ERIC Number: EJ1152859
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Oct
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1052-5629
EISSN: N/A
Balancing Profit and People: Corporate Social Responsibility in Business Education
Deer, Shannon; Zarestky, Jill
Journal of Management Education, v41 n5 p727-749 Oct 2017
This qualitative study's purpose was to evaluate how undergraduate business students' perspectives, skills, and behaviors evolved through corporate social responsibility (CSR) education taught with a focus on critical thinking and sustainable problem solving. Business schools are struggling to incorporate CSR into their curriculum despite interest from students and pressure from accreditation agencies. This article primarily contributes practical tools for business schools teaching students to apply critical thinking skills and concepts gained through their business education to develop solutions to economic, social, and environmental problems. Instructors taught the following topics: definitions of CSR, the triple bottom line, stakeholder theory, exposure to social problems, businesses' roles in exacerbating or mitigating social problems, specific sustainable solutions companies and nonprofit organizations have implemented, and analysis of public companies' sustainability reports. Topics were taught using critical thinking tools, such as a decision-making model, a funneling exercise, a root problems activity, and reflection and metareflection. The instruction followed a specific teaching model to promote critical thinking skills development, which can be implemented by other faculty. We found CSR concepts motivated students by giving them the tools and confidence in their abilities to solve meaningful problems and learning outcomes for both CSR and critical thinking were achieved.
Descriptors: Social Responsibility, Business Administration Education, Qualitative Research, Undergraduate Students, Student Attitudes, Student Behavior, Skill Development, Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Sustainability, Attitude Change, Student Development, Demography, Student Journals, Reflection, Narration
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A