OUR STORY
The BA and the Honours BA programs in Business and Society (BUSO) provide the opportunity to study the impact of business on society and society on business. Students who enroll in Business and Society will undertake this study through a multi-disciplinary approach, using texts from philosophy, history, economics, geography, sociology and political science. The program combines courses that provide the analytical tools necessary to study and research business and society with courses that focus on the political, social, and cultural context of business.
The Social Economy
In the Social Economy stream, students examine a wide variety of business forms which share a common characteristic of being guided not primarily by profits but by a social purpose. While there are many different ways to define the social economy, this sector is generally understood to include co-operatives, non-profit businesses, not-for-profit firms, along with social enterprises and social entrepreneurs.
Law and Governance
This stream provides students with the opportunity to study the role of law in the formation and current development of the market economy. It seeks to acquaint students with the place of the law in the broader institutional framework that governs modern markets.
Business Ethics and Corporate Responsibility
In the Business Ethics (BE) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) stream, students take up three fundamental questions.
The first of these explores what types of BE and CSR programs corporations have and why they have developed such programs (e.g., stakeholder pressure, niche markets, regulatory pressure, etc.).
The second question that students explore in this field relates to how we evaluate corporate behaviour in general and BE and CSR programs in particular.
The third question that students examine in this field is the actual impact of BE and CSR programs and, more specifically, what can be done to promote greater corporate responsibility
The Global Economy
This stream introduces students to a variety of theoretical perspectives on political economy and the study of the institutions, structures, and political, economic and social relations that underlie both national and global political economies. Students will be introduced to the classical foundations of political economy (Smith, Ricardo, Mill and Marx) as well as contemporary theoretical frameworks or “schools” of political economy (liberal, institutionalist and radical).
The Environment
In the Environment stream students develop an awareness of the relationship between business, society and the environment. This stream builds upon required courses offered by York University’s groundbreaking Environmental studies program (such as Perspectives in Environmental Studies and Foundations in Environment and Culture) allowing students a choice in their senior years courses such as Environmental Law, Environmental Policy or Resource Management. Students will engage with a variety of perspectives on the environment and will learn about cutting edge issues in the field.
The Firm and Organization
The Firm and Organization stream examines various aspects of the modern corporation, both its internal organization and its relationship with organizations in the national and international society in which corporations operate.
*Streams available as of September 2014
**Please check the main site for additional details: http://www.yorku.ca/laps/sosc/buso/index.html
If you have any questions or concerns, please email our club email at: york.buso.club@gmail.com
