Teaching the Virtues of Sustainability As Flourishing to Undergraduate Business Students

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Grant, Patricia Goodspeed McGhee, Peter
Copyright Year	2016
Abstract	IntroductionTransformative leaders need knowledge, which can provide them with convictions that alter both their individual behaviour and their approach to business. More and more business schools are incorporating sustainability into their curricula (Christensen, Peirce, Hartman, Hoffman, & Carrier, 2007; Sroufe & Ramos, 2011; Stubbs & Cocklin, 2008); however, more often than not sustainability becomes just another strategy for maximising profits (Amaeshi, March, 2013). This is because sustainability is often taught within the traditional neo-classical paradigm thereby eliminating any potentially transformative discussions, ideas, or ideals. Obviously business academics themselves need to be transformed if any progress is to be made towards incorporating courses which have the potential to change the mind-sets of business students to realise that business cannot be anything but sustainable. This article describes an undergraduate sustainability course for business students which has transformative potential. Anecdotal evidence indicates that not a small number of students became firmly convinced of the need for business and individuals to adapt to the requirements of sustainability as flourishing (Ehrenfeld & Hoffman, 2013); more importantly these convictions were put into action.The course was carefully designed to help students come to their own conclusion about the link between the current state of the planet, business, the neo-classical paradigm and ultimately their own habits such as spending patterns and other uses of resources. They convinced themselves of the need to take the path of sustainability as flourishing for human and other life on Earth forever; that sustainability is about being ethical (Ehrenfeld & Hoffman, 2013). This made it possible and appropriate to base some parts of the course and assessment on virtue ethics theory, facilitating the development of virtues for a sustainable life. A virtue ethics framework provided guidance and legitimacy to both the course tasks, and explanations about how to change personal habits to align with convictions around the need to be sustainable. In addition students were introduced to sustainability frameworks, strategies and tools which gave them concrete ways to implement their newly discovered knowledge about the right thing to do.Sustainability as FlourishingEvidence suggests that our current way of living is threatening a safe operating space for humanity now and in the future (Rockstrom et al., 2009). According to Rockstrom, three of the nine planetary boundaries which define this space have been surpassed and even the consequences of this are not yet fully understood. The nine processes which threaten this space are: climate change; rate of biodiversity loss; interference with the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles; stratospheric ozone depletion; ocean acidification; global freshwater use; change in land use; chemical pollution; and atmospheric aerosol loading. Raworth (2013) modified Rockstrom's framework by adding eleven social boundaries to define a safe and just operating space for humanity, eight of which have been transgressed. These include food security, income, water and sanitation, health care, education, energy, gender equality, social equity, voice, jobs and resilience. In light of the facts, agencies have developed strategies to help move the planet more squarely into this safe operating place. For example the World Business Council for Sustainable Development's (WBCSD) published report 'Vision 2050' plots a pathway for how business can contribute to ensuring nine billion people can live well, and within the planet's resources by 2050 (WBCSD, 2010). Action 2020 is a framework for transforming this vision into action. As is well known, large scale action is needed urgently if we are to attain this goal (van der Leeuw, Wiek, Harlow, & Buizer, 2012). Indeed, Starik, Rands, Marcus & Clark (2010) reflect this urgency writing as guest editors for a special issue on sustainability education in the Academy of Management Learning & Education:Neither the 'business-as-usual' nor the incrementalist reform approaches that most individuals, organisations and societies have employed to address critical global sustainability issues are apparently enough to move us far enough to prevent near-term crisis (p. …
Starting Page	73
Ending Page	117
Page Count	45
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Volume Number	7
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/10802/Grant.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=2
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article