Acknowledging the roles and responsibilities of business in society and the importance of realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), contemporary management education is characterized by the integration of a rich palette of initiatives in the field of Responsible Management Education (RME). It is important though to recognize that these initiatives, however laudable, so far represent rather basic, and thus insufficient, ways of truly integrating sustainability into management education. This Provocation to Debate essay therefore identifies three perspectives for bolstering RME through the SDGs: (1) addressing the fact that SDGs incorporate trade-offs, tensions, and paradoxes; (2) realizing the SGDs implies engaging in systemic activism; and (3) embracing the SDGs comes with emotional affect. As such, this essay is an invitation to critically reflect on the roles and contents of management education in spurring sustainable development and to engage in a meaningful discussion about the value and the limitations of the SDGs for advancing the RME agenda.
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While the concept of Responsible Innovation is increasingly common among researchers and policy makers, it is still unknown what it means in a business context. This study aims to identify which aspects of Responsible Innovation are conceptually similar and dissimilar from social- and sustainable innovation. Our conceptual analysis is based on literature reviews of responsible-, social-, and sustainable innovation. The insights obtained are used for conceptualising Responsible Innovation in a business context. The main conclusion is that Responsible Innovation differs from social- and sustainable innovation as it: (1) also considers possible detrimental implications of innovation, (2) includes a mechanism for responding to uncertainties associated with innovation and (3) achieves a democratic governance of the innovation. However, achieving the latter will not be realistic in a business context. The results of this study are relevant for researchers, managers and policy makers who are interested in responsible innovation in the business context.
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Business Schools, Leadership and Sustainable Development Goals: The Future of Responsible Management Education is the sixth book in the series Citizenship and Sustainability in Organizations. It contains chapters from various scholars and practitioners in the field of responsible management education (RME). Through introspection, through celebrating successes and learning from failures (retrospection) and through looking forward (prospection), it aims to inspire a future of management education and leadership development that demonstrates its relevance to sustainable development. In doing so, it touches upon the grand societal challenges of our time, as illustrated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and discusses how business schools, and other providers of management education, could and should contribute to overcoming these challenges. It argues that management education needs to educate future leaders in a way that no longer hampers but truly accelerates the process of sustainable development. This book offers a collection of thought-provoking ideas, vivid stories (including personal accounts and experiences), and appealing and engaged forecasts, visions and ideas about management education and leadership development for sustainability. Hence, it is a must-read for anyone interested in or involved in RME.
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There is an urgency and need to develop an innovative strategic approach for organizations to develop a sustainable organization for the future, in which they are able to respond resiliently to major environmental challenges and changes in the short term and adjust the management of the organization. On the same time, in this strategic approach learning and transforming accordingly in the long term is involved as well. This approach will give organizations the opportunity to operationalize their boards’ and stakeholders’ ambitions to build a responsible business, with focus on governance elements, as well as interaction with social and environmental factors, risk, and strategy from a holistic view. In education, students could work with this approach in future projects for real companies.
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This paper describes a study into consumers' reasons for buying socially responsible (SR) products, such as Fair Trade products and organic meat. As opposed to other studies, we use a qualitative approach based on 25 in-depth interviews and include several different products in the research. This leads to several new results, such as: (1) buying SR products is perceived as an imperfect moral duty; (2) low quality of SR products is a dissatisfier, but high quality not a satisfier; (3) the attitude towards SR products is related to the reputation of charitable funds; (4) the demand for SR products is negatively related to the frequency of purchasing SR products; (5) reflection on SR products raises the demand for SR products; (6) consumers that have witnessed the social problems that SR products aim to alleviate purchase more SR products. Finally, we find that the demand for different SR products is correlated: if a consumer buys one SR product, it is more likely that (s)he purchases other SR products as well.
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Artificial Intelligence systems are more and more being introduced into first response; however, this introduction needs to be done responsibly. While generic claims on what this entails already exist, more details are required to understand the exact nature of responsible application of AI within the first response domain. The context in which AI systems are applied largely determines the ethical, legal, and societal impact and how to deal with this impact responsibly. For that reason, we empirically investigate relevant human values that are affected by the introduction of a specific AI-based Decision Aid (AIDA), a decision support system under development for Fire Services in the Netherlands. We held 10 expert group sessions and discussed the impact of AIDA on different stakeholders. This paper presents the design and implementation of the study and, as we are still in process of analyzing the sessions in detail, summarizes preliminary insights and steps forward.
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Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of data science as a profession and an academic field. The increasing impact and societal relevance of data science is accompanied by important questions that reflect this development: how can data science become more responsible and accountable while also responding to key challenges such as bias, fairness, and transparency in a rigorous and systematic manner? This Patterns special collection has brought together research and perspective from academia, the public and the private sector, showcasing original research articles and perspectives pertaining to responsible and accountable data science.
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The main question in this PhD thesis is: How can Business Rules Management be configured and valued in organizations? A BRM problem space framework is proposed, existing of service systems, as a solution to the BRM problems. In total 94 vendor documents and approximately 32 hours of semi-structured interviews were analyzed. This analysis revealed nine individual service systems, in casu elicitation, design, verification, validation, deployment, execution, monitor, audit, and version. In the second part of this dissertation, BRM is positioned in relation to BPM (Business Process Management) by means of a literature study. An extension study was conducted: a qualitative study on a list of business rules formulated by a consulting organization based on the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission risk framework. (from the summary of the Thesis p. 165)
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The increasing importance of CSR within the business context has led business schools to consider their essential role in this development and to positively contribute to this through responsible management education. It is unclear, however, whether business schools are preparing their students sufficiently to know how to deal with CSR issues throughout their careers effectively and to avoid irresponsible behavior as future leaders. Since comprehensive empirical data has been lacking sofar, this chapter reports on a baseline study into responsible management education in the Netherlands. In addition to a case description about the attention for CSR by the Open University The Netherlands, it presents original data about the state of responsible management education in the Netherlands. A survey was administered to general MBA program managers in the Netherlands addressing issues such as the level and way of integration of CSR into MBA programs, teaching methods used, student interest in CSR education, and the main drivers and obstacles for integrating CSR into management education. Both public and private business schools as well as research-oriented universities and universities of professional education were included in this research. Our findings indicate, among other things, that the majority of MBA programs that are offered in the Netherlands have integrated CSR into the curriculum, although most MBA programs appear to educate their students about CSR through traditional teaching approaches and dominantly use so-called saddle bag approaches to CSR integration in MBA programs.
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Energiebeheer gericht aanpakken, Het analyseren van doelstellingen, resultaten en impacts van energie- en broeikasgasbeheersprogramma’s in bedrijven (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands): De wereldwijde uitstoot van broeikasgassen moet drastisch worden teruggebracht om de mondiale stijging van de temperatuur tot het relatief veilige niveau van maximaal 2 graden Celsius te beperken. In de komende decennia zal de verbetering van de energie-efficiëntie de belangrijkste strategie zijn voor het verminderen van de energiegerelateerde uitstoot van broeikasgassen. Hoewel er een enorm potentieel is voor verbetering van de energie-efficiëntie, wordt een groot deel daarvan nog niet benut. Dit wordt veroorzaakt door diverse investeringsbarrières die de invoering van maatregelen voor energie-efficiëntie verbetering verhinderen. De invoering van energiemanagement wordt vaak beschouwd als een manier om dergelijke barrières voor energiebesparing te overwinnen. De invoering van energiemanagement in bedrijven kan worden gestimuleerd door de introductie van programma's voor energie-efficiëntie verbetering en vermindering van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen. Deze programma's zijn vaak een combinatie van verschillende elementen zoals verplichtingen voor energiemanagement; (ambitieuze) doelstellingen voor energiebesparing of beperking van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen; de beschikbaarheid van regelingen voor stimulering, ondersteuning en naleving; en andere verplichtingen, zoals openbare rapportages, certificering en verificatie. Tot nu toe is er echter beperkt inzicht in het proces van het formuleren van ambitieuze doelstellingen voor energie-efficiëntie verbetering of het terugdringen van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen binnen deze programma's, in de gevolgen van de invoering van dergelijke programma's op de verbetering van het energiemanagement, en in de impact van deze programma's op energiebesparing of de vermindering van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen. De centrale onderzoeksvraag van dit proefschrift is als volgt geformuleerd: "Wat is de impact van energie- en broeikasgasmanagement programma’s op het verbeteren van het energiemanagement in de praktijk, het versnellen van de energieefficiëntie verbetering en het beperken van de uitstoot van broeikasgassen in bedrijven?".
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