Bolstering responsible management education through the sustainable development goals: Three perspectives

Abstract

Acknowledging the roles and responsibilities of business in society and the importance of realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), contemporary management education is characterized by the integration of a rich palette of initiatives in the field of Responsible Management Education (RME). It is important though to recognize that these initiatives, however laudable, so far represent rather basic, and thus insufficient, ways of truly integrating sustainability into management education. This Provocation to Debate essay therefore identifies three perspectives for bolstering RME through the SDGs: (1) addressing the fact that SDGs incorporate trade-offs, tensions, and paradoxes; (2) realizing the SGDs implies engaging in systemic activism; and (3) embracing the SDGs comes with emotional affect. As such, this essay is an invitation to critically reflect on the roles and contents of management education in spurring sustainable development and to engage in a meaningful discussion about the value and the limitations of the SDGs for advancing the RME agenda.

Advancing SDG competencies in higher education: exploring an interdisciplinary pedagogical approach

“…Integrating SDGs into course curricula challenges the predominant notions about how to create awareness and introduce an understanding of the SDGs in students' interpersonal and strategic competencies (Wiek et al, 2011). Hence, for the learning setting to develop, teachers need to go beyond the traditional ways of instruction; specifically, they have to be Moratis and Melissen (2021). Bolstering responsible management education through the SDGs: three perspectives…”

“…Thus, the literature on the role of pedagogical and interdisciplinary approaches presents a gap regarding how to advance sustainability competencies. Moratis and Melissen (2021) argued that the SDGs should not lead to educational "cherry-picking," instead of leading to "realizing and truly accounting for the trade-offs, SDG competencies in higher education tensions and paradoxes that can be found in business-society relationships" (p. 5). This highlights that HEIs need to adopt innovative interdisciplinary approaches to advance the understanding of SDGs.…”

Interweaving positive and critical perspectives in management learning and teaching

“…Such a shift means abandoning the implicit or explicit assumption that acting ethically will necessarily pay off. Socio-ecological well-being lies beyond green business development that may amount to mere green washing (Moratis and Melissen, 2021). The “value-in-diversity” lies beyond instrumentality and reductionistic definitions where the “everyone is diverse” approaches may conceal rather than reveal systemic racism (Roberts, 2020).…”

Animal activism in the business school: Using fierce compassion for teaching critical and positive perspectives

“…Our approach of refusing business education-as-it-is is a form of 'systematic activism' (Moratis and Melissen, 2021) as it questions industry actions through a series of layers to expose and reflect on disturbing and complex issues. The goal is to instil information as well as to embrace affective awareness in students as future decision-makers both in professional and private spaces.…”

“…The burning challenge for business schools is to ‘own up to the role we play in creating the problems that society now faces through the courses we teach, the theories we espouse, and the values we profess’ (Hoffman, 2021a: 515) and accordingly, this article argues that large-scale animal food production presents one such burning challenge. Many students (and teachers), however, are unprepared for the potential angst that may result from exposure to and engagement with large-scale ethical and social problems (Moratis and Melissen, 2021), which means courage (Worline, 2012) and support is needed to handle complex issues of ethics (Singer, 2002), social justice (Hooks, 1994), and engaging in compassionate behaviours (Lilius et al, 2011); qualities needed for reimagining ‘business education as if people and the planet really matter’ (Hoffman, 2021a).…”