Paradigm shift needed in business education


“If we want to save the world, we have to reinvent business education.”

This is the recommendation of an Engaged Business Leaders’ Forum held on Friday 1 April, an invitation-only event attended by 17 distinguished guests. The event was organised by <link people gail-whiteman _blank>Gail Whiteman. The group of senior executives of leading companies, environmental organisations and foundations, included H.R.H. Princess Irene of the Netherlands, chair of the Lippe-Biesterfeld Natuurcollege, and H.R.H. Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme, director of the Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Development (INSID).

The theme of the Forum was ‘How to Educate Managers for a Sustainable Planet’, and was part of the celebrations surrounding the Inaugural Lecture of Gail Whiteman, who accepted the special Ecorys NEI Chair in Sustainability and Climate Change. The private event was hosted by George Yip, Dean of RSM, and Marten van den Bossche, Chairman of Ecorys NL.

Recommendations

Recommendations and suggestions from the forum included:

  • Co-learning – simultaneously designed courses for business students, supervisory board members, executives and external stakeholders. Education for the individual is out-dated.
  • Develop a fundamental shift in business mind-set through a focus on systems thinking, experiential learning and encourage a passion for sustainability.
  • Multi-disciplinary – bring in other disciplines of thought, including the natural sciences, and provide students with meaningful experiences in nature
  • Have students engage in real issues through ‘living cases’ and the exploration of actual supply chains.
  • Erasmus University has to ‘walk its talk’ with a green campus.

The genesis for the event emerged in recognition of a paradox facing business and business education. On the one hand, sustainability is no longer a fringe topic and corporations routinely invest in eco-efficiency measures. On the other hand, data from ecology indicates a worsening, and in some cases, alarming state of affairs. Why this disconnect? Participants concluded that part of the problem is that business education remains focused on the profit-seeking firm and not on the Earth system, despite a desire to ‘green’ the business curriculum.

Gail Whiteman: “Most companies are now actively engaged in greening their operations and reducing their carbon footprints. But this is not enough. We need to train future business managers to think outside the box, and to develop more holistic values about nature, society and economics.”