Is management education preparing future leaders for sustainable business?

Abstract

Purpose The study aims to examine whether management education can successfully cultivate the competency of empathy that is needed in future corporate leaders to promote sustainability initiatives catering to diverse stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach The research highlights the impact of management education on cognitive and affective empathy by analysing the interpersonal reflectivity scores of entering students enrolled in a two-year, full-time MBA programme and the scores of the same students at graduation. Findings The findings show that management education has a positive impact on cognitive empathy, while it reduces affective empathy and general empathy. Further, findings show that the management curriculum brings cognitive and affective empathy to an equilibrium level that is needed for a competitive business environment. Research limitations/implications The research focussed only on the change in empathy of the participants (students) during management education and not during actual corporate work. Practical implications The research infers that current management education creates future executives with higher cognitive empathy. It argues that they would care more about the sustainability of the business in terms of profit or access to capital rather than care and concern for all the stakeholders, society and the environment. A new paradigm in management education also needs to be focussed around inculcating how to empathise affectively. Originality/value The study presents an empirical analysis suggesting that management education is opening the mind but not the heart. It raises a significant concern that higher management curriculum is not developing future executives who can lead the sustainability initiatives.

Transnational universities, host communities and local residents: social impacts, university social responsibility and campus sustainability

“…However, as large footprint projects, many universities (campus, staff and students) may have caused the physical displacement of pre-existing residents and are likely to create various environmental and social impacts that affect the host community over time (Posner and Stuart, 2013; Vanclay, 2017a). Like all organizations, universities are expected to meet various international standards (Vanclay and Hanna, 2019), international agreements relating to higher education (Marathe et al , 2020) and contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Leal Filho, 2020). Transnational universities are somewhat different from domestic universities in various ways, including in management philosophy, financing arrangements and source of students (Wilkins and Huisman, 2012; Feng, 2013; Wilkins, 2017).…”

Managing ICT for Sustainable Education: Research Analysis in the Context of Higher Education

“…From the perspective of this study, that is, the management of ICT for sustainable education in the context of HE, the primary objective of the management is to increase the optimal results of an institution based on the: (i) strategy; (ii) culture, that is, the values of the institution; (iii) structure, understood as actions to promote cooperation, to design ways to share knowledge, or to put the best qualified people at the forefront of initiatives; and (iv) execution, which refers to making appropriate and timely decisions, promoting improved productivity, and meeting the needs of consumers [46][47][48].…”

The transforming generation: increasing student awareness about the effects of economic decisions on sustainability

“…This might explain why student awareness about sustainability issues is far from homogeneous (Kuthe et al, 2019), but at the same time, it highlights the potential complexity involved in increasing awareness about social, economic and environmental concerns among students (Kolleck, 2019). From this perspective, students need to learn not only how to transform innovative ideas into real projects but also to successfully combine environmental, social and financial objectives (Marathe et al, 2020). This is particularly relevant for economics, business and management study plans, as they need to be adapted to effectively address the connection between key IJSHE 22,5 economic sectors, social needs and the SDGs (Adomßent et al, 2014;Stafford-Smith et al, 2017;Coleman and Gould, 2019;Delgado et al, 2019;Marathe et al, 2020).…”

“…From this perspective, students need to learn not only how to transform innovative ideas into real projects but also to successfully combine environmental, social and financial objectives (Marathe et al, 2020). This is particularly relevant for economics, business and management study plans, as they need to be adapted to effectively address the connection between key IJSHE 22,5 economic sectors, social needs and the SDGs (Adomßent et al, 2014;Stafford-Smith et al, 2017;Coleman and Gould, 2019;Delgado et al, 2019;Marathe et al, 2020). To do so, it is essential to adopt pedagogical praxes based on a critical view regarding the effects of economic decisions from a global perspective, including different world views and narratives to capture diversity (Sund and Pashby, 2020).…”