Who is responsible for responsible business education? Insights into the dialectical inter-relations of dimensions of responsibility

Abstract

One criticism of the globalisation of Business Schools is the propagation of an instrumentalist, functionalist and market-based approach to education. While programmes such as the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education initiative have attempted to promote more socially responsible practice and pedagogy within Business Schools, there is little evidence of significant change. Although the extant literature explores the response of educators to such initiatives, little is known about how management educators interpret and make sense of their and others’ responsibilities, particularly in the Global South. In this article, we critically explore the ways in which lecturers in a private Malaysian Business School locate social responsibility within their understanding of responsible business education. We identify dynamics of responsibilisation and elaborate the dialectical inter-relations of four dimensions of responsibility – individual, interactional, group and collective. Our findings reveal the limited impact of the disruptive potential of responsible business education in this instance. However, we argue that alternative theories of responsibility and responsibilisation, indicated in the dynamic inter-relations between the dimensions of responsibility, remain a potent source of inspiration for changes within business education. We offer suggestions to inform efforts towards transformatively oriented and socially responsible business education.

Business Schools’ Students Willingness to Embrace the Principles of Global Ethics in Management Education and Learning

“…In his book 'Shut Down the Business School: What's Wrong with Management Education', Parker (2018) claims that business schools serve as advocates for neoliberal capitalism, developing business leaders whose self-interest leads to "environmental catastrophe, resource wars and forced migration, inequality within and between countries, the encouragement of hyper-consumption as well as persistently antidemocratic practices in work organizations" (p. 158). Shah et al (2022) argue that despite numerous calls for reform, the notion of responsible business is overshadowed by the narratives of student employability and profit maximization within the global management education supply chain. This parallels Giroux's (2007) critique of 'universities in chains,' in which universities are seen as factories that confine graduates to a limited understanding of themselves and society.…”

“…Jamil and Humphries-Kil (2017) argue that the reinvention of management education and learning provides the opportunity to create an education that fosters the ability to be accountable for and sensitive to the paradoxes and ambiguities that we will encounter. Shah et al (2022) also advocate for responsible management education as a means of promoting morality in the market. They propose that alternative theories of responsibility can inspire the re-responsibilities of management education in the future.…”

Infusing courageous love for universal dignity and environmental response-ability through management education and learning: Inspired By Freire’s dream

“…Most recently, Shah et al (2022) argue despite multiple calls for an overhaul of business schools and management education, the rhetoric of responsible business is still dominated by the ubiquitous but false narratives of student employability and profit maximization at the end of the 'supply chain' of global management education. We posit that in their disciplined service of Moloch, management educators and students are implicated in the achievement and maintenance of that normality where our graduates knowingly or unwittingly objectify others to fuel the reach and grip of Moloch.…”

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“…The fourth challenge is related to the lack of universal indicators or indices to measure responsible business practices (Shah & O'Reilly, 2022). While business school curricula now incorporate responsible management in course content, operationalising some of these key outcomes in the real-world is context-specific (Dyllick, 2015).…”