Sustainability and Stakeholders: Tensions and Balances

Sustainability and Stakeholders: Tensions and Balances, offered by Copenhagen Business School through Coursera, is a beginner-level online course designed to examine why many organisations struggle to implement corporate sustainability effectively. The course starts from the premise that weak sustainability implementation often stems from imbalanced stakeholder relationships, where tensions arise when managers fail to balance the needs and expectations of different groups. It introduces stakeholder theory as the central framework for understanding these challenges and includes an interview with its founder, R. Edward Freeman.

Core Content

The curriculum is structured across eight modules and uses stakeholder theory to explore how organisations address both the challenges and opportunities involved in integrating sustainability into practice. It examines sustainability in relation to key stakeholder groups across functions and roles within organisations, including customers, employees, owners and investors, and business partners. The modules also cover greenwashing, balancing practices, and practical examples of how real-world organisations work through tensions linked to sustainability integration.

Key Skills

Participants will develop the ability to understand the challenges and opportunities involved in integrating sustainability into organisational practices and to think more practically about how stakeholder tensions can be managed. Coursera lists skills such as stakeholder analysis, stakeholder management, stakeholder engagement, strategic partnership, employee engagement, customer relationship building, sustainability reporting, corporate sustainability, business ethics, and ESG among the learning outcomes. By the end of the course, learners are expected to design strategies that balance stakeholder demands more constructively.

Target Learners

This course is designed for students, professionals, and business learners who want to better understand corporate sustainability through a stakeholder lens. Coursera lists it as beginner level and notes that no prior experience is required, making it suitable for learners seeking an accessible but structured introduction to sustainability integration in organisations. It is particularly relevant for those interested in how stakeholder relationships influence real sustainability outcomes in business settings.

Learning Format

Hosted on Coursera, the course is delivered in a flexible online format with eight modules and an estimated completion time of nine hours. The learning experience includes videos, readings, quizzes, and discussion prompts, allowing learners to analyze organisational efforts, reflect critically on different sustainability strategies, and apply the course ideas to an organisation of their own choice. Coursera also notes that the course includes seven assignments, offers a shareable certificate, and was recently updated in March 2026.

Additional Benefits

The course offers practical value for learners who want to move beyond broad sustainability concepts and understand why implementation often fails in real organisations. Its use of stakeholder theory as a consistent framework, combined with interviews and applied organisational examples, gives learners a more grounded view of how sustainability tensions can be addressed across different relationships and business contexts. This makes it especially useful for those seeking a more practical and reflective approach to corporate sustainability strategy.

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