PRME Working Group on Service Systems for Humanity

History

Responsible management is needed within service systems, because humans live in service systems, including, families, communities, organizations, and nations, yet these systems often fail to truly serve humanity.

For instance, at the macro level, Earth itself can be seen as a service system: a fragile shared support system that needs wise stewardship to sustain all forms of life. At the meso organizational level, corporations and nation-states can introduce structural barriers that can hinder human well-becoming, often creating injustices in access to resources and services. At the micro level, human well-being is significantly limited by macro and meso level service system failures. Across these system levels, many service systems are failing to serve humanity and the other beings on our planet wisely, creating severe service system failures that threaten our shared future. The global refugee crisis starkly illustrates these service system failures.

In 2026, discussion among Transformative Service Researchers on the global refugee crisis led to the possibility of forming a PRME Working Group to serve micro, meso, and macro human needs, which led to the group name “PRME Working Group on Service Systems for Humanity.”

This Working Group directly aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and PRME’s mission to equip business schools and leaders to advance responsible management education that promotes sustainable development, social justice, and ethical stewardship of resources at every level of society.

Purpose

The PRME Working Group on Service Systems for Humanity seeks to enable research, teaching, and practices that wisely transform service systems for the well-becoming of humanity and the living planet.

Goals
Thee main goals of the PRME Working Group on Service Systems for Humanity are to:

1. Cultivate serving humanity scholarship

2. Cultivate serving humanity teaching and pedagogical materials

3. Facilitate serving humanity communities with students, scholars, practitioners, NGOs, and policymakers

The outcomes we seek are based on Transformative Service Research: to reduce suffering, improve well-being, and enable well-becoming.

Research

The group will encourage collaborative research on serving humanity from any disciplinary perspective, which will be published in journals and presented in academic conferences.

Engagement Opportunities

Presenting in academic conferences, organizing serving humanity webinars, and offering workshops for working group members, PRME Ssignatories, and the public.

The PRME Working Group on Service Systems for Humanity maintains a symbiotic relationship with ServCollab. They share the connected priority of building a serving humanity logic that establishes the foundations for wiser service systems. The groups invites scholars to collaborate in advancing the science and art of serving humanity. The collaboration allows for connected communities of practice and shared initiatives.

Resource Development

Creating serving humanity teaching and pedagogical materials, curricula modules, and implementation toolkits, and making these available for business schools and organizations.

Stay tuned for additional resources to be uploaded in the resources tab!

Co-Chairs

Samuel Petros Sebhatu, Karlstad University, Sweden

samuel.sebhatu@kau.se

Raymond P. Fisk, Texas State University, United States of America

ray.fisk@servcollab.org

Please fill out the form to join the Working Group.