Mine Üçok Hughes, Shikha Upadhyaya and Rika Houston
This paper aims to argue for a need for a paradigm shift in business education that would move the focus of curriculum away from profit maximization at all costs to incorporation…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to argue for a need for a paradigm shift in business education that would move the focus of curriculum away from profit maximization at all costs to incorporation of principles of sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper that argues for a major shift in business education, one that not only incorporates diversity and interdisciplinarity and integrative learning at its core, but also does not superficially conflate sustainability with corporate social responsibility and/or business ethics.
Findings
This paper discusses the broader concepts of diversity, integrative learning and interdisciplinarity related to curriculum design and several approaches for integrating a broadened definition of sustainability through business school curricula and pedagogy.
Research limitations/implications
The paper only discusses a few of the many factors that are needed for the argued need for change in business school curriculum.
Social implications
It is important to educate future managers with consciousness of sustainability not only for the sake of the communities of today and future generations but also for corporations to stay sustainable in the future when some of the natural resources they use today will be much scarcer.
Originality/value
A typical business school in the twenty-first century is not educating future managers and entrepreneurs for the realities of a business life today, let alone getting them ready for the world of tomorrow in which obtaining resources and addressing supply chain and waste management issues will be remarkably different. Therefore, it has become imperative for business schools to start a paradigm shift that moves the focus of business school education away from the historical one of profit-maximization toward one that has sustainability at its core.
Details
Keywords
Mohammadreza Akbari and Robert McClelland
The purpose of this research is to provide a systematic insight into corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate citizenship (CC) in supply chain development, by analyzing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to provide a systematic insight into corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate citizenship (CC) in supply chain development, by analyzing the current literature, contemporary concepts, data and gaps for future discipline research.
Design/methodology/approach
This research identifies information from existing academic journals and investigates research designs and methods, data analysis techniques, industry involvement and geographic locations. Information regarding university affiliation, publishers, authors, year of publication is also documented. A collection of online databases from 2001 to 2018 were explored, using the keywords “corporate social responsibility”, “corporate citizenship” and “supply chain” in their title and abstract, to deliver an inclusive listing of journal articles in this discipline area. Based on this approach, a total of 164 articles were found, and information on a chain of variables was collected.
Findings
There has been visible growth in published articles over the last 18 years regarding supply chain sustainability, CSR and CC. Analysis of the data collected shows that only five literature reviews have been published in this area. Further, key findings include 41% of publications were narrowly focused on four sectors of industry, leaving gaps in the research. 85% centered on the survey and conceptual model, leaving an additional gap for future research. Finally, developing and developed nation status should be delineated, researched and analyzed based on further segmentation of the industry by region.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited to reviewing only academic and professional articles available from Emerald, Elsevier, Wiley, Sage, Taylor and Francis, Springer, Scopus, JSTOR and EBSCO containing the words “corporate social responsibility”, “corporate citizenship” and “supply chain” in the title and abstract.
Originality/value
This assessment provides an enhanced appreciation of the current practices of current research and offers further directions within the CSR and CC in supply chain sustainable development.