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Business schools are embracing the SDGs – But is it enough? – How business schools are reporting on their engagement in the SDGs
Abstract
This paper explores the extent to which business schools are engaging in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and what that engagement looks like based on how schools have reported their engagement. The data was gathered from a study of over 1034 Sharing Information on Progress (SIP) reports submitted by business schools that are signatories to the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) between May 1st 2015 and May 1st 2020. The evidence suggests that business schools have been slow to engage in the SDGs and many of the reported connections with the SDGs are weak and superficial. The paper outlines what approaches schools are taking, highlights what is missing and makes suggestions on the way forwards.
... Different from 10 years ago, this analysis found that some schools report on students' involvement in the sustainability task force. This effort of engaging students at the strategic level could help to foster the transformation because students are the main target group of most of the activities at HEIs (Weybrecht, 2022). The function of this task force also varies from school to school. ...
... These findings are in line with other studies about students' roles (Warwick et al., 2017;Borges et al., 2017a) and show the efforts of business schools in putting students in the center. Besides being a useful source of information and ideas, students are the main target of most activities on campus and in educational programs (Weybrecht, 2022). Still, business schools could benefit from involving students more strongly at a strategic level in decision-making and planning. ...
... As in 2010, about only 34% of the business schools mention that they integrate sustainability into their curriculum through core courses of undergraduate and postgraduate programs, although a mandatory course is important to let all future managers perceive sustainability problems and act to address them. Also other studies (Rasche et al., 2013;Weybrecht, 2022) on SIP reports have found that elective modules are popular ways that business schools integrate sustainability into their curricula. ...
Purpose
This paper aims to present the progress of the implementation of sustainability in business schools in line with the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and its principles of responsible management education.
Design/methodology/approach
By analyzing the content of the Sharing of Information on Progress reports from PRME signatories, this study identified significant developments in the strategies business school use to implement sustainability. However, it seems that a framework that business schools can apply to accomplish that goal is still lacking. This paper proposes a framework that addresses four components of the integration process and stresses the important role of stakeholders. The authors discuss the results from 2021 in comparison to the results of a previous analysis of the first 100 signatories from 2010 and analyze the findings in relation to the developed framework.
Findings
This study shows that business schools have improved their sustainability engagement in many areas (e.g. education offerings and teaching methods, campus practices and engaging stakeholders). However, less attention has been paid to other aspects, such as reviewing and assessing, capability development or communication, which could slow the transformation process. The authors discuss further implications of the findings for enhancing the PRME signatories’ ability to implement the underrecognized aspects.
Originality/value
While the analysis focuses on the status and progress of the integration of PRME within business schools during the past decade, the framework may enable higher education institutions to analyze their potential to implement change and plan future transformation strategies.
... The goals are structured to be interdependent; the achievement of some is closely intertwined with the achievement of others. Since the goals were first announced in 2015, industry actors and academics have made efforts, albeit with varying levels of intensity, to align their work with the SDGs [51], [52], [70], [71]. ...
... During the last several years, a body of literature has evolved on different facets of management education, including curriculum design [7], [47], eLearning [31], employment and research [22], contributing practical insights for universities [2], teachers [44], massive open online course (MOOC) providers [31], and students [71]. Management schools that are signatories to the PRME have also taken the initiative to present sharinginformation-on-progress reports; these have become the basis for evaluating the contribution of B-schools to the 2030 Agenda [3], [37], [57], [70]. In addition to research on PRME, which naturally includes references to sustainability, scholars have also explored the various benefits and complexities of integrating SDGs into management education and have suggested potential paths of integration [15], [24], [24], [26]. ...
... For instance, Cavalcanti-Bandos et al. [8] observed that some B-schools seem to lack a commitment to integrating the SDGs even though the university as a whole may have clearly and emphatically communicated its emphasis on sustainability. Similarly, Weybrecht [70] contended that such actions by B-schools and the SDGs they impact are weak or superficial, indicating a possibility of "greenwashing"-that is, a school may mislead stakeholders by making it seem that it is doing its part to implement the SDGs, whereas in reality it is not committed to concrete action in this direction. Shifting focus to constraints experienced by schools in integrating the SDGs, Ramboarisata and Gendron [50] noted that the efforts to pursue RME face several multilevel and multiactor barriers, which can only be overcome through comprehensive policy intervention by B-schools and by rating and accreditation agencies. ...
Business schools (B-schools) are vital to achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda by creating awareness of sustainability among the next generation of leaders. Mindful of their responsibility, schools around the world have initiated efforts to integrate the SDGs into different aspects of their operations. However, the pace has been slow, with schools in some parts of the world lagging in even initiating the process, indicating that additional efforts are required to enhance their commitment. The academic literature in the area has also been growing but is in a very nascent stage, requiring fresh inputs and renewed focus for momentum. This article responds by invigorating theory and practice using a multimethod approach that includes 1) a review of the extant literature to present the state-of-the-art literature and identify research gaps that suggest future research directions, 2) a qualitative study assessing the current state of SDG integration, and 3) an evaluation of the relevant parts of the reports on principles of responsible management education by signatory schools to develop a set of parameters for the measurement of SDG integration. The findings of this article offer important implications for both internal and external stakeholders. For internal stakeholders, i.e., the B-school management, we offer a set of five broad parameters broken down into 39 indicators to benchmark and calibrate the related outcomes. For external stakeholders, i.e., the regulatory bodies, we offer insights for policy intervention and formulation of systematic sustainability-reporting protocols to guide B-schools.
... According to research by (Weybrecht, 2022), while business schools have been increasing their awareness of the SDGs since 2015, their approaches have been haphazard and inconsistent. Many business schools still use traditional management or business education approaches which discourage critical thinking or self-directed learning (Ndubuka & Rey-Marmonier, 2019), failing to utilise more transformational learning approaches such as experiential learning, critical reflection, collaborative or problem-based learning. ...
... By focussing on the SDGs as part of their commitment to TBL (Ferro et al., 2019), organisations will be better placed to manage risks, meet customer demands and improve supply chains for sustainable access to necessary resources (Ghosh & Rajan, 2019). By understanding the important role businesses play in accomplishing the SDGs, it is also meaningful to consider the pivotal role to be played by universities in this context (Weybrecht, 2022). Universities have a critical task in preparing business graduates to have the resources, skills, and awareness to confront problems, and maximise opportunities, related to sustainable development and the realisation of the SDGs by 2030 (Cole & Snider, 2019;Mori Junior et al., 2019). ...
... The guide recommended that universities were responsible for ensuring that students, including those from developing countries, had the skills, information, training and impetus to provide real solutions regarding the implementation of the SDGs (SDSN, 2017). While a number of universities have played an active role in supporting the SDGs, greater work needs to be done regarding the embedding of sustainability, particularly into their business curriculum (Driscoll et al., 2017;Ferrer-Estévez & Chalmeta, 2021;Weybrecht, 2022). While many business schools provide courses featuring ethics and sustainability, they are generally not part of the mainstream education requirements (Voola et al., 2018). ...
Universities have an important role in ensuring that business school graduates can address issues regarding sustainable development and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. While business schools have been progressively growing understanding of the SDGs, many have an unclear conception of their importance to business or how to effectively embed them into their curriculum. This paper explores the outcomes of one university in applying the SDGs as a learning framework for understanding global sustainability. Qualitative methodology was used to explore student perceptions regarding the efficacy of industry collaboration and Experiential Education Project-based Learning (EEPBL) methods, to integrate learning of SDGs into a university course. Through thematic analysis of 375 reflective essays and 18 semi-structured interviews, students reported an enhanced awareness and knowledge of SDGs, acquisition of key employability skills and development of new global perspectives. They found value in industry collaboration and EEPBL for acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the SDGs in a business context, and many developed an appreciation of their own agency for sustainability action in the future. This research can be presented as an example of one approach to both teaching students about the SDGs and embedding sustainability into their business curriculum.
... Nigerian universities and other organizations have created numerous entrepreneurial training programs; these programs are becoming increasingly well-known in Nigeria (Weybrecht, 2022;Sofoluwe et al., 2013;Egunsola et al., 2012). Most participants in these programs are students and prospective business owners who believe they need more information and abilities to launch and grow a company. ...
Purpose:Most graduates from Nigerian universities are trained to rely on white-collar employment for their living rather than being given entrepreneurial or self-reliant skills. Because of this, a sizeable percentage of Nigerian university graduates are still looking for rewarding jobs today. Although they theoretically understand becoming self-sufficient, they need more business acumen. It is, therefore, vital to equip these graduates with the abilities and information required to enable them to create employment rather than seek it. As a result, this study looked into the impact of entrepreneurial abilities on graduates' readiness to venture and accept risks.Methodology:The study's research tool was a thoughtfully created questionnaire with a descriptive design. The researcher employed both a descriptive study design and a causal research design. The population of the study consisted of 7,098 Covenant University graduates. The Yamane formula was used to determine the sample size for this investigation, which was 379. The study's random sample techniques were practical, clear-cut, and intended.Findings:The study's conclusions show a significant and favorable relationship between graduates' risk-taking propensity and entrepreneurial skills among Nigerian university students.Implication:The study finds that graduates' tendency to take risks and their intention to start their businesses are highly influenced by entrepreneurial education and the development of entrepreneurial skills through self-learning and taught courses.
... For this reason, existing literature contends that AoL subjects faculty to the unintended consequences that poor AoL performance may have deleterious ramifications on their job security, or career development prospects (Beerkens, 2018;Stoten and Kirkham, 2021). Furthermore, the instrumental nature of AoL in its focus on assessments has been critiqued for being reductionist in comparison to the wider conversations around the roles of higher education towards social capital enhancements, responsible citizenship, sustainable development and other self-actualisation goals as vessels of knowledge inquiry (Weybrecht, 2022). Despite these criticisms, AoL has remained a core feature of business education for accreditation and quality signalling purposes (Alajoutsijarvi et al., 2018). ...
Purpose
This paper aims to critically evaluate the evolution of Assurance of Learning (AoL) in business education and identify gaps and responsibilities in higher institution landscapes moving into the future. This comes amidst increasing structural reforms, an increasingly digitalised world, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and wider scrutiny of graduate competencies for job readiness.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review comprising 27 journal articles published between 2018 and 2022 is the methodology used in this research. This approach is justified as it provides a recent synopsis of current trends on AoL and encompasses the changes over the course of the COVID-19-induced higher education landscapes.
Findings
The systematic literature review revealed a strong flavour for AoL measurement through the students' perspectives, with little emerging from faculty insights. Only six out of the 27 articles were framed in a non-English speaking background, revealing that most studies were still concentrated in a US or English environment. Also, while papers on AoL have increased in numbers from 2018 to 2022, there remains scant literature on AoL measurements related to the COVID-19 pandemic and recent digital technologies, and how these would have changed given the rapid shift to online or hybrid environments.
Originality/value
A comprehensive review of AoL literature from 2018 to 2022 is undertaken through Leximancer, which reveals conceptual and relational ties between core themes and concepts of interest. The findings inform business school leaders of the current state of AoL processes, by combining the views of students, faculty and managers.
... Parallel to promoting education for sustainability in universities [4][5][6] , several global movements over the past three decades have also been gradually transforming business schools in light of a variety of sustainability issues. For example, critical discourses have reflected the nature of management education [7] and business knowledge [8] , highlighting the crucial role of business schools in sustainable development [9,10] . As a result, management research has been shifting from the prevailing neoliberal technocentrism (viewing the environment as natural capital) to sustainability-oriented paradigms and approaches [11,12] . ...
This paper aims to reframe sustainability as an ethical aspect of the theory-practice gap in business and management education for sustainable development, which should be viewed as an integral part of knowledge produced and disseminated in business schools. The paper adopts a narrative approach to review the relevant literature on two streams of research, namely, the theory-practice gap and sustainability in reforming business schools. The synthesis and discussion of the existing literature suggest that while sustainability is frequently viewed with an ethical sentiment, the existing research overlooks its significance in bringing together knowledge and practice in business schools. This paper highlights the potential of sustainability as a theoretical lens in bridging the theory-practice gap in business schools; proposing to rethink the conceptual space that lies in ethics for further theoretical developments. The author urges business and management scholars to engage in burgeoning debates on business school reforms relating to the theory-practice gap and sustainability with an emphasis on ethics. The author contends that the neglected theoretical linkages between the theory-practice gap and sustainability provide fruitful directions for future research. Through a moral lens, business schools can move toward responsible management education for a more sustainable future.
... As a result, business graduates are not exposed to the SDGs in a way that connects them to 'business as usual'. According to research conducted by Weybrecht (2022), based on more than 1034 Sharing Information on Progress (SIP) reports submitted by business schools that are signatories to the United Nations backed Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), business schools have been slow to engage in the SDGs and many of the reported connections with the SDGs are weak and superficial. However, according to some authors (Lozano et al., 2015), this depends on strong linkages between the institution's commitment to sustainability, the implementation, and the signature of a declaration, charter, or initiative. ...
Business leaders play a key role in the implementation of actions leading to the achievement of the 17 SDGs. Likewise, higher education is emerging as the principal factor in developing a sense of moral responsibility amongst university business students, who will eventually become company managers and decision makers. The aim of this research is, thus, twofold. First, to analyse university business students’ perceptions of the role of business in achieving the SDGs; and second, to examine university business students’ perceptions of the relationship between greater commitment to achieving the SDGs and business benefits. The analysis was performed with a sample of 178 business-related university students. Amongst the potential contributions made by this study we can highlight the possibility of understanding future managers’ perceptions of the role of business in achieving the SDGs, as well as the benefits that companies could derive from greater commitment to achieving these SDGs and identifying areas for improvement in university education regarding sustainable development.
... We call for sexism reporting requirements from the three main business school accreditation bodies (AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS) as well as national associations and rankings. Enablers to mobilize effective governance and strategies to resist sexism in the academy (Crimmins, 2019) are vital if business schools really are able to embed the UN's SDGs (Weybrecht, 2022) of decent work in their own cultures. Evidence-based implementation and evaluation of training workshops and gender plans to address sexism in the academy are vital to drive changes. ...
The legitimacy of business schools is based on rankings, revenues, branding, and opportunities to support staff and students "to make a difference in the world". Yet sexism in business schools is endemic. Drawing on Acker's inequality regimes framework and a thematic analysis of reports in Poets&Quants, EFMD's Global Focus and AACSB Internation-al's BizEd/AACSB Insights over a decade, this study explores how business schools are dealing (or not) with sexism. We propose a typology of four categories of sexism in business schools: belligerent, benevolent, ambivalent, and oblivious sexism. Our findings contribute to understandings of institutional theory and the institutional development of business schools as important sites of (sexist and gendered) knowledge production and dissemination and entrenched inequalities. We posit that media constructions of sexism may better inform individual decisions, organizational development , and governance about the imperative to eliminate sexist behaviors and discrimination. We argue that business schools need to gain substantive legitimacy as effective role models by reforming themselves. They must actively tackle institutional and cultural sexism from within. Implications for practice include the effective inclusion of mandatory sexism reporting in international business school accreditation
... The vision of the United Nation's Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) is to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and contribute to creating a fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable world through responsible management education, research, and practice. It is a voluntary initiative with more than 860 members worldwide which includes Deans and Presidents of business schools as well as top management of large corporations (Weybrecht, 2022). It brings together the UN and business and management schools1 F 2 around the world to inspire and champion responsible management education, research, and practice globally through the application of six principles: purpose, values, method, research, partnership, and dialogue (PRME, 2016). ...
Research on IS solutions for environmental sustainability have evolved and produced a modest, but firm body of knowledge. Despite this progressive understanding about the potential of digital technologies in enabling environmental sustainability, our academic practices seem widely unaffected by these insights. The way we do research or conduct teaching is rarely influenced by sustainability considerations. For example, before the pandemic we many of us belonged to a hypermobile group that travelled 5-6 times more than the average employee, let alone the around 80% of the less-privileged human population that have never flown. Our research is also often not aligned with environmental goals and sustainability considerations play a minor role. We research and apply digital technologies without sufficiently acknowledging the significant amounts of energy they consume. Similarly, our teaching often focuses on the effective development and use of information systems; however, rebound, second order, or spillover effects are barely covered. Based on these observations we raise the question: Are we practicing enough of what we preach? While recognizing several efforts of IS researchers, we can no longer ignore the ‘environmental elephant in the room’. In our panel report, we discuss the status-quo and ideas to improve the environmental and societal impact of our academic practices and present three ideas to move forward: Leverage virtualization and limit air travel, overhaul teaching curricula, and recalibrate incentives and evaluation regimes.
... We call for sexism reporting requirements from the three main business school accreditation bodies (AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS) as well as national associations and rankings. Enablers to mobilize effective governance and strategies to resist sexism in the academy (Crimmins, 2019) are vital if business schools really are able to embed the UN's SDGs (Weybrecht, 2022) of decent work in their own cultures. Evidence-based implementation and evaluation of training workshops and gender plans to address sexism in the academy are vital to drive changes. ...
The legitimacy of business schools is based on rankings, revenues, branding, and opportunities to support staff and students ‘to make a difference in the world’. Yet sexism in business schools is endemic. Drawing on Acker’s inequality regimes framework and a thematic analysis of reports in Poets&Quants, EFMD’s Global Focus and AACSB International’s BizEd/AACSB Insights over a decade, this study explores how business schools are dealing (or not) with sexism. We propose a typology of four categories of sexism in business schools: belligerent, benevolent, ambivalent, and oblivious sexism. Our findings contribute to understandings of institutional theory and the institutional development of business schools as important sites of (sexist and gendered) knowledge production and dissemination and entrenched inequalities. We posit that media constructions of sexism may better inform individual decisions, organizational development, and governance about the imperative to eliminate sexist behaviours and discrimination. We argue that business schools need to gain substantive legitimacy as effective role models by reforming themselves. They must actively tackle institutional and cultural sexism from within. Implications for practice include effective inclusion of mandatory sexism reporting in international business school accreditation standards and rankings criteria as well as requirements for research funding.
... Taking such commitments seriously affects all aspects of business school value creation operations from physical infrastructure management or procurement, to employee and student commuting practices, and cafeteria meals, just to mention a few. Similarly, many schools have responded to the pressures to tackle the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by embedding them into all kinds of practices of the normal 'running' of business schools operations, including teaching and research practices, as well as business schools' administration (Weybrecht, 2021(Weybrecht, , 2022. For instance, Koç University collaborates with its holding companies, employees, dealers, and suppliers to solve social problems through each of their operations. ...
Purpose
This study aims to explore the social sustainability reporting (SR) of top European business schools to illustrate and discuss their practices and the associated challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
For the top 20 European business schools, content and thematic analyses were used to investigate reports concerning social sustainability and data from semi-structured interviews. Reports from the past three years (typology, framework, channels of communication and frequency) were analysed, including content on social issues in the past period and the challenges faced by managers regarding social SR.
Findings
Social SR in the top 20 European business schools is heterogeneous and the main challenges are the lack of specific frameworks and resources, the amount of data that must be collected and the complexity of measuring social impact. Diversity and equality, society issues, ethical integrity and human rights with respect to students, partners and organizations are the most relevant social contents.
Practical implications
Business schools need to debate ways of promoting social sustainability and to adapt procedures and technology to communicate their social sustainability strategies and impacts. It offers an improved understanding to regulatory institutions that can allow them to establish standards and a foundation for future research that can refine or generalize the findings of this study.
Social implications
Measuring and reporting social sustainability issues are relevant challenges for business schools that are working on social sustainability aspects.
Originality/value
The originality of this study lies in the discussion on current social SR practices at business schools, and their responsibilities regarding the development of a more sustainable society in a changing regulatory context.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore structural drivers and barriers that distinguish US business school Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) signatories from nonsignatory peer institutions, and identify structural drivers of PRME institution strategic integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their ongoing responsible management education reports.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a case–control method to compare the US PRME signatory sample to a size-matched random sample of US business management programs/schools. This study uses conditional inference tree and correlation analyses to highlight distinctive structural characteristics associated with US PRME signatories and with their strategies to highlight sustainability through the SDGs.
Findings
There are significant and practically meaningful structural differences between US-based PRME signatories and US programs/schools that have not adopted the PRME principles. Further, PRME schools differentially integrate SDGs in their information sharing based on structural characteristics.
Practical implications
Understanding school/program characteristics that align with PRME and different sustainability strategies affords a better comprehension of where targeted resources might be most effective in broadening the appeal and adoption of PRME and subsequent sustainability strategy integration.
Originality/value
While previous work on PRME signatories has depended heavily on case studies of successful implementation and has examined the content of PRME activity by school, the present work compares the population of actual US signatories with a random sample of nonsignatories to determine leverage points for enacting broader PRME adoption. The study also examines the strategies that PRME schools use to integrate the UN SDGs and the structures that support such.
Purpose
This study aims to clarify how higher educational institutions (HEI now onwards) can engage in organizational learning process to implementing sustainability initiatives. Through the case study of business school in France, it shows how sustainability integration is a longitudinal process, influenced by contextual factors which facilitate and impede the learning process. It aims to contribute to the literature of sustainability in higher education by bringing in insights from organizational learning theory.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses the case study method to analyze the sustainability integration over the specific period. To do so, data was compiled by analyzing internal documents, publicly available sustainability reports. Further data was also complimented by the interviews, which gave intra-organizational level insights.
Findings
The case highlights that organizational learning for sustainability is stimulated by deans, faculty and institute of sustainability. It provides insights about how designing and implementing sustainability initiatives within an HEI is not a fixed goal; on the contrary, it is an ongoing learning process. However, this learning is also prone to barriers due to the ambiguous nature of sustainability.
Research limitations/implications
This research was conducted within a specific time, geographical and cultural context; hence, its result may lack generalization. Further comparative research is encouraged to explore similarity and differences within different HEI settings.
Practical implications
This research also gives potential insights for developing contextual awareness to prioritize, design and implement sustainability initiatives. Thus, it may be useful for the HEI administrators such as deans, sustainability managers and faculty members.
Social implications
This case emphasizes that HEI like business schools need to expand their relevance via social responsibility. This could be done so by encouraging leadership to engage with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Originality/value
This research uses organizational learning theory to understand determinants of sustainability design and implementation at French HEI. In doing so, this research contributes macro-level process of sustainability integration of an HEI.
This chapter discusses the institutionalization of responsible management education (RME). We start by reviewing different types of institutional pressures that have shaped the diffusion of RME, and we also discuss the relevance of selected institutional entrepreneurs which have influenced the acceptance of RME as a legitimized social practice. The following section focuses on the current status of institutionalization by demonstrating that many schools only symbolically adopt RME and hence decouple their public commitments from actual implementation practices. We review different types of decoupling in the business school context and discuss what determines whether a school decouples or not. The final section takes a look into the future and outlines an agenda for forthcoming scholarly work in this area. This section also discusses in what ways educational and organizational practices can be improved to avoid decoupling and to therefore move more strongly towards substantive implementation of RME.
Purpose
– With more than 332 signatories, the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) is probably the most solid initiative to inspire and champion responsible business education globally. The purpose of this paper is to examine the activities undertaken by the first intake of signatories – universities and business schools – with regard to each of the six principles (offering a systematic analysis and “distilled” categorization of those initiatives). It also aims to evaluate the difficulties and tensions that may be entailed in integrating PRME in both the strategic intent and daily operations of educational institutions, and how to overcome some of these. Finally, it aims to offer a critical reflection on the “non‐compliance and non regulatory/measurement” nature of PRME (the initiative assumes that signatories act on the basis of principled pragmatism), offering suggestions for improving the reporting mechanism on which the whole initiative is based.
Design/methodology/approach
– The authors analyze the first 100 “Sharing Information on Progress” (SIP) reports uploaded to the PRME web site. These reports are the main mechanism established by the PRME Secretariat to build learning and accountability and allow signatories to communicate their progress. Elements from grounded theory and other qualitative analytical approaches were used to allow themes to emerge from within the (often messy and irregular) data from the reports. Graphical representations are also used.
Findings
– Activities undertaken by PRME signatories are portrayed for each of the six principles: principle 1 on purpose (capabilities of students); principle 2 on values (incorporated in curriculum and academic activities); principle 3 on learning approaches; principle 4 on research (with sustainable, social, environmental and economic value); principle 5 on partnership (interaction with business managers); and principle 6 on dialogue (among key stakeholders). Tensions regarding ideology, integration and implementation are also identified, as well as possible weaknesses, e.g. on integrity, quality and reporting policies, in the current “SIP” framework.
Originality/value
– This paper is the first scholarly work depicting comprehensively the activities of PRME signatories worldwide.
Purpose
This paper aims to explore if, and how, business schools globally have been engaging their students in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both inside and outside the classroom, since the SDGs were agreed upon in 2015 until mid-2020.
Design/methodology/approach
The data is collected from information submitted as part of reporting requirements to the United Nations Principle for Responsible Management Education over the time in question. This paper outlines the range of approaches being reported on which specifically relate to students and explicitly mention the SDGs.
Findings
The results show that although there are a growing number of innovative approaches that could become the basis for the way management education approaches the SDGs moving forward, the majority of schools are not engaging their students in the SDGs. Of those schools that are, most offer limited evidence of it being embedded into the core of what students are learning or of it being approached in an interdisciplinary way. Business graduates are not being exposed to the SDGs in a way that connects them to “business as usual”. This is a missed opportunity for the students, the universities and the global community, given the important influence that management education, and the business sector by extension, has the realisation of the goals.
Originality/value
The results can help inform and inspire higher education institutions to engage students in the SDGs. A methodology to measure the degree of engagement is presented, which can then be used as a tool to benchmark progress.
The Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) are being increasingly mainstreamed into business and management education to embed ethics, social responsibility, and sustainability issues in educational and operational practices. The purpose of this study is to analyze the Sharing Information Progress (SIP) reports of 38 third cycle PRME Champion group to explore their level of engagement with the PRME agenda. A PRME Integration Framework (PIF) is used to map, categorize, and compare a multitude of responsible management education (RME) integration components corresponding to six principles of PRME. Each component is supported with scholarly work to validate using PIF as a metrics to monitor progress towards a consistent level of RME integration and enhance the quality of future SIPs. The Framework offers a practical guide for business schools on their transformational journey to RME adoption. It allows flexibility to add new categories in response to future triple bottom line and humanitarian challenges. The study examines achievements, gaps, and challenges and suggests means of improving the RME adoption process and SIP reporting mechanism. Overall, content analysis of the SIP reports of the PRME Champion group conveys exemplar creative, innovative, and verifiable practices, yet some of the SIP reports suffer inconsistency, vagueness, and limited details of the RME implementation process and strategies. Future multi-stakeholder networking, collaboration, and shared resources could help realizing the full potentials of PRME.
The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call for action by all countries that provide a global framework for achieving global development while balancing social, economic, and environmental sustainability. SDGs are addressed to all actors in society, but both academia and professional recognize the particular importance of businesses. However, research is still needed to understand the role of companies as sustainable development agents. Relying on Scopus database consultation, the current research adopts an interdisciplinary systematic literature review to investigate, analyze, and present state‐of‐the‐art academic literature on the role of businesses in tackling SDGs. The final sample comprises 101 papers published between 2015 and 2020. It provides evidence that the main topics discussed by scholars are related to aspects of strategy execution. Recognizing different streams that are currently unexplored—despite strictly related to strategic business activities and to the sustainable development as a whole—the study provides many insights for future research on business and SDGs.
This study aims to offer a diagnostic of the “state-of-the-art” practices being reported throughout the Sharing Information Process (SIP) by the Champions Group, a group of schools that are signatories of the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME, a United Nations Global Compact initiative), committed to spearheading transformational change toward more socially and environmentally responsible leadership. The study also suggests an analytical model - based on qualitative research and documentary analysis of over 29 institutional reports from 18 business schools – to define the study sample, investigate data, identify patterns, organise and codify a large amount of information within all reports searched. The analytical model represents a framework in which the result is a collection of practices being reported, functioning as a useful guide and practical reference for higher educational institutions – signatory or otherwise – when promoting or advancing transformational change in their business model. The framework could also be valuable for Graduate Schools – or even Primary Schools to High Schools – considering the urgency of the 2030 Agenda, especially its 4.7 target, referred to as “An education for SD and global citizenship”.
Over 650 business schools worldwide have embraced the 2007 United Nations initiative, the Principles for Responsible Management Education. Proponents claim the initiative drives change and a fundamental rethinking of management education through questioning and the challenging of assumptions. Critical discussions of the Principles for Responsible Management Education have been slower to emerge, and this article contributes a necessary critique. We relate claims of questioning and social change to ideas of critical reflexivity, including those of Margaret Archer, who presents it as an open-ended process of deliberation, generating social transformation. In so doing, we ask whether the Principles for Responsible Management Education enables a critical reflexivity which might drive fundamental change in management education. Based on a critical discourse analysis of research data gathered in our UK business school, we answer this question in the negative, arguing that the Principles for Responsible Management Education, far from promoting critical reflexivity, operate as an ‘imaginary’ to inhibit critical reflexivity and to impose a particular agenda, limiting fundamental change. Rather it is resistance to the Principles for Responsible Management Education agenda and the availability of alternative imaginaries providing different meaning-making resources, which may contribute to a much needed rethinking of management education.
The subjectivity, complexity, and often competing interests of sustainable development have limited the effectiveness of integrating these important ideas into mainstream business strategy. With the adoption of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in January 2016, there are now global sustainability benchmarks that apply across diverse sectors and national contexts, allowing public and private organizations to orient and evaluate their activities, strategies, and business outcomes. However, it is not directly apparent where the advantage for business lies in pursuit of these actions within the prevailing economic paradigm, highlighting the need for new analytical frameworks and tools. Industrial ecology (IE) has been successfully used in engineering practice for decades and has been suggested as a method that can provide the concepts and methods necessary to bridge the gap between traditional business practice and sustainable development. To test this, literature bridging the fields of industrial ecology, business strategy, and sustainable development was collected and analyzed using the textual analysis software Leximancer™. The analysis showed that while the SDGs are primarily aimed at the national level, they also hold relevance for business through innovation, partnerships, and strategic positioning, inter alia. The analysis found that the integration of IE and business strategy is highly relevant for three of the SDGs, but captures elements of all 17 to varying degrees. IE has a strong focus on innovation and its potential in new markets, products, and business models. IE is also consciously aimed at the efficient use of energy and resources, ideas that are relevant to mitigating, adapting, and building resilience in a changing future, but are also relevant to traditional concepts of business strategy and competitive advantage. This paper shows that through the combination of IE and strategic management theory, commercial organizations can positively contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals while building competitive advantage.
The following paper is an exploration of what management education needs to consider in order to play this role, one that not only embeds sustainability and responsible management throughout, but that plays a crucial and active role on a global stage in moving the SDGs forward.
As well as UN Global Compact signatories are invited to adopt corporate social responsibility, the UN Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) encourage educational institutions to implement sustainability in their programs, promoting the development of globally responsible leaders. Aiming to collaborate to this network, this study investigates an example of how to implement the PRME and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the school curricula by describing the methodology developed by Brazilian business school ISAE – Higher Institute of Administration and Economics. Structured from the perspective of transdisciplinary education, the subject of Sustainability in Organizations encourages research, provides discussions in the classroom and stimulates collective knowledge by integrating students to the corporate world – enabling the construction of knowledge in a practical and transformative way. As a result, students obtain a high degree of involvement, increasing awareness on their role in society and participation as protagonists of the changes the world needs.
We analyse the Sharing in Progress (SIP) reports of 14 signatories to the United Nations' Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) to explore how reporting might be improved in ways that are both credible and useful for business schools and their stakeholders. We apply the broad principles of the G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines of the Global Reporting InitiativeTM, a widely used international reporting standard, to assess our sample's first and third reports in terms of content and quality. Our longitudinal analysis reveals some improvements in signatory reporting, including significant inclusion of stakeholders, expanded discussion of local and positive impact, timeliness in reporting and clarity of language. However, we find Champion reports include limited reporting of social and economic impact, challenges faced in PRME implementation, and information to facilitate comparability and external assessment of report reliability. We see potential for improving SIP reporting and offer suggestions in support of PRME's goals to promote continuous improvement, a learning community and useful progress reporting to stakeholders. We also present ideas for future research.
This paper examines the field of Responsible Management Education (RME) in the context of Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), situating the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (UN PRME) in relation to a range of associated initiatives and organisations using a light, Bourdieusian theoretical framing. The emergence of the SDGs as a frame or doxa for RME and the role of UN PRME as an agent in this field is explored in the context of the literature on how business schools have delivered on sustainability and responsibility imperatives. The field of RME is partially mapped, loosely categorising actors and initiatives as membership or affiliation networks, teaching and learning initiatives and student-centred or student-led groups. Their differing aspirations are discussed, and tentative conclusions are drawn on the extent to which the SDGs are acting as a unifying paradigm, and on the future roles that UN PRME may play in the field.
Proponents of the transformative potential of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) claim that their adoption could lead to a “paradigm change” in business schools, thus addressing many of the sustained critiques of the sector in recent years. However, this claim and the PRME themselves have to date not been subjected to systematic scrutiny from a Critical Management Education perspective. Applying a critical discourse analysis methodology, this article evaluates how business schools and management education are positioned in key PRME documentation and the Sharing Information on Progress reports of U.K. business school signatories to the PRME. A key finding is that the PRME discourse assumes and promotes a problematic understanding of management education that includes a positioning of business schools as servants of the corporate sector. The impact of this and other assumptions undermines any “paradigm change” claim. Conclusions identify potential discursive and organizational strategies to nurture a more critical, learning-centered PRME discourse.
Purpose The main aim of this research is to understand how business schools have transformed (or have not transformed) themselves to adopt a sustainability and social responsibility paradigm.
Scope Sustainability and social responsibility have been crucial concepts to
overcome the world's challenging problems. Business schools should care about the world's critical issues, as their graduates play an important role as the initiators and managers of the global society. Therefore, a global transformation is needed in mainstream business education. At the beginning
of the 21st century, a step towards transformation is taking place in global modern business and management education, in many universities. PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) is one of the transformation platforms providing guidelines and a learning network to universities
voluntarily involved.
Methodology In this study, a qualitative approach is used to analyse the reports, presenting the organised functions and efforts of changing universities, submitted to PRME in 2012. To understand the dimensions of the educational transformation globally, content
analysis has been conducted on 50 reports of selected university business schools.
Findings Schools presented in the research make efforts to teach sustainability and responsibility issues. However, only half of the schools reflect full personal and corporate ethics in their corporate
mission. Consequently, the transformation for sustainability and social responsibility of business schools needs more emphasis.
The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) are credited with encouraging business schools to strengthen their engagement with sustainability. This claim is examined to distinguish how far PRME is changing the willingness to address sustainability compared with gaining from a context in which business schools are already incorporating sustainability in some or all the areas potentially affected by PRME: teaching, research, engagement and operational practice. The study draws on evidence from a comparison with other sustainability principles promoted to the higher education sector, an evaluation of sharing information on progress reports and a survey of PRME signatories. It concludes that, to date, support for PRME is mainly to gain recognition for existing activities rather than a step toward deeper engagement with sustainability.
The expectation that management education institutions should be leading thought and action on issues related to corporate responsibility and sustainability has been reinforced in the light of their association with business leaders’ failings, including corporate corruption, the financial crisis and various ecological system crises. The United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative is an important catalyst for the transformation of management education and a global initiative to change and reform management education in order to meet the increasing societal demands for responsible business. This paper introduces the initiative and illustrates progress made by PRME signatories drawing upon analysis of their self-presentations in their Sharing Information on Progress (SIP) reports. The paper synthesizes the studies’ findings and concludes with some thoughts on current and future directions and prospects of the initiative