Abstract
Our literature review reveals a call for changes in business education to encourage responsible management. The Principles for Responsible Management Education were developed in 2007 under the coordination of the United Nations Global Compact, AACSB International, and other leading academic institutions for the purpose of promoting responsible management in education. Literature review shows that responsible management as such remains undefined. This gap in literature leads potentially to an absence of clarity in research, education, and management, regarding responsible management among scholars and practitioners. The aim of this research is to develop a preliminary definition of responsible management, exploring the use of the term in literature and practice. Its objective is to define the main characteristics of responsible management aimed at creating a platform for discussion so as to help organizations clarify their own vision of responsible management. It builds on preliminary findings from literature review that responsible management remains undefined. As business school students are primary stakeholders in management education and are future management leaders, and as there have not been empirical studies to date that examine business school students’ understanding of responsible management, a qualitative study was conducted with European business school students concerning their understanding of the term. A framework summarizing perceptions of responsible management characteristics and broad approach of responsible management definition were created and used to introduce a draft theoretical platform for discussion on this topic.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Author translation: «on peut définir le manager responsable comme un manager qui n’est plus irresponsable… ouvert sur le monde extérieur, citoyen, proche de ses collaborateurs, mais qui gère également des mesures économiques: autant dire que son profil est polymorphe et par là-même complexe» (Fray and Soparnot 2010, p. 127).
Abbreviations
- CDA:
-
Critical discourse analysis
- MBA:
-
Master of business administration
- MSc:
-
Master of social sciences
- PRME:
-
Principles for responsible management education
- CSR:
-
Corporate social responsibility
References
AACSB International (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). (2005). The business school ranking dilemma. AACSB International: Tampa, FL
Ackoff, R., & Greenberg, D. (2008). Turning learning right side up. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Alcaraz, J., & Thiruvattal, E. (2010). An interview with Manuel Escudero: The United Nations principles for responsible management education: A global call for sustainability. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 9, 542–550.
Al-Jarf, R. (2009, April 2009). Enhancing freshman students’ writing skills with a mind mapping software. Paper presented at 5th International Scientific Conference, eLearning and Software for Education, Bucharest, April 2009.
Amman, W., Kerrets Makau, M., Fenton, P., Zackariasson, P., & Tripathi, S. (2012). New perspectives on management education. New Delhi: Excel Books.
Asselineau, A. & Piré-Lechalard, P. (2008). Développement durable et entreprise responsable, voie pour l’innovation de rupture? Cahier de recherche Groupe ESC Clermont (pp. 8–22).
Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16, 315–338.
Avram, D. O., & Kühne, S. (2008). Implementing responsible business behavior from a strategic management perspective: Developing a framework for Austrian SMEs. Journal of Business Ethics, 82(2), 463–475.
Bendell, J. (2007). World review. The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 28, 4–14.
Bennis, W., & O’Toole, J. (2005). How business schools lost their way. Harvard Business Review, 83(5), 96–105.
Brightman, J. R. (2003, May 2003). Mapping methods for qualitative data structuring (QDS). Paper presented at the Strategies in Qualitative Research: Methodological Issues and Practices Using QSR NVivo and NUD*IST Conference, London, UK.
Burgess, T., & Shaw, N. (2010). Editorial board membership of management and business journals: A social network analysis study of the Financial Times 40. British Journal of Management, 21, 627–648.
Campbell, J. L. (2007). Why should corporations behave in socially responsible ways? An institutional theory of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review, 32, 946–967.
Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate social responsibility: Evolution of a definitional construct. Business and Society, 38, 268–295.
Chesnut, M. (2010). The evolution of MBA education. Latin Trade, 18(2), 60–66.
Christensen, L., Peirce, E., Hartman, L., Hoffman, M., & Carrier, J. (2007). Ethics, CSR, and sustainability education in the Financial Times Top 50 global business schools: Baseline data and future research directions. Journal of Business Ethics, 73(4), 347–368.
Cossette, P. (1994). Cartes cognitives et organisations. Paris: ESKA.
Cowe, R. (2000). Black hole in the MBA curriculum. The Guardian. Accessed September 28, 2013, from http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2000/feb/19/features.jobsmoney14.
Crossan, M., Mazutis, D., Seijts, G., & Gandz, J. (2013). Developing leadership character in business programs. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12, 285–305.
Deloitte, (2016). The Deloitte Millennial survey 2016. Accessed March 15, 2016, from http://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/gx-millennials-how-to-earn-millennials-loyalty.html#purpose.
Denning, S. (2013). The management revolution that’s already happening, Forbes. Accessed September 28, 2013, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2013/05/30/the-management-revolution-thats-already-happening.
Doh, J. P., & Stumpf, S. A. (2005). Towards a framework of responsible leadership and governance. In J. P. Doh & S. A. Stumpf (Eds.), Handbook on responsible leadership and governance in global business (pp. 3–18). Glos: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with forks: The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Oxford: Capstone.
Etzioni, A. (2002). When it comes to ethics, B-schools get an F. The Washington Post. Accessed September 28, 2013, from http://amitaietzioni.org/documents/B399.pdf.
European Commission. (2011). The Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions—A renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility. Accessed June 30, 2015, from http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sustainable-business/files/csr/new-csr/act_en.pdf.
Fairclough, N., & Holes, C. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. London: Longman.
Fisher, J. (2004). Social responsibility and ethics: Clarifying the concepts. Journal of Business Ethics, 52(4), 391–400.
Fougères, M., Solitander, N., & Young, S. (2014). Exploring values in management education: Problematizing final vocabularies in order to enhance moral imagination. Journal of Business Ethics, 120(2), 175–187.
Fray, A.-M., & Soparnot, R. (2010). Le manager responsable. In J.-M. Perreti, F. De Bry, & J. Igalens (Eds.), Ethique et responsabilité sociale, 78 experts témoignent (Chap.15). Paris: EMS.
Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Fry, L. W., & Slocum, J. W, Jr. (2008). Maximizing the triple bottom line through spiritual leadership. Organizational Dynamics, 37, 86–96.
Garriga, E., & Melé, D. (2004). Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the territory. Journal of Business Ethics, 53(1–2), 51–71.
Garten, J. E. (2005). Business schools: Only a C+ in ethics. Business Week. Accessed September 28, 2013, from http://businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_36/b3949138.htm.
Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (2nd ed.). London: Taylor & Francis.
Gee, J. P. (1999). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. London and New York: Routledge.
Gee, J. P. (2009). Discourse analysis: What makes it critical? Accessed June 28, 2015, from http://www.jamespaulgee.com/node/11.
Goshal, S. (2005). Bad management is destroying good management practices. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4, 75–91.
Gosling, J., & Mintzberg, H. (2004). The education of practicing managers. Sloan Management Review, 45, 19–22.
Habisch, A., Jonker, J., Wegner, M., & Schmidpeter, R. (2005). Corporate social responsibility across Europe. Berlin: Springer.
Hazlehurst, J. (2011). Do the rankings really help you choose an MBA? Management Today MBA & Business Education Guide Spring.
Hibbert, P., & Cunliffe, A. (2015). Responsible management: Engaging moral reflexive practice through threshold concepts. Journal of Business Ethics, 127(1), 177–188.
Hilliard, I. (2013). Responsible management, incentive systems, and productivity. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(2), 365–377.
Holland, K. (2009). Is it time to retain business schools? The New York Times. Accessed September 28, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/business/15schools.html?_r=3&ref=business.
Holt, R. (2006). Principles and practice: Rhetoric and the moral character of managers. Human Relations, 59(2), 1659–1680.
Jacobi, D., Boquillon, M., & Prévost, P. (1994). Les représentations spatiales de concepts scientifiques: Inventaires et diversité. Didskalia, 5, 11–24.
Jeannings, M. (1999). What’s happening in business schools? The Public Interest 137 Fall. Accessed September 29, 2013, from http://www.nationalaffairs.com/public_interest/detail/whats-happening-in-business-schools.
Kaptein, M., & Yip, G. (2011). The future of business school research: The need for dual research methodologies. In: Morsing, M., & A., Sauquet Rovira (Eds.) Business schools and their contribution to society (pp. 125–132). London: Sage.
Kedge Business School. (2009). Responsible Managers, valuing diversity. Retrieved from, http://www.euromed-management.com/en/RESEARCH%20%2526%20VISION/Responsible%20Managers.
Kelley, S., & Nahser, R. (2014). Developing sustainable strategies: Foundations, method, and pedagogy. Journal of Business Ethics, 123(4), 631–644.
Kernis, M. (2003). Towards a conceptualization of optimal self-esteem. Psychological Inquiry, 14, 1–26.
Klonoski, R. J. (1991). Foundational considerations in the corporate social responsibility debate. Business Horizons, 34(4), 9–18.
Koehn, D. (1995). A role of virtue ethics in the analysis of business practice. Business Ethics Quaterly, 5(3), 533–539.
Laws, K., Mc Leod, R. (2006). Case study and grounded theory: Sharing some alternative qualitative research methodologies with systems professionals. Accessed September 28, 2013, from http://www.systemdynamics.org/conferences/2004/SDS_2004/PAPERS/220MCLEO.pdf.
Levinson, S. C. (2000). Presumptive meanings: The theory of generalized conversational implicature. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Lourdel, N. (2005). Méthodes Pédagogiques et Représentation de la Compréhension du Développement Durable: Application à la Formation des Elèves Ingénieurs. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des mines de Saint Etienne and Université Jean Monnet de Saint Etienne, France.
Lu, X., & Koehn, D. (2015). On responsibility in China: Understanding and practice. Journal of Business Ethics, 127(3), 607–622.
Maak, T., & Pless, N. M. (2006). Responsible leadership in a stakeholder society: A relational perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 66(1), 99–115.
Marshall, J. (2011). Turn green from the inside. Sunday Times. Accessed June 30, 2015, from http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/Appointments/article792848.ece.
Marshall, J., Coleman, G., & Reason, P. (2011). Leadership for sustainability: An action research approach. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing.
Martell Sotomayor, J. (2011). Socially responsible business schools: A proposed model. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, ESADE Business School, Barcelona.
Martin, R. (2011). Fixing the game: Bubbles, crashes and what capitalism can learn from the NFL. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
McDonough, W., & Braungart, M. (2002). Cradle to cradle. New York: North Point Press.
McGrath, R. G. (2013). The end of competitive advantage. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press.
McWilliams, A., Siegel, D. S., & Wright, P. M. (2006). Corporate social responsibility: Strategic implications. Journal of Management Studies, 43, 1–18.
Meijs, L. C. P. M. (2003). Making money while making a difference: How to profit with a non-profit partner. Corporate Reputation Review, 6(3), 291–295.
Melé, D. (2008). Corporate social responsibility theories. In A. Crane, A. McWilliams, D. Matten, J. Moon, & D. Siegel (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility (pp. 47–82). New York: Oxford University Press.
Mintzberg, H. (2004). Managers not MBAs: A hard look at the soft practice of managing and management development. San Francisco: Berret-Kohler.
Murray, S. (2013). MBA teaching urged to move away from focus on shareholder primacy model. Financial Times. Accessed September 28, 2013, from http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/e392f12c-adac-11e2-82b8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3eOfQWUOf.
Navarro, P. (2008). The MBA core curricula of top-ranked US business schools: A study in failure? Academy of Management Learning and Education, 7, 108–123.
Nonet, G. (2013). Responsible management and business schools: Analysis of the schools strategy and the education. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Université de Montpellier, France.
Nonet, G., Kassel, K., & Rodhain, F. (2015). How do Business Schools support internal innovation and work on their strategy and their reputation? The case of responsible management. Journal of Innovation Economic & Management, 17(2), 69–98.
O’Tool, J., & Bennis, W. (2009). What’s needed next: A culture of candor. Harvard Business Review, 87(6), 54–61.
Osiemo, L. B. (2012). Developing responsible leaders: The University at the service of the person. Journal of Business Ethics, 108(2), 131–143.
Petrick, J. A. (2011). Sustainable stakeholder capitalism: A moral vision of responsible global financial risk management. Journal of Business Ethics, 99(Suppl. 1), 93–109.
Pfeffer, J., & Fong, C. (2002). The end of business schools? Less success than meets the eye. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 1, 78–95.
Pless, N. M., & Maak, T. (2011). Responsible leadership: Pathways to the future. Journal of Business Ethics, 98(Suppl. 1), 3–13.
Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). (2007). UN Principles for responsible management education. Accessed October 13, 2013, from http://www.unprme.org/the-6-principles/index.php.
Rest, J. R. (1986). Moral development: Advances in research and theory. New York: Praeger.
Rodriguez, P., Siegel, D. S., Hillman, A., & Eden, L. (2006). Three lenses on the multinational enterprise: Politics, corruption, and corporate social responsibility. Journal of International Business Studies, 37, 733–746.
Rusinko, C. (2010). Integrating sustainability in management and business education: A matrix approach. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 9, 443–455.
Schwartz, B., & Kenneth, S. (2010). Practical wisdom: The right way to do the right thing. New York: Riverhead Books.
Segal, S. (2011). A Heideggerian perspective on the relationship between Mintzberg’s distinction between engaged and disconnected management: The role of uncertainty in management. Journal of Business Ethics, 103(3), 469–483.
Senge, P., Scharmer, C., Jaworski, J., & Flowers, B. (2004). Awakening faith in an alternative future: A consideration of presence: Human purpose and the field of the future. Reflections, 5(7), 1–11.
Shelley, M. (2006). Empiricism. In F. W. English (Ed.), Encyclopedia of educational leadership and administration (pp. 338–339). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc.
Silver, S. (2012). Banking: Changed climate leads to revamped curriculums. Financial Times. Accessed June 28, 2015, from http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/29fad844-aa59-11e1-899d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1zZvGumtI.
Soini, K. (2001). Exploring human dimensions of multifunctional landscapes through mapping and map-making. Landscape and Urban Planning, 57, 225–239.
Solitander, N., Fougeres, M., Sobczak, A., & Herlin, H. (2012). We are the champions: Organizational learning and change for responsible management education. Journal of Management Education, 36, 337–363.
Stead, J., & Stead, W. (2010). Sustainability comes to management education and research: A story of coevolution. Academy of Management Learning & education, 9, 488–497.
Stefano, S., & Wasylyshyn, K. (2005). Integrity, courage, empathy (ICE): Three leadership essentials. Human Resource Planning, 28(4), 5–7.
Stiglitz, J. (2009). America, free markets, and the sinking of the world economy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Stiglitz, J. (2012). The price of inequality: How today’s divided society endangers our future. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Thomas, K. W. (1977). Towards multi-dimensional values in teaching: The example of conflict behaviors. Academy of Management Review, 2, 484–490.
Triomphe, C. (2010). Eve Chiapello: long terme de l’éducation et court-terme des entreprises. Metis, correspondances européennes du travail. Accessed September 28, 2013, from http://www.metiseurope.eu/eve-chiapello-long-terme-de-l-education-et-court-terme-des-entreprises_fr_70_art_28696.html.
Waddock, S. (2007). Leadership Integrity in a fractured knowledge world. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 6, 543–557.
Waddock, S., & Lozano, J. (2013). Developing more holistic management education: Lessons learned from two programs. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12, 265–284.
Wals, A. (2010). Mirroring Gestaltswitching and transformative social learning: Stepping stones for developing sustainability competence. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 11(3), 380–390.
Webber, A. M. (2009). MBA’s swearing in vain. Forbes. Accessed September 28, 2013, from http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/19/mba-swear-vain-intelligent-technology-webber.html.
Williams, C., & Aiguilera, R. (2008). Corporate social responsibility in a comparative perspective. In A. Crane, A. McWilliams, D. Matten, J. Moon, & D. S. Siegel (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility (pp. 453–472). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Windsor, D. (2006). Corporate social responsibility: Three key approaches. Journal of Management Studies, 43, 93–114.
Wodak, R. (2001). What CDA is about. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 1–14). London: Sage.
Wood, D. (1991). Corporate social performance revisited. Academy of Management Review, 16, 691–718.
Young, S., & Nagpal, S. (2013). Meeting the growing demand for sustainability-focused management education: A case study of a PRME academic Institution. Higher Education Research and Development, 32, 493–506.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Appendices
Appendices
Appendix 1: Extract of the Language-in-Use for Responsible Management from HEC-Alter Management Master Classroom Setting and Compared to Existing Literature
Planet | # Average words worrwords | Economic | # Average words | Social | # Average words | Governance, transversal & systemic understanding | # Average words | Knowing | Doing | # Average words | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
School HEC | Environment, sustainability | Strategy, shareholder, management, business, innovation | Equality, diversity, welfare, international, stakeholders | Leadership & vision, Legal, future generations, inclusiveness | Critical thinking | Research & education & references | Importance of experience, acting upon | |||||||
Student 1 | Sustainable projects, sustainable development, ecological impact, environment taken in account | 10 | Green company, local production & local partnership, stop outsourcing | 9 | Human resources & hiring, diversity, discrimination | 6 | CSR, long-term vision | 4 | Not only communication & image | 5 | Business administration | 2 | Real projects | 2 |
Student 2 | 0 | Change, social economy, new | 4 | Multi-dimensional, Human place inside companies, solidarity | 7 | CSR, companies, NGOs intertwined | 4 | Critical thinking, questioning | 3 | 0 | 0 | |||
Student 3 | Green, ecology, sustainable development | 4 | Change, transformations, entrepreneurship | 3 | Society, social, social impact | 4 | Europe | 1 | Thinking, walk the talk vs talk the walk | 8 | Research, studies, CNRS | 3 | 0 | |
Student 4 | Planet, humans and animals, protection, sustainable development | 7 | Micro credit, change consequences analysis, innovation | 6 | General interest, social impact, social business | 6 | External and internal impact, in & outside the company | 9 | 0 | Mohamed Yunus, Patagonia | 3 | 0 | ||
Student 5 | Environment, sustainable development | 3 | Fair revenues for all | 4 | Access to consumption for all, share, social integration | 8 | Europe, alter-globalization, new types of growth, transport, train, world institution | 10 | Wild capitalism, capitalism crisis | 4 | Business history, Fordism consequences, business history, José Bové | 8 | 0 | |
Student 6 | Environment, pollution, future, carbon footprint | 5 | Fair trade, cooperative, green technologies, micro credit, HR, employees & working conditions | 12 | Culture, social link, society, social firms, disabled employees, social impact | 10 | Profit distribution, stakeholders, unions, international | 5 | Finance & dangers, gender & other discriminations | 7 | Max Havelaar, education, Emmaüs | 4 | 0 | |
Student 7 | Ecosystem, sustainability, sustainable development | 4 | Improvement, new models, change actors, HR | 6 | Human | 1 | Future generations | 2 | 0 | Education | 1 | 0 | ||
Student 8 | Environment at work, water, energy, paper, waste, sustainable development, media, consumers, society | 12 | Initiative undertaker, efficiency, competitive hedge, value chain, suppliers choice | 9 | Single mothers help, social integration & young unemployed, culture, flexible schedule for parents, child care at work, access for disabled, less hierarchy, family spirit | 24 | Children | 1 | Greenwashing? | 1 | Education for all | 3 | 0 | |
Student 9 | Environmental issues, ecology, climate, plastic pollution | 6 | Change, innovation projects, micro credit, financial interest | 7 | Human interests, local initiatives | 4 | CSR, geography | 2 | Planet Finance, marketing, unclear motivations, image | 6 | M. Yunus, Bangladesh, Danone, yoghurt | 5 | 0 | |
Student 10 | Ecology, sustainable management | 3 | To innovate, HR | 3 | Social cohesion, poverty | 3 | Long-term, final goal, balanced growth | 6 | Quality importance and balance with quantity, discrimination, not enough money for quality, problem | 13 | 0 | 0 | ||
Sum | 15 | 83 | 14 | 78 | 18 | 102 | 16 | 76 | 13 | 74 | 13 | 52 | 1 | 2 |
% | 83 % | 6 | 78 % | 6 | 100 % | 6 | 89 % | 5 | 72 % | 6 | 72 % | 4 | 6 % | 2 |
Triple bottom line | 87 % | |||||||||||||
Appendix 2: Summary Responses: Percentage Total Answers/Category & Average Words/Student
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nonet, G., Kassel, K. & Meijs, L. Understanding Responsible Management: Emerging Themes and Variations from European Business School Programs. J Bus Ethics 139, 717–736 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3149-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3149-z