East Africa University Researchers learn from Brazil’s Experience with Sustainability

4 December 2012 by 1 Comment

At the 3rd Global Forum in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, Shiv Tripathi from Mzumbe University in Tanzania and Ajai Prakash from KCA University in Kenya visited ISAE in Curitiba, Brazil. The purpose of their trip was to learn more about ISAE’s approach to embedding sustainability into their curriculum. As a result of this meeting, the faculty involved put together a case study to allow others to learn more about some of the lessons that ISAE has already gained along this journey.

I had the chance to speak with Shiv after Rio about his trip to Curitiba and the ISAE case study.

1. Why did you decide to visit ISAE?

We first met ISAE President Prof. Norman de Paula during the PRME Latin America Conference in Buenos Aires (December, 2011). We were impressed by ISAE’s community partnership based responsible management education approach so we wanted to explore how ISAE was doing this. In July, after the PRME 3rd Global Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil we had the opportunity to visit ISAE and learn about their work in person. We wanted to collect some cases – examples of management institutions’ role in poverty eradication for a proposed PRME book publication project. Fortunately, ISAE was willing to share its stories.

2. What are some of the most interesting findings from that meeting?

There were several interesting findings from the meeting. First, we were very interested in how ISAE demonstrates how institutions can integrate PRME philosophy into institutional mission/vision. They are developing a model for adoption of the responsible management education approach by actively engaging management, faculty, staff and students. The institution receives encouraging support from industry and community organizations. Most importantly, it does not aim to handle directly the community development activities, rather ISAE’s efforts are focused on strengthening the management capacity of other organizations engaged in helping to promote sustainable development.

3. Is Brazil’s approach very different from yours at home in Tanzania?

Yes, one could feel the difference in approach around integrating ethics and program curriculum. Here, in most cases I’ve seen the institutions treating ethics teaching as piece-meal approach i.e. offering a course or part of course on ethics and sustainability. At ISAE they are already actively working to integrate contents and methodology for ethics in the entire value-chain of programs by including it in all need-based subject areas. Their goal is truly to mainstream ethics and sustainability in management education.

4. How are you hoping the case will be used by others?

While developing the case, efforts were made to address the responsible management education challenges like content integration, student involvement, methodology, capacity building, etc. So it could be used to analyze the different implementation issues in the different settings by focusing on ISAE’s model. It could also be used as a model for ‘change management’ towards responsible management education. Further, the objective is to use the case in capacity-building training for institutions willing to adopt responsible management education and PRME.

5. What lessons from your trip are you able to apply to your programmes?

We are taking back quite a few lessons from this meeting to our campus around how to integrate ethics into the curriculum in particular. Ethics and sustainability need to be mainstreamed into all of our core and elective course offerings instead of only teaching dedicated courses in this area. In order to bring about this change, we need to integrate the topics not just into teaching but also in our research and outreach value change. Strong positive leadership, a belief in the concept of responsible management education and commitment at all levels is the key to making these changes.

To access the case click here.

To learn more about ISAE’s efforts around sustainability click here.

Filed under 3-Method, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Brazil, Kenya, Latin America, Tanzania Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Taking a transdiciplinary approach to teaching ethics

8 October 2012 by Leave a comment

In their research paper, “Ignorance was bliss, now I’m not ignorant and that is far more difficult: Transdiciplinary learning and reflexivity in responsible management education,” coauthors Carole Parkes and John Blewitt from Aston University in the UK write, “If we are to enable students as future business leaders and managers we need to prepare them for complex ethical dilemmas and difficult choices they will encounter.” Doing this, they continue, involves not just reviewing the content of such programmes, but the approach and philosophies that drive them.

I recently had the chance to speak with Carole Parkes about this cross-cutting approach to teaching ethics and their new MSc in Social Responsibility and Sustainability.

1. Could you briefly describe how you approach this unqiue type of ethics module?

We cover a range of issues from ethics and values to CSR and governance, social accountability and ecological sustainability. Students are supported in developing skills related to critical thinking, analysis, and reflection. Teaching methods are highly interactive, enabling them to apply knowledge of theories, models, ethical frameworks, and concepts to local and global issues. We encourage reflection and connection with personal, family, and cultural values from the outset. We have students from around 30 different countries and many different business and professional backgrounds.

They also discuss live case studies with practitioners when we invite local business professionals to facilitate workshops on ethical dilemmas that they have encountered first-hand. This brings the reality of ethics to students’ own situations, rather than using case studies they do not always connect with.

2. This approach is transdiciplinary. How have you reached out to faculty from a range of departments?

When studying, discussing or practicing business ethics, social responsibility and sustainability, whether in the workplace or the university, what is clearly and immediately evident is that the concepts, perspectives and actions involved transgress disciplinary and professional boundaries. The Aston programme is taught by staff of different disciplines drawn from within and outside the business school. We also managed to persuade the school to enable us to recruit for expertise that complimented our programme, rather than making subject-based appointments.

3. How has the module been received? 

Student feedback has been fantastic. Some said “this is the best module in the MBA.” Others reported that the module provided them with the “vocabulary” or the “confidence” to raise issues and concerns that they had previously thought about, but did not know how to construct into an argument.

This issue of “voice” is an important theme. Students also mentioned “realising that others have similar thoughts” or that their studies provided “legitimacy” for their own views. Many students discussed having a “heightened sense of awareness about issues in the media and thinking about matters at a much deeper level,” or “thinking about everyday activities such as shopping and travelling in a way they had not done so before.” Experiencing “self-enlightenment” empowered them to act as agents of change in their place of work; to make their workplaces more ethical, responsible or sustainable. A number of these responses are included in the paper referred to below.

4. What would you recommend for other schools looking at transdisciplinary/reflective learning in particular in an ethics class?

The key is enabling students to have exposure to different issues from different but connected disciplines and to use practical, work-based learning. The students have been encouraged to develop awareness through examination of their own personal values and to use this to critically analyse their previous experiences and current challenges.

These are important stages in reflection and are crucial to the final stage of application. Awareness and analysis provide insights, but if students are to move beyond this, they need to use knowledge to initiate changes. The reflective piece started off as optional but soon became (a small but important) part of the assessment. Marking is anonymous and assessment criteria are based on student’s skills of reflection and ability to relate this to future actions. It is important to emphasize that assessment must be non-judgmental of student’s values and views.

5. What are your plans for the programme moving forward?

From next year, all modules leaders for all MSc programmes have to state how they address issues of ethics, responsibility and sustainability in the context of their subject/module. We will also be launching our MSc Social Responsibility & Sustainability in Distance Learning format. The MSc aims to combine both academic and practical perspectives in a programme suitable for those people interested in working in roles related to CSR and Sustainability in commercial business, the public sector, social enterprises, not-for-profits, and charities. The programme, which is already offered in full-time and part-time options, adopts a transdisciplinary approach, enabling students to explore social responsibility and sustainability from multiple perspectives in the context of a world-class business school.

  • To learn more about Aston’s approach read: Carol Parkes and John Blewitt. “Ignorance was bliss, now I’m not ignorant and that is far more difficult” Trans-disciplinary learning and reflexivity in responsible management education.” Journal of Global Responsibility 2.2 (2011): 206-21.

Filed under 1-Purpose, 3-Method, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Teaching, UK, Western Europe Tagged with , , , ,

Certificates in Sustainable Business

26 March 2012 by 1 Comment

Queen's School of Business Certificate Graduates

A growing number of schools are putting in place certificate programmes that give their students the flexibility to pursue a traditional curriculum while specialising in the topic of sustainability. Below are a selection of such programmes from the US, France, Canada and Denmark.

Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and Management started offering their students the opportunity to pursue a Certificate in Socially, Environmentally and Ethically Responsible Business Practice in 2010. The certificate requires 8 units of course work, 6 units of elective choices and a capstone course on Responsible Business Practice. Students also need to be members of the campus Net Impact Club and get involved in events related to these topics. This programme is offered to all students enrolled in their business programmes.

The University of Georgia in the US has an Environmental Ethics Certificate programme that was founded in 1983. This interdisciplinary program incorporates coursework from the Odum School of Ecology, the law school and a diverse collection of departments across the campus, including philosophy, agricultural and applied economics, anthropology, history and political science.

Students at Queen’s School of Business in Canada can graduate with a Certificate in Socially Responsible Leadership in addition to their MBA. To receive this certificate, students must complete relevant courses, attend Responsible Leadership related conferences and speaker sessions, and engage in meaningful community volunteer work.  The certificate in the Commerce program started in 2004 and, in 2009, the certificate program was expanded to the School’s Accelerated MBA program.

In addition to their degree, Copenhagen Business School graduate students can choose to pursue a minor in sustainable business, which explores how innovative companies simultaneously attain social, environmental and economic business objectives. They also have access to a minor in Social Entrepreneurship and Not-for-Profit Management, which is intended to equip students with the instruments needed to develop earned-income strategies for charities and to launch social enterprises.

IESEG School of Management has recently set up a Certificate Programme in Sustainable Management. Students need to take a series of core courses and electives in the field to earn the certificate. They also need to do a work/study period of a minimum of 6 weeks at an NGO in Cape Town, South Africa.

Do you offer your students certificate programmes in sustainable business? Share your experiences in the comments area below.

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, Canada, Denmark, France, North America, Teaching, United States Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

6 things IAE is doing around Anti-Corruption

14 November 2011 by Leave a comment

Prof. Matthias Kleinhempel is Director of the Center for Governance and Transparency at IAE Business School, Austral University in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Center explores these issues across the Latin American region and offers concrete tools to practitioners to help them create, enhance and deliver effective compliance programs. “Business schools can play a crucial role in helping companies, in particular those in countries with a challenging environment. We have found that the key is to work with the CFOs and the compliance officers of MNEs and local companies to give them a platform for discussion and exchange of Best Practices.  Business Schools can work as facilitators for collective action; one of the most promising tools in the anti-corruption battle.”

Prof. Kleinhempel has a background in the business sector and has been with the Center since it began in 2008. “My interest in this area really began because of the strong emphasis that the university puts on values.  I saw how companies put in place a whole range of norms and systems to instil values in a company but continuously find failure with this approach. The key is not to keep putting in rules but to change the values of the people at the top, which influence the people in the rest of the organisation.”

The Center is working on a range of anti-corruption programmes, including:

  1. Collecting Best Practices: The Center conducted surveys of good practices and compliance programmes among both the largest 300 companies (by revenue) across Argentina and Latin American subsidiaries of MNEs. The studies provide insights into the current status of business ethics at big companies in Argentina and wider Latin America as well as possible improvements to the field. “Most companies say they have a formal compliance system which has been put in within the last 5 years which mean that these issues are definitely gaining momentum within the business sector.”
  2. Teaching Best Practices: “Many of the companies who participated in the surveys noted that, in order to improve further, they need more training”. IAE provides a range of business ethics and compliance courses/modules in all open enrolment programs. Senior managers are invited into classrooms to discuss real ethical dilemmas that they have faced in their businesses with the students. Students are given ethical dilemmas that they have to solve, present in class and then discuss. The Center is also working to incorporate ethics into a range of other courses, including Finance. “At the end of the day, it is about decision making. We try to raise awareness and train students to incorporate business ethics as a permanent criterion in their decision making framework.”
  3. Focused Programmes: IAE offers a programme called “Good Practices in Business and Compliance” aimed at Board Members, C-level executives which covers the most recent academic and business trends around corporate governance, risk management and compliance as well as the success factors of a good practice programme. The Center also works on the design and implementation of compliance programmes for business firms, including codes of conduct and putting help hotlines in place.
  4. A Learning Community and Discussion Platform: In June 2010, the Center launched the first Compliance and Best Practices Network aimed at scholars, practitioners and organisations that are devoted to the study, implementation and follow up of compliance programmes.  Bi-monthly workshops are organised with CFOs and Compliance Officers to discuss topics related to compliance and exchange ideas on how to approach specific problems, including the review of successful collective action examples from across the region.
  5. Foster and Promote Collective Action: The lack of trust among companies is a big obstacle for collective action. These commitments have to start in a “light” version, which can be improved and updated to include more content as trust builds over time. “What companies like is to have independent instances to discuss suspicions regarding their partners in the collective. Universities and, in particular, the Center can provide a safe, neutral environment for companies to discuss these issues. It is difficult to show what kind of impact we are having, but the compliance officers keep coming back.  We have only started this journey.”
  6. PRME Working Group on Anti-Corruption: The Working Group is focused on developing best practices and encouraging curriculum change through the incorporation of a business ethics approach with compliance as one of its key components, offering an integrity-based view with an impact on good business practices. The Working Groups is currently developing a toolkit for an anti-corruption curriculum framework for MBA students. The next meeting of the working group will take place on December 5th in conjunction with the 1st PRME Latin America Regional Meeting (December 6-7) hosted by IAE.

 For more information:

Filed under 1-Purpose, 2-Values, 3-Method, 4-Research, 5 Questions, 5-Partnership, 6-Dialogue, Anti-Corruption, Argentina, Latin America, Teaching Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

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