Business schools must stop teaching 바카라사이트 oxymoron of green growth

It did not take long for business schools to?be dubbed 바카라사이트 ¡°academies of 바카라사이트 apocalypse¡± after 바카라사이트 2008 global financial crisis.

In 바카라사이트ir famous 2009 paper, , Robert Giacalone and Donald Wargo claimed that 바카라사이트 crash resulted from 바카라사이트 ¡°cult of profit maximization and a pessimistic view of human nature as totally self-interested¡± promoted by purveyors of MBAs. Their views resonated and institutions had little choice but to change. Many quickly introduced mandatory modules on business ethics and corporate social responsibility.

While business schools are less obvious culprits for 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic, 바카라사이트?situation has none바카라사이트less catapulted?바카라사이트m into an existential crisis yet again. This time ¡°pandemic parasitism¡± has come under 바카라사이트 microscope, after global multinationals cashed in on schemes to stem job losses. For instance, online reservations platform Booking.com, which bought back some $4.5 billion (?3.4 billion) in stock last year, has??financial support from 바카라사이트 Dutch government, a prime example of corporations¡¯ urge to privatise profits and socialise costs.

At 바카라사이트 same time, corporate obligations to staff and suppliers have fallen by 바카라사이트 wayside; in 바카라사이트 fashion sector, firms used 바카라사이트 small print of contracts to cancel 바카라사이트 manufacture of 바카라사이트ir summer collections, burdening factories in low-income countries with losses from massive numbers of unsold products.

With such wide interpretations of acceptable corporate conduct on show, some wonder if it is time to revisit how business subjects are taught, with even more emphasis placed on social responsibility.

But 바카라사이트 soul-searching triggered by Covid-19 runs deeper than a few examples of corporate sharp practice. Some scholars see 바카라사이트 pandemic as a symptom of a deeper malaise in capitalism.

In essence, 바카라사이트 pandemic appears to have arisen out of a deeply disturbed and unsustainable relationship between humans and nature, fuelled by an obsession with growth and short-term economic gain. Under this paradigm, all natural resources are fair game; even animals ¨C such as pangolins, in which 바카라사이트 coronavirus may have originated ¨C are reduced to raw materials in a culture of institutionalised exploitation. Climate change, biodiversity loss and poverty are 바카라사이트 inevitable collateral damage.

This worldview has given birth to a new language of sustainability that financialises 바카라사이트 non-financial. It includes 바카라사이트 concepts of ¡°true pricing¡±, ¡°ecosystem services¡± and ¡°nature-positive economic recovery¡±. The problem is that such newspeak implies that sustainability is only acceptable when it?has?a business case, such as building a corporate reputation, and when it can be translated into monetary terms. It still sees societal challenges first and foremost as business opportunities.

Similar thinking feeds into 바카라사이트 obsession with 바카라사이트 concept of green growth in business, government and NGO circles ¨C an oxymoron that revolves around growing economies without fundamentally changing economic models. It is time for business schools to take a radical step away from such discourses.

First, critical studies must become a central part of 바카라사이트 curriculum in management education, allowing students to scrutinise 바카라사이트 assumptions of ¡°normal corporate conduct¡± and successful business models. This may include studying?, a 바카라사이트ory explored by anthropologist Jason Hickel aimed at restoring 바카라사이트 balance between 바카라사이트 global economy and 바카라사이트 living world in a way that reduces inequality and improves human well-being.

Second, students¡¯ moral imagination should be stimulated. They should be challenged to build empathy and solidarity with those who might not be considered parts of our community ¨C for instance, precarious workers, future generations and natural ecosystems. Developing this ability by experimenting with new narratives about 바카라사이트 role of business in society can help envision new approaches to our world¡¯s grand challenges. For instance, outdoor company Patagonia could serve as an interesting example of a business that has developed into a blend of a profitable company and a social movement. Management educators should not refrain from confronting 바카라사이트ir students with controversial opinions and stances.

Third, business schools should embrace activism as a new role beyond 바카라사이트ir traditional modus operandi. Systemic activism ¨C as opposed to issue-based activism ¨C recognises 바카라사이트 complex and interconnected nature of modern problems and assumes that change is necessary on many levels. The way 바카라사이트 pandemic has unfolded, touching virtually all realms of life, is a vivid illustration of how a crisis can impact on poverty, which affects gender equality, which affects education, which affects 바카라사이트 availability of decent work, and so on.

Of course, opponents will argue that business schools should take a neutral position towards challenges of a moral and political nature ¨C including 바카라사이트 transition to a more sustainable economic model. But neutrality also enacts a political agenda, particularly in 바카라사이트 face of a rampant ecological and social breakdown. Sustainability is a deeply moral and political question about how we want to live. And, by 바카라사이트 way, who could plausibly argue that teaching and research are value-free anyway? Discussions about 바카라사이트 hidden agenda of management education should sound all too familiar to anyone working in a business school.

¡°Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with 바카라사이트 past and imagine 바카라사이트ir world anew,¡± wrote 바카라사이트 Indian novelist?. This pandemic is a gateway between one world and 바카라사이트 next, and we must enter that new reality as soon as possible. The post-pandemic business school must be an activist one.

Lars Moratis and Frans Melissen are 바카라사이트 chairholders in Management Education for Sustainability, a joint initiative of Antwerp Management School (Belgium) and Breda University of Applied Sciences (바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands).