Syllabus

I: Business Environment and Regulatory Framework

Foundations of the Business Environment

  1. What Is the Business Environment?
  2. PESTEL: Social and Technological Factors
  3. PESTEL: Environmental and Legal Factors

India’s Regulatory Architecture

  1. India’s Regulatory Landscape
  2. Securities and Exchange Board of India: Capital Markets and Investor Protection
  3. Competition Commission of India and Anti-Trust Oversight

II: General Business Law for Managers

The Indian Contract Act in Practice

  1. Offer and Acceptance: The Meeting of Minds
  2. Consideration and Capacity to Contract
  3. Free Consent and Void or Voidable Agreements
  4. Clause Clinic: Diagnosing a Vendor Agreement

Company Law Essentials

  1. Company Law Basics: Incorporation and Company Types
  2. Directors’ Duties and Corporate Governance Basics

Competition, Consumer and Intellectual Property Law

  1. Competition Law and Anti-Trust Conduct
  2. Consumer Protection and Intellectual Property Fundamentals

III: Business Ethics and Ethical Reasoning

Foundations and Normative Frameworks

  1. Why Ethics in Business? Framing the Dilemma
  2. Consequentialism: Outcomes and Utilitarian Reasoning
  3. Deontology: Duties, Rights and Rules
  4. Virtue Ethics: Character and Practical Wisdom

Stakeholders and Conflicts of Interest

  1. Stakeholder Theory
  2. Conflicts of Interest in Organisational Life

Organisational Pressure and Emerging Dilemmas

  1. Whistle-Blowing Under Organisational Pressure
  2. Ethics in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Algorithmic Decisions

IV: Corporate Governance and Board Accountability

The Agency Problem and Board Structure

  1. The Agency Problem: Owners, Managers and Misaligned Incentives
  2. Board Structure and the Role of the Board
  3. Independent Directors and Independence Criteria

Committees, Codes and Accountability

  1. Board Committees: Audit, Nomination and Remuneration
  2. SEBI Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements
  3. Shareholder versus Stakeholder Models of the Firm

V: ESG, Sustainability and Responsible Business

The ESG Framework and Disclosure

  1. The Environmental, Social and Governance Framework
  2. Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting
  3. Data Sprint: Scoring a Real BRSR Disclosure

Climate, Carbon and Credible Claims

  1. Climate Risk as a Business Issue
  2. Carbon and the Net-Zero Transition
  3. Greenwashing and the Integrity of ESG Claims

VI: Integrated Cases in Governance and Ethics

Anatomy and Analysis of a Corporate Crisis

  1. Anatomy of a Corporate Crisis
  2. Crisis Response: The Legal Lens
  3. Crisis Response: The Ethics and Governance Lens

Crisis Response, Reputation and Conduct

  1. Crisis Communications and the Reputation Lens
  2. Designing a Code of Conduct

Building the Governance Operating Model

  1. Board Oversight and the ESG Committee
  2. Grievance Mechanisms and Whistle-Blower Protection