Greening the Business School

Abstract

The current upsurge in environmental problems within society has created a new set of forces which impact upon industry. On the one hand, the development of 'green issues' can be seen as a constraint on unfettered industrial production; whilst a more optimistic view would see such forces as an opportunity and potential driving force for sustained competitive advantage. The latter is certainly the case if industry and commerce can be made to change their core values and to accept a long-term .view on their investment rather than the short-termism that has characterized the past decade. Central to this change in values is the role of business education, for it is only through a sustained development of the intellectual base of management that we can hope to make meaningful changes to business practice. The aim of this paper is to explore the implications for management education inherent within the 'green challenge' by reference to the experience in UK business schools. The argument focuses around the view that if we want to change the values of management we should endeavour to change the way managers are educated.