Content trends in sustainable business education: an analysis of introductory courses in the USA

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to identify the content in introductory business sustainability courses in the USA to determine the most frequently assigned reading material and its sustainability orientation. Design/methodology/approach In total, 81 introductory sustainable business course syllabi reading lists were analyzed from 51 US colleges and universities. The study utilized frequency counts for authors and readings and R analysis of key words to classify readings along the sustainability spectrum. Findings The study reveals the most frequently assigned authors and readings in US sustainable business courses (by program type) and places them along the sustainability spectrum from weak to strong. In total, 55 per cent of the top readings assigned in the sample advocate a weak sustainability paradigm, and 29 per cent of the top readings advocate a strong sustainability paradigm. Research limitations/implications This study focused on reading lists of introductory courses in the USA; cases, videos and supplemental materials were excluded, and the study does not analyze non-US courses. Practical implications The findings of this study can inform instructors of the most commonly assigned authors and readings and identify readings that align with weak sustainability and strong sustainability. Instructors are now able to select sustainable business readings consistent with peers and which advance a weak or strong sustainability orientation. Originality/value This is the first research to identify the most commonly assigned authors and readings to aid in course planning. This is also the first research to guide instructors in identifying which readings represent weak versus strong sustainability.

Identifying Worldviews on Corporate Sustainability: A Content Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reports

“…The emphasis of all the reports aligned with the Business‐Centered stage of corporate sustainability to reveal that the business case emerges as the most prominent worldview within our sample. These findings support prior claims that (1) corporate sustainability is driven by corporate interests (Banerjee, ; Delmas and Burbano, ; Dyllick and Muff, ; Jacobs, ; Kallio, ; Landrum and Ohsowski, ; Roome, ; Russo and Minto, ; Schnaiberg et al ., ; Sexton et al ., ; Shrivastava, ; Stead and Stead, ), (2) corporate sustainability is rooted in weak sustainability (Davies, ; Gladwin et al ., ; Ihlen and Roper, ; Spash, ) and (3) the GRI fails to meaningfully consider environmental and social impacts (see, e.g., Azcárate et al ., ; Fonseca, ; Gray and Bebbington, ; Gray and Milne, ; McElroy, ; Moneva et al ., ). As shown across all sectors and sub‐sectors, an ecocentric emphasis (Stages 4, Regenerative, and 5, Coevolutionary) that highlights environmental awareness is near absent from both GRI guidelines and all (GRI and non‐GRI) corporate sustainability reports.…”

“…The business case for sustainability, which represents a weak sustainability worldview, is firmly entrenched in the technocentric worldview of man's exploitation and control over nature (O'Riordan, ). These findings provide empirical data to confirm claims that corporate sustainability is driven by the business benefits it brings to the corporation (Banerjee, ; Delmas and Burbano, ; Dyllick and Muff, ; Hockerts, ; Jacobs, ; Kallio, ; Karnani, ; Landrum and Ohsowski, ; Milne and Gray, ; Roome, ; Russo and Minto, ; Schnaiberg et al ., ; Sexton et al ., ; Shrivastava, ; Stead and Stead, ). Furthermore, this study provides empirical data to confirm claims that corporate sustainability is deeply rooted in the weak sustainability paradigm (Davies, ; Gladwin et al ., ; Ihlen and Roper, ; Spash, ).…”

“…This model has been used in categorizing reading content of introductory sustainable business courses (Landrum and Ohsowski, ) and serves as a framework in the current study for categorizing the rhetoric of corporate sustainability reports. This approach provides insight into the company's understanding of sustainability and points to the company's stage of maturity in corporate sustainability, which in urn, will ultimately define the corporate actions taken.…”

Educating for a Sustainability Mindset

“…Other scholars have articulated this more ambitious level of behavior (e.g., Landrum & Ohsowski, 2017) by describing a continuum of weak to strong sustainability. Weak sustainability places an economic value on natural resources and is open to compensating their depletion with economic ones.…”

The Impact of Flipped Learning on Cooperative and Competitive Mindsets

“…Business education seems still immature for teaching these trends to improve socio-environmental performance beyond economic performance, such as the paradoxical coopetition promoting cooperation between the competing firms [21]. Schools are still used to teaching business as a "zero-sum" or "winner takes all" game and lack experience in considering it from the wider view of corporate sustainability.…”