European Business Schools Research Articles

Business professors’ behavior toward incorporating sustainability in the classroom – a theory of planned behavior perspective

Purpose Sustainability has emerged as a key concept in 21st-century education. The purpose of this paper is to identify faculty’s behavior and barriers to incorporating sustainability in business school classrooms and suggest potential ways to tackle them. Design/methodology/approach This study uses focus groups and interviews with faculty at a European business school using the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore their beliefs and practices in incorporating sustainability in the classroom. Findings The results show that business school faculty have a strong awareness of sustainability and a desire to incorporate it into the classrooms. Recommendations for deans and curriculum creators are proposed to reduce obstacles to successful implementation. Originality/value The perceptions of faculty, a key agent of change in the incorporation of sustainability in the classroom, are analyzed, and practical steps to support them are suggested through the use of a TPB framework.

How do location, accreditation, and faculty size affect business schools’ ranking?

This study analyzed the impact of location, accreditation, and faculty size on the ranking of elite business schools. It used descriptive statistics and inferential analysis (analysis of covariance) to establish the effect of location on the business schools’ ranking while also controlling the influence (impact) of the covariates (accreditation and faculty size) on the outcomes. It found that location and accreditation type do not significantly affect the business schools’ ranking. The size of the faculty impacted the rankings of the programs. However, the pairwise comparison of the critical factors shows that faculty size and accreditation are more impactful in European business schools than in China, the United States/Canada, and other regions. Finally, smaller business schools (mainly in Europe) pursue Triple Crown accreditation to compete with more extensive, U.S.-based programs, favoring only the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation.

The scientometric analysis and visualization of sustainable procurement

Sustainable procurement has emerged as a crucial strategy to address environmental and social challenges while promoting responsible sourcing and procurement practices. This research presents a comprehensive scientometric analysis and visualization of 1044 publications from 1997 to July 2023 through a co-author, co-word, and co-citation analysis on sustainable procurement from the Scopus core collection database using VOSviewer and Gephi software. Prominent research areas include green procurement, sustainable procurement, sustainability, procurement, and supply chain. Leading institutions are the University of Southern Denmark, European Business School (EBS) University, Germany and the University of Louvain, Belgium, with the United Kingdom, United States, and China as citation leaders. The Top sustainable procurement outlets are the Journal of Cleaner Production, the International Journal of Production Economics, the Journal of Business Ethics, Sustainability, and Supply Chain Management. By providing a holistic overview of the sustainable procurement research landscape, this study contributes to evidence-based decision-making and fosters a collaborative approach towards achieving a more sustainable and socially responsible world essential for facilitating sustainability efforts. The findings serve as a foundation for future research and policy development, facilitating knowledge exchange and driving positive change in procurement practices.

Walking the talk: organising for social impact through performance management in European business schools

ABSTRACT Universities, and business schools specifically, are experiencing a transformation of their societal mission. Similar to the STEM fields, business schools are nested in global competitive environments facing multiple competing pressures, one being the need to demonstrate their social impact (SI). While business schools signal their commitment to SI by addressing it in their mission and adjusting their curricula and research, whether and how they assess the SI of their core functions is less well known. This study thus investigates how business schools organise for SI through performance management (PM). The analysis includes 10 European business schools selected among members of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) network, and draws on reports and interviews with staff responsible for social responsibility reporting. Findings suggest that business schools are in early stages of organising for SI, and practices largely reflect compliance with coercive and normative factors. Performance management is mainly concerned with monitoring SI performance – i.e. providing performance indicators and assessment tools without appropriate rewards or sanctions. This study sheds light on practices for SI assessment in business schools, the influence of environmental dependencies on these practices, and aspects that could strengthen institutional accountability and commitment to social impact.

The role of affective ties in the asymmetrical relationship between student satisfaction and loyalty. Comparative study of European business schools

ABSTRACT In the context of an increasingly competitive environment in higher education, this article looks at the determinants of student satisfaction in European business schools. We analysed one French and one Georgian business school through a survey of 551 students. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypotheses, with qualitative data analysis further explaining the findings. The results identify the determinants of student satisfaction and confirm a positive and significant influence of student satisfaction on their loyalty. However, the findings reveal an asymmetrical relationship between the two constructs and suggest that, in addition to a high level of satisfaction, affective ties need to be ensured between HEIs and their students to generate loyalty. The study contributes to the literature by emphasising the importance of customer satisfaction in a service industry from an affective standpoint through the lens of customer expectations. It also demonstrates the importance of dissatisfier elements, especially when it comes to examining loyalty. The results are of vital importance for business school management to develop strategies aimed at attracting and retaining students, which will in turn improve financial performance and successful positioning.

Social sustainability reporting in European business schools

PurposeThis study aims to explore the social sustainability reporting (SR) of top European business schools to illustrate and discuss their practices and the associated challenges.Design/methodology/approachFor the top 20 European business schools, content and thematic analyses were used to investigate reports concerning social sustainability and data from semi-structured interviews. Reports from the past three years (typology, framework, channels of communication and frequency) were analysed, including content on social issues in the past period and the challenges faced by managers regarding social SR.FindingsSocial SR in the top 20 European business schools is heterogeneous and the main challenges are the lack of specific frameworks and resources, the amount of data that must be collected and the complexity of measuring social impact. Diversity and equality, society issues, ethical integrity and human rights with respect to students, partners and organizations are the most relevant social contents.Practical implicationsBusiness schools need to debate ways of promoting social sustainability and to adapt procedures and technology to communicate their social sustainability strategies and impacts. It offers an improved understanding to regulatory institutions that can allow them to establish standards and a foundation for future research that can refine or generalize the findings of this study.Social implicationsMeasuring and reporting social sustainability issues are relevant challenges for business schools that are working on social sustainability aspects.Originality/valueThe originality of this study lies in the discussion on current social SR practices at business schools, and their responsibilities regarding the development of a more sustainable society in a changing regulatory context.

БЕНЧМАРКІНГ КОНКУРЕНТОЗДАТНОСТІ НА ПРИКЛАДІ ГО «ШКОЛА БІЗНЕСУ І МЕНЕДЖМЕНТУ»

Benchmarking is a comparative analysis of the organization with the best direct and indirect competitors, as well as imitating their experience. It makes it possible to establish the key parameters of the organization’s activity, which should be worked on in order to achieve stable competitiveness. The purpose and main content of benchmarking is to identify the differences between the organization under study and the reference organization, as well as to establish the reasons for such differences and find ways to overcome them. Benchmarking objects include not only organizations in general, but also processes, technologies, methods, indicators of financial and economic activity, quality parameters, a motivation mechanism, development strategy formation, etc. The essence of benchmarking is to identify internal opportunities for improvement. By studying high-performing organizations, analyzing what makes that performance possible, and then comparing those processes to how your own organization works, you can make changes that lead to significant improvements. The article examines the essence of the concept of “benchmarking” in the works of domestic and foreign scientists, and offers its own interpretation. Types of benchmarking are grouped and characterized: performance benchmarking, process benchmarking, strategic benchmarking, internal benchmarking, competitive benchmarking, functional benchmarking, financial benchmarking, general benchmarking, and product benchmarking. The benchmarking implementation technology is considered through five successive stages: planning, data collection, analysis, implementation, control and evaluation. Benchmarking of competitiveness was carried out on the example of the non-governmental organization “School of Business and Management” in the part of the official website. The official websites of the business school of the Ukrainian Catholic University (LvBS) and one of the best European business schools – London Business School – were used for the analysis. In general, the use of benchmarking allows you to eliminate the weaknesses of the organization and realize existing opportunities to increase competitive advantages in the market.

Global Focus: The European Business School Librarian Group

Global Focus: The European Business School Librarian Group

Imagining a Place for Sustainability Management: An Early Career Call for Action

Imagining a Place for Sustainability Management: An Early Career Call for Action

Innovation in Family Business Syllabus: The Case of the American University in Cairo

Teaching family business has been trending in some European and American business schools. This trend has very limited existence in all Egyptian, and Arab business schools. This manuscript presents the experience of the family business course at American university in Cairo (AUC) which started in 2017, and is still in the evolution phase in spring 2020. The article starts by shedding light on the concept of family business, and its importance in the economy. This is followed by addressing the literature of family business education on the global level, and its status in Egypt, and the Arab world. Moving forward to the micro level of the AUC, through discussing the origins of the family business course inception as a pillar in the school of business strategy, and then the evolution of the syllabus from spring 2017 till spring 2020. The details of the course from pedagogy to assessments, guidelines, and rubrics are explained.

Shared strategic reflection process by a higher education institution: A case study

Business schools face social, economic, cultural, and technological changes that require constant rethinking not only of teaching and learning, but also of leadership and management. In contrast to traditional strategic planning models, this article proposes a new participatory approach for the university community, arriving at a common story and visualizing an exciting future for the school. Applying case study methodology, the paper describes a process of shared strategic reflection at a century-old European business school by following Otto Scharmer's Theory U. The process enabled achievement of shared definitions of vision, values, lines of progress, and strategic projects, and the study itself improved the participants’ perception of the process and its impact on a shared vision's generation. After process implementation, and as a general conclusion, Theory U contributed to promoting shared strategic reflection, with results that are very valuable in the highly uncertain, challenging environment in which business schools are immersed.

When Supervisor Support Backfires: The Link Between Perceived Supervisor Support and Unethical Pro-supervisor Behavior

Perceived supervisor support is widely studied in terms of its positive outcomes. This paper, in contrast, investigates employees’ unethical pro-supervisor behavior as a negative consequence of perceived supervisor support. Drawing upon the multifoci approach of social exchange theory and the reciprocity principle, we hypothesized that perceived supervisor support can engender unethical pro-supervisor behavior via employees’ feelings of reciprocity towards the supervisor. Building on the instrumental reasons that underlie social exchanges, we further hypothesized that this mediation relationship is stronger for employees high in Machiavellianism. We collected data for three experimental studies from full-time MBA students of a European business school (Study 1: N = 72) and from U.S. working professionals (Study 2: N = 320; Study 3: N = 325), and the results provided consistent support for our proposed model. Taken together, the current study highlights the “dark side” of perceived supervisor support, in that it can lead to unethical behavior and that this effect can be accentuated by employees’ Machiavellianism.

Making European Managers in Business Schools: A Longitudinal Case Study on Evolution, Processes, and Actors from the Late 1960s Onward

There have been calls in recent literature for researchers to open up the “black box” of business schools to explore their dynamics and behaviors in-depth for a context-sensitive understanding of their evolution. Drawing on the case of ESCP, a leading business school in France, this article shows how European business schools’ curricula have evolved since the late 1960s in response to a combination of powerful actors’ demands and the emergence of new processes in the educational domain. This article finds that while European business schools’ curricula reflect the influence of internal and external forces, they do not converge to a common type, because of the different markets and political and cultural contexts in which they operate. It also finds that business schools in Europe purposefully do not imitate those in United States.

International Double Degree Programs as Accelerators for Internationalization: Lessons from the Trans-Atlantic Business School Alliance

ABSTRACT The global nature of the modern business world has expanded the set of skills and attitudes necessary for success, even among new bachelor degree graduates. Although US business schools have primarily integrated international concepts through their curricula, students who stay at their home institutions for their entire degree programs do not live and experience the global business environment to the extent necessary for twenty-first-century careers. Short-term, semester- or year-abroad programs help to bridge this gap. However, carefully constructed undergraduate double degree programs can provide students with much richer experiences. This article provides a model for creating international undergraduate double degree programs in business, highlighting the main challenges and offering successful proven solutions employed by a group of American and European business schools that other institutions can adapt to accelerate internationalization and deepen students’ international experiences in American business schools.

European Business Schools: A content analysis of mission, vision and values

The use of mission statements as effective strategic tools is common for companies, but also in not-for-profit organisations, such as higher education institutions. In business schools, in particular, mission and vision play a role in communicating the school’s values and its learning and research objectives, driven by the internationalisation process and the need to develop strategies to improve a school’s academic reputation and positioning on a global level. Although studies have already investigated the characteristics of mission statements in higher education, more research is needed on how they are affected by external quality criteria, such as the ones set by accrediting agencies, which have established a benchmark for educational practices. In this study, a qualitative content analysis has been carried out to understand the core values expressed in the mission and vision statements of the European business schools which have received a 5-years certification from the EFMD. The analysis also aimed to investigate whether these values are linked with the three main dimensions described in the EQUIS “Standards and Criteria” manuals (EFDM, 2020) that are transversal to the accreditation guidelines, namely: “Internationalisation”, “Connections with Practice”, and “Ethics, Responsibility & Sustainability”. The findings of this study may offer insightful reflections on the content of mission and vision statements, and on the strategic choices and values expressed by EQUIS-accredited business schools that have been influenced by the quality standards set in the accreditation process.

The Ethics of Technology in Management Education

Cheating is commonplace amongst business school students and is possibly facilitated by the increase in smartphone technology. This study examines the issue of ethical perceptions of digital cheating using smartphone technology in a European Business School using a quasi-experimental methodology for two samples of undergraduate business administration students (295 & 627) before and after a creativity seminar. Participants were aware of what behaviours were considered cheating and on average partook in the intervention accordingly. Nevertheless, predefined ethics did not correlate with their reported actions and the intervention showed statistically significant changes ethical stance of participants. The study showed that the choice to cheat is different from the choice ‘not to cheat’ - the ethics described by the individual showed very little relationship with cheating or not, similarly smartphones were not considered pivotal in the cheating process. These findings have practical implications for the conceptualisation and teaching of ethics as well as the industry preconceptions of smartphone technology. This apparent disconnect between ethics and reported use calls for further research to address implementation of ethics in pressure situations impacted by technology.

The Plight to Choose: Cultivating Practical Deliberation in Management Learning and Education

Departing from discussions at Research in Management Learning & Education (RMLE) Unconferences, we identify the problem of practical deliberation: When faced with multiple, relevant theories that all demand to be given weight in a process of deliberation, how do management students, while drawing on these theories, justify their choice? Based on contemporary practical philosophy, we claim that students must aim for rational necessitation when practically deliberating about such decisions. Using the example of our teaching on a Master of Public Governance program at a major European business school, we delineate how we have employed a philosophical pedagogy to teach MBA students to practically deliberate in order to reach rational necessitation. With our theoretical and practical research, we aim to show how contemporary practical philosophy offers a distinct, original contribution to management learning and education in contrast with the traditional philosophies of education We end the article by suggesting and motivating five avenues of further research into the problem of practical deliberation in management learning and education.

Mission Statements in FT Ranked European Business Schools – A Content Analysis

Mission Statements in FT Ranked European Business Schools – A Content Analysis

Mission Statements in FT Ranked European Business Schools – A Content Analysis

Mission Statements in FT Ranked European Business Schools – A Content Analysis

A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO OPERATIONAL AND BUSINESS DECISION-MAKING

The “PQ” problem was published in 1990 by Goldratt. An adapted version of this problem is provided to master’s level students a few weeks before starting an operations management course. The performance statistics collected from three South African (since 2016) and one European business school (from 2018 onwards) do not make for good reading. To date, only 2.3 per cent of the students (42 students from the sample of 1 866 students) were able to answer both questions correctly; and some of them were not able to justify their correct decisions. This paper will explore the differences between traditional, cost-based methods of decision-making for day-to-day operational and improvement decisions as practised by many companies today — and hence the bad performance by the students — and taking a systems approach to decision-making. The paper will argue for taking the systems approach as a real alternative, without which alternative realities will remain but a dream.