David Connor | Monday 2nd November 2009
How much responsibility do business schools have for the recent economic turmoil? Why should we expect organisations to demonstrate Corporate Social Responsibility if the lunatics running the asylums are ethically neglected by academia? The historical laser-like focus on traditional shareholder values of profit and growth has been shaken to the foundations by a turbulent financial period in combination with mounting global pressures from climate change, population growth, energy security and increasing consumer scrutiny of both products and companies. Academia's reaction has been staggeringly slow for those supposed to cultivate future corporate knights with the vision and ability to lead.
Corporate Social Responsibility and its ethical cousins (sustainability, corporate citizenship, etc.) have been largely driven by pioneering individuals with minimal specific formal education, abundant passion and an understanding of an complimentary approach to management, by creating a personal education path of their own making. There have been far too few formal ethical elements of core management courses never mind focused courses across the agenda. It has been frustrating yet entertaining to witness the gold rush style race by business schools responding to industry criticism and growing demand from both students wanting an improved understanding and businesses requiring more intellectually mature Sustainability and CSR managers.
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