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While sustainability management is becoming more widespread among major companies, the impact of their activities does not reflect in studies monitoring the state of the planet. What results from this is a “big disconnect.” With this article, we address two main questions: “How can business make an effective contribution to addressing the sustainability challenges we are facing?” and “When is business truly sustainable?” In a time when more and more corporations claim to manage sustainably, we need to distinguish between those companies that contribute effectively to sustainability and those that do not. We provide an answer by clarifying the meaning of business sustainability. We review established approaches and develop a typology of business sustainability with a focus on effective contributions for sustainable development. This typology ranges from Business Sustainability 1.0 (Refined Shareholder Value Management) to Business Sustainability 2.0 (Managing for the Triple Bottom Line) and to Business Sustainability 3.0 (True Sustainability).

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In the era of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and calls for climate action, business is challenged to respond more effectively to societal and environmental challenges. Collaboration with stakeholders requires an ability for broader collaboration competencies. These form a part of an established literature on responsible leadership (RL) competencies. Human resources managers, consultants and educators in charge of developing such competencies demand clarity on the definition and a practical measurement tool for RL. This paper addresses both by proposing a RL definition and a RL competency model, that has been operationalized into a free online tool for individuals and groups. This free Competency Assessment for Responsible Leadership (CARL) tool is used to assess stakeholder engagement, individual and group leadership development, and internal sustainable development transformation work. The CARL online tool serves to systematically analyze and develop RL competencies, both in business and educational practices, and helps advance the RL theory based on insights from practice.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to further the debate on relevance in business education by sharing one business school's experiences.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative survey was carried out, reviewed by two independent collaborators. Conclusions drawn from interviews with more than 30 CEOs and HR Directors, from across all industries, provide findings on how business leaders think about higher education in business.FindingsThe results highlight their perspective regarding: how academic programs can add real value in business; what business schools should teach more; and what they should teach less in their MBA programs.Research limitations/implicationsThere was a limited sample size of 30 participants. Also. the research is used as a part of a case study being conducted about Business School Lausanne by Prof. Dr J.B.M. Kassarjian, Professor in Management at Babson College, Boston, USA.Practical implicationsA detailed account of an ambitious academic revision provides insights into how entrepreneurship can be applied and lived in the academic world.Originality/valueThis paper examines how a boutique business school in Switzerland has undertaken a profound program revision based on the input and perspectives of business leaders. It demonstrates how key learnings from personally‐conducted interviews were effectively translated into the school's MBA curriculum, thereby transforming not only the program but also the way the school interacts with program participants.