The free online course Diploma in Sustainable Business provides a broad overview of the core concepts of sustainability. It highlights some of the benefits, opportunities and challenges associated with sustainable business practices. It also discusses many real-world business examples of sustainability in action.
The course begins by introducing you to the concept of sustainability and sustainable business and explaining why running a sustainable business is a popular and beneficial venture. You will learn about the Triple Bottom Line; a business’s contribution to social justice, environmental quality, and economic prosperity and how it is addressed by the sustainable business. You will learn the science behind business sustainability. You will learn how sustainability involves having an understanding of the relationship between business, humanity, and nature. You will also learn about Earth’s history and ecology and the importance of healthy ecosystems to human society. You will learn why a sustainable business should consider the impact of their actions on the earth’s key resources.
Next, you will be introduced to the concept of accountability in business and learn why accountability is essential in running a sustainable business. You will learn how businesses use sustainability reporting in order to communicate and be accountable for their actions. You will learn about how sustainable businesses deal with human resource issues. You will learn about the relationship between finance and running a sustainable business.
The course continues by introducing you to the process of entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs can run sustainable businesses whilst undertaking sustainable practices. You will learn the importance of innovation when running a sustainable business. You will learn about the sustainable fuelling company Simply Green Biofuels and follow its journey from the beginning, learning about challenges it faced and success it achieved. Through this you will gain a stronger understanding how sustainability can be linked with entrepreneurship and how sustainability entrepreneurship can be a successful and worthwhile venture.
Finally, you will be introduced to the practice of sustainable business marketing. You will learn that ways in which a business creates a strong sustainability marketing strategy in order to be successful. You will be introduced to the marketing mix and how it can be based on sustainability principles for an effective sustainable marketing approach. You will learn the importance of market segmentation in order to tailor marketing efforts to consumers that are best aligned as potential buyers or customers of a product or service. You will learn about the various market barriers and business risks that need to be considered when marketing sustainable products and services.
This free Diploma in Sustainable Business will be of great interest to business professionals, marketers, and eco-entrepreneurs who would like to know what is involved in running a sustainable business and how this can benefit the economy, society, and the environment.
Having completed this course you will be able to:
- Describe what is meant by sustainability and its relationship to running a business.
- Describe what is meant by the term “triple bottom line”.
- Describe what is meant by the social, environmental and economic impact of a business
- Describe the interaction between ecosystem services and human well-being.
- Discuss business and organizational accountability.
- Discuss the value of sustainability reporting.
- Describe life cycle management and the phases of a product life cycle.
- Describe a sustainable business’s recruitment and selection process.
- Discuss how sustainability impacts various activities associated with finance.
- Discuss the role of entrepreneurship in sustainable business.
- Explain what is meant by social entrepreneurship.
- Explain the role of innovation in sustainable business.
- Describe sustainable marketing and how it differs from traditional marketing.
- Discuss what is involved in creating a sustainable marketing strategy for a business.
- Define how sustainability works in the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion)
- Discuss the market barriers to sustainable products and how they can be addressed.
- and discuss the risks associated with sustainability marketing.
All The Digital Classroom courses are free to study. To successfully complete a course you must score 80% or higher in each course assessments. Upon successful completion of a course, you can choose to make your achievement formal by purchasing an official The Digital Classroom Diploma or Certificate.
Having an official The Digital Classroom document is a great way to celebrate and share your success. It is:
- Ideal to include with CVs, job applications and portfolios
- A way to show your ability to learn and achieve high results