Going against the grain: emotional labour in the face of established business school institutional logics

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe institutionalisation of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) in business schools involves a normatively challenging change project. Drawing on the institutional work and emotional labour literatures, this paper reports on the findings of a qualitative study into the emotional labour that underpins the practices of PRME advocates in 24 UK business schools. While acknowledging institutional gains, findings highlight the emotional consequences including exhaustion and isolation experienced when seeking to disrupt dominant sector and organisational logics. The study demonstrates the potential value for both academic change agents and supportive management of insights derived from the recent ‘emotionalising’ of institutional work research.