The educational goal of this course is to develop a holistic understanding of today's business world. Sustainability refers to the relationship between business, society, and planet. Understanding these connections, and connecting them to business decisions is the first milestone of this course.

Based on this holistic view, the ultimate objective of the course is for every student to develop his or her own personal synthesis and approach for identifying and solving the key problems that they will face in the business world, be it as entrepreneur or as a member in an existing corporation. There is an increased need in the business world for people being able to plan strategic innovation for a sustainable future.

This course examines how innovation in international business shapes sustainable development across macro (institutions), meso (global value chains and regions), firm, and micro (individual) levels. It covers global challenges, governance and corruption, value chains, local ecosystems, firm strategies, inclusive innovation, and managerial decision-making, concluding with future technological transformations. The course considers emerging markets, recognizing their diversity in institutional conditions and development trajectories. The course introduces research to identify key theoretical mechanisms and examines their empirical relevance through case-based discussions, drawing, where relevant, on insights from selected book chapters. International business and innovation form the core analytical framework, while the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are used as an outcome lens to evaluate how globally embedded actors shape sustainable development across diverse institutional and geographic contexts.

A complete reference list is included in the syllabus.
- Academic and practitioner articles: These readings are available via Canvas.
- Cases (HBR course packet): You will need to register on the Harvard website (www.hbr.org) and purchase (at a discounted rate).
- Books: ebooks may be available via the UM library or for purchase from Amazon.
o Handbook of sustainable innovation
o International business and sustainable innovation
- Videos: These are made available via Canvas.

Sessions (minor adjustments may occur):
Topic 1: Innovation, international business, and sustainable development
- Research articles/Books: IB, grand challenges, sustainability transitions
- Case: MNE as an actor addressing global SDGs
- SDG: 17
Topic 2: Stakeholders and systems
- Research: Institutional complexity of CSR
- Case: Managing conflicting stakeholder demands across countries
- SDG: 10, 12, 13
Topic 3: Institutions, governance, and corruptions
- Research: Corruption in IB
- Case: Firm learning, path dependence, institutional pressures
- SDG: 16
Topic 4: GVCs and sustainability
- Research: GVC governance, multi-tier responsibility
- Case: Power, supplier governance, compliance vs capability building
- SDG: 8, 12, 13
Topic 5: Cities, regions, and local innovation ecosystems
- Research: Local embeddedness
- Case: Tension between global firm and local institutional contexts
- SDG: 9, 11
Topic 6: Sustainable innovation strategies in MNEs
- Research: legitimacy across borders; global responsibility
- Case: Aligning strategy, innovation, legitimacy across markets
- SDG: 9, 12, 13
Topic 7: Social innovation and inclusive development
- Research: Social value creation in IB
- Case: Inclusion, market creation, limits of BoP models
- SDG: 1, 10
Topic 8: Micro foundations: individuals, teams, and leadership
- Research: Micro-level practices, ethical learning
- Case: individual-level incentives, ethics, and organizational pressure
- SDG: ALL
Topic 9: Technological evolution
- Research: knowledge transfer, transparency
- Case: global diffusion of sustainable innovation
- SDG: 7, 9, 13
Topic 10: Integration: Who drives SDGs in IB?
- Research: TBD
- Case: Activism, supply chains, firm strategy across contexts
- SDG: ALL

* Excellent command of English, spoken and written.
* Basic understanding of strategic management and business economics. E.g. basic concepts such as ROA or the five forces should be known.
* Basic understanding (in terms of reading rather than actually doing) of statistics, allowing you to properly understand regression analysis and other types of statistical analysis in academic articles.