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N° Candidat : ……………………………………

MASTER : M1 IM Durée : 2h
Date : 18/03/2019
Enseignant : Paul Devos and Benoît Guyot Nb page(s) : 5
Documents autorisés : non
Calculatrice non programmable autorisée non
Instructions particulières : non

Examen mars 2019 – 1ère session

CSR
N° Candidat : ……………………………………

1. Give a succinct definition of CSR, highlighting its key characteristics.

2. List 4 key benefits of having a CSR policy.

3. Briefly explain the 3 “Ps” of the Triple Bottom line.

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N° Candidat : ……………………………………

4. What is Stakeholder Capitalism?

5. Would you recommend CSR or CSV to business leaders? Why?

6. What are the most obvious signs that a company is greenwashing the public?

7. How does CSR provide a competitive advantage to businesses?

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N° Candidat : ……………………………………

The Challenge of Sustainable Development (1 point for each correct answer)

The “Earth History as if it had happened in six days”1 uses an analogy to illustrate the change that
needs to occur for the future of our civilization:

« Talking about Apollo XI, a NASA scientist said that 90% of the time the spacecraft was off
course. The mid-course corrections made it reach the moon. ‘I stand firmly convinced that
Earth – no, humanity – is off course and desperately needs a mid-course correction’ Ray
Anderson, Interface CEO »

In the book Mid-Course Correction, Ray Anderson describes a paradigm shift 2 , opposing the
paradigm behind the industrial revolution – that we were referring to as the metaphor of a cylinder,
and an emerging paradigm characterized by the worldview that will enable the transition to a
sustainable society – the funnel.

8. Earth …
Tick the correct answer

a) … is finite (see it from space; that’s all there is!), both as a source (what it can provide) and
as a sink (what it can assimilate and endure).
b) … is an inexhaustible source of materials (natural resources) and a limitless sink, able to
assimilate our waste, no matter how poisonous, no matter how much.

9. We should think with the relevant time frame…

Tick the correct answer

a) … Relevant time frames are, maximum, the life of a human being ; more likely, the working
life of a human being ; sometimes, especially in business, just the next quarter.
b) … Relevant time frames are geologic in scale. We must, at least, think beyond ourselves and
our brief, puny time on Earth - so brief - and think of our species, not just ourselves, over
geologic time.

10. Was Earth made for humans? Or the contrary?

Tick the correct answer

a) Earth was made for humans to conquer and rule; homo sapiens sapiens (self-named “wise,
wise man”) doesn’t really need the other species, except for food, fiber and fuel, and maybe
shade.
b) Man was made for Earth, not the other way around, and the diversity of nature is crucially
important in keeping the whole web of life, including us, going sustainably over geologic
time.
11. Technologies
Tick the correct answer

a) Technology must fundamentally change if it is to become part of the solution instead of

continuing to be the major part of the problem.
b) Technology is omnipotent.

1
This is the title of the Powerpoint slides animation we saw during a class, which reframes the long 4.5 billion years of
evolution in a 1-week period... ending up with the so-called "Saturday night party" (aka The industrial revolution).
2
“Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” Victor Hugo / « A paradigm is the dominant set of ideals
and beliefs that motivate the actions of the members of a society in a particular period in time. (…) For example, the
modernism motivated the creation of new forms in the fields of architecture, art, and fashion during much of the 20th
century. » (Wikipedia) The concept is close to the German word “Zeitgeist”, translated literally as "spirit of time".

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N° Candidat : ……………………………………

12. What kind of intelligence would enable a transition towards a sustainable society ?
Tick the correct answer

a) The right side of the brain, the caring, nurturing, artistic, subjective, sensitive, emotional side
(in business, the “soft side” of business), is at least as important as the left side, perhaps a
good bit more important since it represents the human spirit.
b) Technology, when coupled with human intelligence, specifically, left-brained intelligence
(practical, objective, realistic, numbers-driven, results-oriented, unemotional) will suffice,
thank you very much.

13. Does the free market ensure a fair distribution of resources?

Tick the correct answer

a) Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” of the market is an honest broker.

b) The market is opportunistic, if not outright dishonest, in its willingness to externalize any cost
that an unwary, uncaring public will allow it to externalize. It must constantly be redressed to
keep it honest. Does the price of a pack of cigarettes reflect its cost? A barrel of oil?

14. Social and environmental impacts…

Tick the correct answer

a) … are interconnected through systematic errors of societal design.

b) … are isolated events

15. Frequency of the social and environmental problems

Tick the correct answer

a) Social, ecological impacts come and go.

b) Society is on a downhill course – the very conditions for social / ecological welfare are being
systematically undermined.

16. The perspective of non-sustainable development

Tick the correct answer

a) The future of non-sustainable development is a world without human civilization (i.e. a

Republic of grass and insects).
b) The future of non-sustainable development is that social/ecological impacts continue to come
and go.

17. The perspective of sustainable development

Tick the correct answer

a) Pollution, toxicity, loss of species and murder are likely to occur in a sustainable society, the
point of sustainable development is to at least meet the minimum conditions for a sustainable
development.
b) Sustainability is an unrealistic vision of a perfect world among dreamers.

18. Visibility of human impacts

Tick the correct answer

a) The impacts we have are the ones we see.

b) The worst impacts are the ones we do not see.

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N° Candidat : ……………………………………

19. Sustainable development is…

Tick the correct answer

a) … to fix social/ecological damage whenever the costs for repair are lower than the economic
utility.
b) … to strategically eradicate the systemic errors at the lowest possible cost.

20. The incentives to undertake measures are…

Tick the correct answer

a) …ethical and self-beneficial.

b) … mainly based on ethics

21. When describing a “linear industrial process”, what expression do we often use :
Tick the correct answer

a) Take – Make – Waste

b) Decay – Nutrients – Regeneration
c) Produce – Transform – Value

22. What are the common denominators of the impacts of human societies on the socio-ecological
systems, i.e. the root causes of unsustainability?
Tick the correct answer(s)

a) Climate change
b) Use of non-renewable substances
c) Use of renewable substances faster than their regeneration (or physical inhibition)
d) Pollution
e) Obstacles on individuals capacity to satisfy their needs
f) Use of synthetic substances
g) Malnutrition

23. Tick the characteristics of the Fundamental Human Needs as defined by Manfred Max-Neef.
Needs are…
a) … numerous
b) … finite and classifiable
c) … universal (same in all cultures and all historical periods).

24. What is backcasting ?

a) Asking ourselves the question “What should we do today to be successful tomorrow ?”.
b) Prepare and adapt to the future by extrapolating the trends of the past.

ABCD

25. Describe the four steps of the strategic planning process ABCD.
Tick the correct answer(s)

a) Plan ; Implement ; Measure /Assessment ; Improve

b) Understand the sustainability challenges and create a long-term shared-vision; Analyse the
current reality ; Brainstorm potential actions ; Decide on priorities and implement the actions

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