The need for sustainability and CSR in undergraduate business education

Abstract

As global temperatures rise and our planet faces the ever growing consequences of climate change, sustainability practices (especially among corporations) are more important than ever before. More specifically, proactive strategies and shifts in organizational culture should be at the forefront of corporate environmental strategies. Research has shown that environmental values and awareness impact the degree to which business managers or employees implement proactive environmental policies, engage in corporate social responsibility ( and make overall eth ical decisions. Thus, it is important for those in the business field to possess environmental and prosocial values, which may then translate into their decisions or priorities as an employee. Studies on value formation have proven that values are formed early on and during transitional periods of a person s life (such as college), and subsequently become
harder to change over time. Therefore, some scholars argue for the implementation of sustainability, CSR, and ethics in business education. Some universities and Master of Business Administration (programs have created courses, institutes, and specialized programs to promote these topics, but none have fully introduced sustainability as a requirement for business students. Using a comprehensive literature review, this paper highlights the need for a mandatory integration of sustainability and social impact curriculum into U.S. undergraduate business education. Additionally, this research contains implications for universities and encourages them to reev aluate the purpose and learning objectives of
business education in our changing world.