Academics' Perceptions of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) for Sustainable Development
Abstract
In light of business leaders’ failings, including corporate corruption, the financial crisis and various ecological system crises there is a growing expectation that management education institutions should be leading thought and action on issues related to corporate responsibility and sustainability. Therefore, there is a need to ascertain management education institutions’ ability to ensure responsible and sustainable management education. This paper seeks to assess academics’ perceptions of how the University of KwaZulu-Natal has adopted the United Nation (UN) supported initiative, Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), to ensure responsible and sustainable management education in South Africa. The sample was drawn using the probability sampling technique called cluster sampling. Permanent academic staff from the Graduate School of Business and Leadership and the School of Management, Information Technology and Governance who responded to the structured, self-administered questionnaire formed the sample. Questions asked related to fostering a sustainable culture, strategically adapting curriculum, creating learning environments, aligning research, fostering sustainable partnerships and encouraging constant dialogue with regards to PRME. In order to assess the implementation of the PRME for sustainable development, a quantitative research design was adopted. This is the first study, to the researcher’s knowledge, to examine the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Graduate School of Business and Leadership and the School of Management, Information Technology and Governance’s motives, effects and challenges of engaging in PRME. The study has also explored key aspects such as the adaptation of teaching practices by the academic staff, the role of academics and diversification that influences the decision of the Graduate School of Business and Leadership and School of Management, Information Technology and Governance to participate in PRME. The results indicate that academic staff in both schools is engaging in activities that pursue the cause of sustainable development. There is evidence of addressing modern societal and environmental challenges by fostering change in design in curricula, fostering a sustainable culture and creating a learning environment. However, evidently more careful and deliberate attention needs to be given to fostering constant dialogue and aligning PRME and research to enhance economic, environmental and social development. This study provides a model/framework to present current practices and obstacles/setbacks experienced in adopting PRME and will present recommendations to facilitate the adoption of PRME by UKZN.
Downloads
References
Bosselmann, K. (2001). University and sustainability: Compatible agendas? Educational Philosophy and Theory, 33(2), 167-186.
Copenhagen Business School. (2009). the Copenhagen Conference Declaration: A Call to Action for Management Education. Presented at the PRME/CBS International Conference on “Responsible Management Education: Sustainable Leadership in the Era of Climate Changeâ€. Retrieved 05/28/2014 fromhttp://www.unprme.org/resource-docs/CopenhagenDeclarationFINAL.pdf
Cotton, D., Bailey, I., Warren, M. & Bissell, S. (2009). Revolutions and second-best solutions: Education for sustainable development in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 34(7), 719-733.
De le Harpe, B. & Thomas, I. (2009). Curriculum change in universities: Conditions that facilitate education for sustainable development. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 3(1), 75-78.
Egan, J. (2004). Skills for sustainable development, London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
Erickson, L. E., Griswold, W., Hohn, K. L. & Saulters, O. S. (2010). Enriching and Evaluating Sustainability Education. Journal of Sustainability Education, 1, 1-20.
Everett, J. (2008). Sustainability in higher education: Implication for disciplines. Theory and Research in Education, 6(2), 237-251.
Gebreselassie, A. T. (2010). The idea of Sustainable Development to reconcile the environment and the Intellectual Property Protection of Plants. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 12(5), 125-138.
Global Responsibility Leadership Initiative (GRLI). (2012). World Business School Council for Sustainable Business (WBSCSB) and Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME): The 50/20 Agenda. Management Education for the World. GRLI, WBCSB and PRME.
Haertle, J. (2012a). Inspirational guide for the Implementation of PRME: Placing sustainability at the heart of Management education, 1-315, GSE Research, UK.
Haertle, J. (2012b). Principles for responsible management education PRME. Journal of Management Education, 36, 310-311. Retrieved 04/27/2014 fromhttp://unprme.org/about-prme/index.php.
Kevany, K. D. (2007). Building the requisite capacity for stewardship and sustainable development. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 8(2), 107-122.
Khurana, R. (2010). From Higher Aims to Hired Hands. The Social Transformation of American Business Schools and the Unfulfilled Promise of Management as a Profession, Princeton Univ. Press, N.J: Princeton.
Khurana, R. & Nohria, N. (2008). It’s time to make management a true profession. Harvard Business Review, 86, 70-77.
Kunz, J. (2006). Social Sustainability and Community Involvement in Urban Planning, Tampere, Finland: University of Tampere. Retrieved 04/11/2014 from http://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
Matten, D. & Moon, J. (2005). Corporate social responsibility education in Europe. Journal of Business Ethics, 54(4), 323-337.
Moon, J. & Orlitzky, M. (2011). Corporate social responsibility and sustainability education: A trans-Atlantic comparison. Journal of Management & Organization, 17, 583-604.
Munasinghe, M. (2002). Analyzing the nexus of sustainable development and climate change: An overview, 1-53, Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND), Sri Lanka. Retrieved 04/20/2014 from http://www.oecd.org/env/cc/2510070.pdf.
Nolet, V. (2009). Preparing sustainability-literate teachers. Teachers College Record, 111(2), 409-442.
Orlitzky, M. & Moon, J. (2010). Corporate social responsibility education in Europe: Trends and comparisons, In: Swanson, D.L., Fisher, D.G. (Eds.), Toward Assessing Business Ethics Education, 143-176, Charlotte, N.C: Information Age Pub.
PRME Steering Committee. (2014). Principles for Responsible Management. Retrieved 03/27/2014 from http://unprme.org/about-prme/index.php
Rasche, A. & Kell, G. (Eds.) (2010). The United Nations Global Compact. Achievements, Trends and Challenges, Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Redclift, M. (2005). Sustainable development (1987–2005): an oxymoron comes of age. Sustainable Development, 13(4), 212–227.
Rode, H. & Michelsen, G. (2008). Levels of indicator development for education for sustainable development. Environmental Education Research, 14(1), 19-33.
Sterling, S. (2001). Sustainable Education: Re-visioning Learning and Change, Schumacher Briefings No. 6. Green Books Ltd.
Sterling, A. & Scott, W. (2008). Higher education and ESD in England: A critical commentary on recent initiatives. Environmental Education Research, 14(4), 386-398.
UNESCO. (2005). Contributing to a more sustainable future: Quality education, life skills and education for sustainable development, Paris, France: United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization. Retrieved 01/13/2014 from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/ 001410/141019e.pdf.
Waddock, S., Rasche, A., Wehane, P. H. & Unruh, G. (2011). The principles for responsible management education: Implications for implementation and assessment, In: Swanson, D.L., Fisher, D.G. (Eds.), Toward Assessing Business Ethics Education, 13-28, Charlotte, N.C.: Information Age Pub. Wals, A. E. J. (2009). A mid-DESD review: Key findings and ways forward. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 3(2), 195-204.
University of Winchester. (2011). Principles for Responsible Management Education: 2009-2011 Progress Report. Retrieved 27/10/2016 from http://www.winchester.ac.uk/academicdepartments/WBS/Principles%20for%20Responsible%20Management%20Education/Documents/PRME%20final.pdf
World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). (1987). Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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 & Development, 32(3), 493-506.
Copyright (c) 2017 Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author (s) should affirm that the material has not been published previously. It has not been submitted and it is not under consideration by any other journal. At the same time author (s) need to execute a publication permission agreement to assume the responsibility of the submitted content and any omissions and errors therein. After submission of a revised paper in the light of suggestions of the reviewers, editorial team edits and formats manuscripts to bring uniformity and standardization in published material.
This work will be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and under condition of the license, users are free to read, copy, remix, transform, redistribute, download, print, search or link to the full texts of articles and even build upon their work as long as they credit the author for the original work. Moreover, as per journal policy author (s) hold and retain copyrights without any restrictions.
