Integrating principles of Responsible Management into Undergraduate Business Curricula - The PRME Curriculum Tree

Recent events such as the credit and banking crisis alongside general corporate social responsibility and sustainability concerns, have led to questions as to whether current management education is adequate to equip and develop future leaders with the requisite skills to meet changing business and societal demands. This, coupled with the fact that business school education continues to grow in popularity amongst both undergraduate and postgraduate students, has put pressure on higher education institutions to ensure that graduates leave with the skills, knowledge and values associated with responsible management. As business re-examines its role in society, business schools must also examine their contribution and thus the range and depth of responsible management topics within the teaching curricula. Despite much research activity in topics such as business ethics and corporate social responsibility and increasing interest in responsible management education driven by initiatives such as UN PRME, holistic integration of such issues into undergraduate business school curricula remains rare. This paper introduces the PRME Curriculum Tree, a conceptual framework which seeks to set out a blueprint for business school curriculum design that integrates learning, teaching and assessment strategies that engage students of all disciplines with the PRME agenda. The framework is built on the premise that sustainability and responsible management topics can function to build a bridge across disciplines and integrate the business curriculum as a whole by promoting holistic understanding and systemic thinking. The paper draws upon learning from the initial phase of a current project to review and redesign the entire suite of undergraduate teaching programmes within a business school environment, concluding that whilst there are many challenges to overcome, now is the ideal time for a revolution in business school education.