Responsible Managers and Responsible Management Education

Abstract

Global economic systems are moving towards more environmental sustainability, by taking firms’ environmental performance into consideration, for example, a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, carbon taxes, and cap-and-trade programmes (Freedman & Jaggi, Sustainability, environmental performance and disclosures. Emerald Group Publishing, 2010). The challenge for responsible managers is not only to evaluate their firms’ operational performance but also to assess realistically their environmental performance. This requires responsible management education (RME), which is discussed in this chapter within a context of environmental economic performance, and is structured as follows: Section “Introduction” explores the definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and associated concepts; Section “Responsible Managers and RME” explores the role managers play in applying CSR-related values to multinational enterprises (MNEs), and small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and Section “Conclusions and Implications” explores the concept of RME in relation to CSR. The discussion is in terms of achieving a more environmentally sustainable economy through education for responsible management, since it is believed that substantial adjustments of regulating practices are required for firms to realistically alter balance sheets and responsible investors, among other stakeholders, to be fully informed, and responsible managers, by the very nature of their position in the firm, are key drivers for changes inside MNEs or SMEs.