A Birmingham university college is blazing a trail for sustainable business practices with the creation of the UK's first undergraduate business degree to place ethics and sustainability at the heart of its curriculum.

Newman University College's BA (Hons) Business, Sustainability, Ethics (available from October 2012) will focus on helping students develop the critical skills and global understanding necessary to adopt a broader, ethics-centred approach to commerce, equipping them with the skills required to establish and manage profitable and sustainable businesses in fast-changing global markets.

Traditional classes on management, marketing, economics and finance will not be neglected but, rather than focussing on 'business as usual', the course builds critical thinking into every aspect of the programme; looking at issues such as ethical financial decision making, sustainable resource management and diverse approaches to management across cultures, that are just as crucial to business success.

Dr Terry Nolan, senior lecturer in business studies at Newman University College, said: "As the global recession and recent 'occupy' protests demonstrate, faith in capitalism as a route to economic and social wellbeing is at an all-time low. The business world is perceived as being over-focussed on maximising profit and shareholder dividends at the expense of the wellbeing of employees, wider society, and the longevity of the business itself.

"With increasingly global markets, what happens to businesses in one country is intrinsically linked to businesses elsewhere in the world, so we all have a responsibility to address issues in a global context and seek more sustainable solutions that will drive growth and prosperity for all."

While traditional business degrees focus on technical management and leadership skills, ethics is often viewed as a 'bolt on' topic: something to be considered when a business needs to consider its public image or CSR policy.

Newman's new course aims to shift the balance; placing critical thinking, understanding, empathy and context at the root of every other area and equipping the next generation of graduates to develop their own distinctive, holistic approach that has the necessary integrity and global perspective to make a positive impact.

Alongside skills development, students on the course will be required to tackle some of the  more negative aspects of business head on including pollution, corruption, links between business, politics and war and issues caused by over-work, bullying and poor working environments. They will then be expected to apply their learning, developing holistic solutions based on ethical and sustainable practices.

Terry continued:  "The real differential for the Business, Sustainability, Ethics programme is that it places people - employees, managers, owners, customers, suppliers and the wider community - at the heart of business.

"While generating profit is essential for any organisation, recent events have illustrated how behaving in an ethical way is also crucial if that business is to be sustainable. We believe this shift in approach will equip students not merely with the what and how of business management but a greater understanding of why businesses behave the way they do, allowing them to make more effective decisions in practice."