Sustainability and Management Education in China and India: Enabling a Global Green Economic Transition

Jacob Park, Green Mountain College
Runa Sarkar, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta
Rick Bunch, Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise, University of Michigan

Abstract

There has been an active international academic engagement and scholarship in exploring the important links between sustainability and management education. However, this active engagement and scholarship appears to be concentrated in business schools and management education institutions in North America and the European Union.

We argue in this article that this gap in our understanding of sustainability management education in China and India is likely to hamper the important transition towards a greener economy on the global level. In order to examine current and future trends in sustainability management education in China and India and how those trends impact the important transition towards a greener global economy, we will highlight the key global sustainability and management education trends and will analyse how sustainability and management education can best be linked in these two respective countries.

Educating leaders for a sustainable future

PRME and Aarhus University, Denmark, invite students and lecturers at business schools and universities all over the world to join the PRME LEADERS+20 Competition.

The challenge:

How can we - as universities and business schools - provide the future generation of leaders with the knowledge and competencies needed to create sustainable development?

The Goal:

Demonstrate how to integrate sustainability perspectives into new or existing courses and curricula.

• For lecturers, this is a unique opportunity to engage your students through innovative courses, curricula and programming and to set the agenda of future leadership skills for sustainable development.
• For students this is a once in a life time opportunity to influence the development of management education and gain unique experiences.  

1^st prize – The Rio Experience - includes an invitation to participate in the 3rd Global Forum for Responsible Management and the Global Compact Corporate Sustainability Forum in conjunction with Rio+20 – UN Conference on Sustainable Development. The prize is equal to 13.000 Euros.

2^nd prize – The Danish Experience – includes scholarships to Aarhus Univerity Summer University courses equal to 4.300 Euros, company and faculty visits and a unique opportunity to learn more about the Danish approach to sustainability.

Partners:

• PRME
• UN Global Compact
• Aarhus University, Business and Social Sciences
• Ceeman/Challenge:Future
• Monday Morning/SUSTAINIA
• Maersk
• Novozymes
• Vale Brazil
• China Minmetals Corporation

Buenos Aires – 6-7 December. The 1st PRME Latin America Regional Meeting, hosted by IAE Business School and its Centro de Gobernabilidad y Transparencia and organized in partnership with the PRME Secretariat and the Consejo Latinoamericano de Escuelas de Administración (CLADEA) brought together faculty and deans from PRME participating and non-participating schools in the region and abroad. 60 participants from 20 countries including representatives from 10 Latin American countries from Mexico to Brazil participated in this day and half event to discuss and present on issues of particular importance to the regions.

Various business leaders, along with Martin Santiago, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Argentina, brought to light the urgency management schools face in Latin America to advance corporate responsibility in the region. The advancement of implementing anti-corruption practices and business as a means to overcome poverty were two of the core issues discussed. Best practices were presented on how to implement these topics into the curriculum of management schools.

Further, a “diverse perspectives” panel discussion presented various approaches schools have made in incorporating responsible management at their institutions along with their challenges. An underlying trend was the struggle each school faces in incorporating corporate responsibility as a core issue into the curriculum and fusing it throughout all disciplines in the business schools. Furthermore, the necessity for more faculty development on responsible management education remains a challenge.

The common objectives shared by all the participants to work together in further promoting PRME in the region became a concrete outcome. Participants committed to support each other in advancing research and training to further imbed responsible management education not only in curricula, but also in campus practices.

For a full agenda and presentations from the 1^st PRME Latin America Meeting please visit the event site.

The regional meeting was preceded by a workshop of PRME’s Working Group on Anti-Corruption. Please visit the PRME Working Group on Anti-Corruption page for more information.

 “Rethinking Responsible Management Education: The Asian Perspective – 2^nd PRME Asian Forum” was held at Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (SEM) in Beijing, China on November 26^th.

Professor QIAN Xiaojun at Tsinghua SEM was the moderator of the forum. Ms. LIU Meng, China Representative of the United Nations Global Compact in representation of the PRME Secretariat and Professor YANG Bin, Director of Tsinghua Center for Leadership Development and Research, made the opening remarks. Professor Yong-Seung Park made the opening speech “How Can We Practice What We Preach? Toward Conscious Teaching in the Age of Conscious Business.”

Corporate Representative, Ms. ZHANG Lei, Senior Manager, CSR Department, BP China, presented BP’s CSR report, sharing challenges and achievements.

Professor JIN Yongjun hosted the first panel. Mr. YUAN Yue, CEO of Horizon Research Consultancy Group, Mr. GUO Peiyuan, General Manager of SynTao- Sustainability Solutions, Mr. XIE Weijun, Executive Director, General Office, China Minmetals Corporation, and Mr. LI Chenye, CEO of SoL (China), shared the experiences and challenges encountered when practicing CSR. The guests participated in deep discussion about the current situation of CSR in China and expressed their hopes for the future of responsible management education in business schools.

In the afternoon session, SEM undergraduate students presented the experiences they gained during their summer activities, and SEM MBA students also presented their achievements The 2011 “Flextronics” Business Ethics Case Writing Competition mid-term conference announced the results of the first round of the competition. On stage at the end of the announcement, winning teams completed a puzzle consisting of photos of all teams  to represent unity among Chinese business schools to work together to practice social responsibility and promote an ethical Chinese business environment. Judges also worked together with the students to complete the puzzle, demonstrating that teachers and students must work together to contribute to responsible management education.

During the open discussion session, presenters, students, and members of the audience actively discussed the following four topics in search of the meaning of responsible management education:

1. Should business schools practice responsible education?
2. Can responsibility be taught in business schools?
3. How does a business school teach responsibility?
4. How should an Asian business school, especially a Chinese business school, practice responsibility education?

At the conclusion of the forum, the location of the 3^rd Asian Forum host was announced, Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, 8-9 December 2012. After the forum, professors from Asian business schools participated in a Teaching Report Session, where they exchanged ideas about such topics as curriculum creation, innovation in education, etc., and also shared their valuable teaching experiences. The Teaching Report Session served as the perfect conclusion to the forum.

Provided by: Tsinghua Center for Leadership Development and Research; Communication Office

News & Outcomes

Tsinghua SEM: 第二届联合国负责任管理教育原则亚洲研讨会在学院召开 (English)
Sina News: 第二届PRME会议探讨商学院责任教育
  第二届负责任管理教育原则亚洲研讨会”专题报道
亚洲商学院学者在京探讨商学院责任教育问题 (English translation)

负责任管理教育亚洲落后 6大原则侧重方法与内容 (English translation)

Event Website 

 2nd PRME Asian Forum Page (November 2011)

 1st PRME Asian Forum Page (May 2010)

 Special Session on “PRME: Asian Perspective,” World Civic Forum 2009 Page (May 2009)

PRME 안내책자 (Brochure in Korean)

PRME 介绍手册 (Brochure in Chinese)

Following its commitment to PRME and responding to requests and suggestions from different parts of the world, the 13^th edition of the CEEMAN’s International Management Teachers Academy – IMTA, introduces a new disciplinary track on Teaching Business Ethics, CSR and Sustainable Development.

IMTA is an innovative faculty development program aimed at developing a new generation of management educators for the new generation of effective and responsible business leaders. The program, structured around the multiple role of faculty (teaching, research, consultancy, institution building), helps participants improve their knowledge, skills and attitudes related to general and discipline specific aspects of management education (Strategy, Finance, Marketing, Leadership and Change Management, Accounting

In the past 12 years, 415 management educators from 126 institutions from 34 countries around the globe attended the program, which places a high emphasis on social responsibility of management educators. CEEMAN provides special scholarships for participants from Africa and Latin America.