Cultivating Support for the Sustainable Development Goals, Green Strategy and Human Resource Management Practices in Future Business Leaders: The Role of Individual Differences and Academic Training

James W Westerman,Jennifer Westerman,Lubna Nafees

doi:10.3390/su13126569

James W Westerman, Jennifer Westerman + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126569

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Abstract

How we effectively train our future business leaders is critical to the success of the implementation of the SDGs. Higher education will play a central role in this effort. This research examines business student support for environmentally oriented organizational strategy (“green strategy”) and human resource management policies and practices (“green hrm”) in comparison with sustainable development (SD) students to explore the barriers facing the education of our future business leaders on the SDGs. We explore whether student political orientation, gender, or authoritarianism are associated with different levels of support within each discipline. We also examine whether business students prioritize the same UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as SD students. Results (n = 281) indicate that business students (particularly those who are male, conservative, or authoritarian) are less supportive of green strategy and green HR than SD students. However, business student support of prosperity/people-oriented SDGs offers a potential avenue for progress.

Highlights

There exists a global scientific consensus that climate change will result in unprecedented alterations to the way humans live on earth, and that industry accounts for at least 37% of global carbon dioxide emissions [1]
We explore whether support of green strategy and green hrm differs between business and sustainable development students, and if student authoritarianism, political orientation, or gender are associated with significantly different levels of support within each discipline
The second hypothesis was tested by examining the correlation coefficients between authoritarianism, political orientation, green strategy, and green HRM policies

Summary

Introduction

There exists a global scientific consensus that climate change will result in unprecedented alterations to the way humans live on earth, and that industry accounts for at least 37% of global carbon dioxide emissions [1]. At the current rates of global industrial growth, the challenge facing humanity is that of “an enormous increase in environmental deterioration, just when we need to move strongly in the opposite direction” [2] “To create an enduring society, we will need a system of commerce and production where each and every act is inherently sustainable and restorative. Business will need to integrate economic, biologic, and human systems to create a sustainable method of commerce . Just as every act in an industrial society leads to environmental degradation, regardless of intention, we must design a system where the opposite is true” [3] Business will need to integrate economic, biologic, and human systems to create a sustainable method of commerce . . . Just as every act in an industrial society leads to environmental degradation, regardless of intention, we must design a system where the opposite is true” [3] (p. xiv)

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