A review of responsible management education: practices, outcomes and challenges

Abstract

Purpose

Research on management education (ME) over the past 2 decades signals a growing level of concern in response to increasing societal demands for ethical, responsible and sustainable considerations in management decisions in light of the current economic situation. The purpose of this paper is to review extant literature on responsible management education (RME) over the past decade.

Design/methodology/approach

The author carried out a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed publications, which were mapped and analysed according to the following six categories: (1) types of papers, (2) geographical context, (3) RME purpose, (4) strategies, (5) intended outcomes and (6) challenges. The analysis resulted in a descriptive overview of article content and synthesis of review data categorised by topical focus.

Findings

Analysis of the review sample reveals how scholarly interest in RME has accelerated over the last decade. This is accompanied by a growing institutionalisation and development of RME. The descriptive analysis indicates that the vast majority of publications focus on RME implementation strategies, mostly focussing on on-campus – curricular, pedagogical and operational – changes and the unique experiences of particular schools. Recent publications reveal interest in how RME can respond to triple bottom line (TBL) concerns that benefit the wider society and to sustainable development (SD) goals that target the local and global community. A budding interest is revealed in examining the perceptions of diverse stakeholder groups of sustainability requirements in RME curricula to create relevant and practical content.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the adoption and/or development of RME.

Citation

Abdelgaffar, H.A. (2021), "A review of responsible management education: practices, outcomes and challenges", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 40 No. 9/10, pp. 613-638. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-03-2020-0087