EMPOWERING EDUCATORS AT
COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL
COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL
Study Board Cand.merc.
Course title Marketing Ethics
Course type/size Mandatory (approx. 80 students)
Teaching format Face-to-face
The roleplay demonstrates that intentions to act responsibly in relation to the surrounding society requires marketers to consider, (empathize with) and navigate between conflicting stakeholder interests and values.
This session takes a departure from a student-centered approach to improve engagement in class and challenges the traditional learning space to create reflections facilitated by a dynamic learning environment. This enables active learning through creativity and debates. Finally, the roleplay follows a constructive alignment approach where learning activities are designed in alignment with course objectives and to the students’ life-long learning.
Associate Professor Szilvia Gyimothy Møger-Pedersen
Assistant Professor, PHD, Anna-Bertha Heeris Christensen
Department of Marketing
The example is a fishbowl role play (Garrison & Munday, 2012) about Stakeholder Management.
It is based on a fictional case: “FIFA World Cup in Saudi Arabia in 2034.”
The roleplay has 3 iterations and takes 60-80 minutes.
The case centers on the ethical considerations surrounding participation in an international sporting mega-event, which may ideally foster increased community cohesion, promote intercultural learning and encourage a healthy lifestyle. However, the event is hosted by a global partner known for its controversial stances on human rights and environmental sustainability. Previous partnerships with similar ethical concerns have had significant consequences for other key stakeholders due to consumer activism against these controversial positions. As a result, key stakeholders find themselves in an ethical dispute that, in the worst case, could lead to the event’s cancellation and/or severely harm the event’s brand and stakeholder relationships.
Before the class session:
The students are asked to read relevant literature on stakeholder management and marketing ethics. The students are also presented to the fictional case and activity before class.
In class:
The teacher presents the relevant theory to the case and explains the case as well as the key dilemmas. Hereafter, the teacher presents the stakeholder groups and divides the students into groups so that each stakeholder is represented by one group. The students are also presented with specific standpoints that each stakeholder represents. Finally, the students are presented with the practicalities, timeframe, rules, and specific activities.
The steps in the activity:
After the roleplay:
The roleplay moderator wraps up and gives feedback.