week 8	Environmental work practices
	Mid Semester Break
Week 9	CSR Gap analysis
Week 10	Delegating responsibilities
Week 11	Implementation of Policy
Week 12	Evaluation CSR work practice	AT2 Due: CSR Implementation
Week 13	Evaluation CSR work practice
Week 14	Assessment Task 3 : writing workshop
Week 15	Assessment Three workshop	AT3 Due: CSR Evaluation
Week 16	Student  reviews
Week 17	Re-submissions (if required)

Learning Resources

Prescribed Texts

References

Other Resources

Learning resources will be provided.

Overview of Assessment

Assessment may incorporate a variety of methods including technical requirements documentation, homework, assignments, group and/or individual projects, in class exercises, written and practical assessments, problem solving exercises, presentations, direct observation of actual and simulated work practice, presentation of a portfolio of evidence which may comprise documents, and/or photographs and/or video and audio files, review of products produced through work-based or course activities.

Students are advised that they are likely to be asked to personally demonstrate their assessment work to their teacher to ensure that the relevant competency standards are being met. Students will be provided with feedback throughout the course to check their progress.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task 1: CSR Plan

Summary and Purpose of Assessment

This project is the first of three assessment tasks you need to complete satisfactorily, in order to be deemed competent for this unit.  Completing this project allows you to demonstrate your ability to apply corporate, social responsibility (CSR) to public relations (PR) policy, i.e. planning for and communicating the establishment and maintenance of resource efficient and environmentally sustainable work practices.

Assessment Instructions

You must develop a CSR policy that is justified by research and consultation. 

What

You must undertake research on your business to identify opportunities for the implementation of CSR policy across at least two (2) public relations strategies.   This could be strategies that relate to a single client who is currently developing or in the early stages of strategy implementation OR it could relate to the actual PR business and their approach to procurement, client attraction or similar internal strategies. You will need to be able to:

• Plan for and develop CSR policy for the strategies (Assessment Task 1)
• Implement CSR policy within the specific context (Assessment Task 2)
• Monitor and report on the success of CSR policy using a range of information sources (Assessment Task 3)

Once you have chosen the context of this assessment you will develop a business case that addresses the criteria and processes specified in the Marking Guide at Section B of this assessment. 

You will need to:

1. Identify and discuss the context, the constraints and the opportunities for CSR policy
2. Identify the key stakeholders relevant to the context, and outline their needs in the process
3. Research all of the possible approaches to sustainability and CSR that could be implemented, the initiatives and frameworks that must be applied to the context and specify how each approach and framework apply to the context.  
4. Demonstrate consultation on the possible approaches to identify the constraints, concerns, impacts or any other consideration for their viability and justification within the context. 
5. Develop the CSR policy to incorporate the approaches to be taken, the business commitments and the more specific approach to management of CSR across the business. 
6. Develop an implementation plan that establishes, in detail, how each of the strategies, initiatives, frameworks, the policy and other areas of management will be planned, confirmed, developed and implemented. 
7. Make recommendations for the implementation of the plan
8. Demonstrate consultation with stakeholders, in a face-to-face context to establish agreement on at least one area of implementation, and to demonstrate a broad range of verbal communication skills. 

You will collate all of your research, findings and evidence of consultation into a business case format of your choice (with appendices where relevant) and submit a single PDF document. 

 

Assessment Task 2: CSR Implementation

Summary and Purpose of Assessment

This project is the second of three assessment tasks you need to complete satisfactorily, in order to be deemed competent for this unit.  Completing this project allows you to demonstrate your ability to apply corporate, social responsibility (CSR) to public relations (PR) policy, i.e. planning for and communicating the establishment and maintenance of resource efficient and environmentally sustainable work practices.

Assessment Instructions

You must implement the CSR policy and aligned strategies. 

What

This task follows on from Assessment Task 1.  

You have achieved agreement on your CSR business case and it is time to implement aspects of the plan.   You must use the implementation plan, your CSR policy and the strategies identified in AT1. 

You will be assessed against the criteria in the Marking Guide at Section B of this assessment. You should refer to this criteria to plan your approach to successfully completing the following activities and producing portfolio evidence:

1. Communicate the CSR policy to the stakeholders
2. Communicate the CSR responsibilities and accountabilities to relevant or key personnel
3. Develop policies, procedure and other tools to support CSR policy achievement
4. Implement the continuous improvement processes for both the CSR policy and any aligned business ethics 

You will collate all evidence into a single PDF for submission using headings and labels to indicate where each criteria, including the sub points, are addressed. 

 

Assessment Task 3: CSR Evaluation

Summary and Purpose of Assessment

This project is the third of three (3) assessment tasks you need to complete satisfactorily, in order to be deemed competent for this unit.  Completing this project allows you to demonstrate your ability to apply corporate, social responsibility (CSR) to public relations (PR) policy, i.e. planning for and communicating the establishment and maintenance of resource efficient and environmentally sustainable work practices.

Assessment Instructions

You must evaluate the success of your CSR policy. 

What

This task follows on from Assessment Tasks 1 and 2. 

You must collect, collate, analyse and interpret information from the sources listed in the criteria in the Marking Guide at Section B of this assessment to identify and act on opportunities for CSR policy and compliance improvement. 

Use the following steps as a guide to complete this assessment successfully:

1. Complete the analysis to identify trends and opportunities. 
2. Document your findings in a short evaluation report. 
3. Forward the report with feedback to the stakeholders to effect policy improvements.   You will need to submit evidence of providing that feedback to the stakeholders. 
4. Finally, make adjustments to your policies procedures and other documentation based on your findings about the need for these to improve. 

Collate your evidence into a single PDF document for submission. 

Assessment Matrix

The assessment matrix that maps all the assessment is available on CANVAS for the following:

 

Assessment Task 1:CSR Plan

• Due: Week 6

Assessment Task 2: CSR Implementation

• Due: Week 12

Assessment Task 3: CSR Evaluation

• Due: Week 15

 

Submission Requirements:

 

You should:

• Ensure that you submit assessments on or before the due date.  Non submission without supporting evidence such as ELP or special consideration will mean a result of Did Not Submit (DNS)
• Always retain a copy of your assessment tasks. (hard copy and soft copy)
• When you submit work for assessment at RMIT University you need to use the Assessment task document that includes a declaration and statement of authorship.
• Each page of your assessment should include footer with your name, student number, the title of the assessment, unit code and title and page numbers. 

 

 

Course Overview: Access Course Overview