The Future of Sustainability: Have Your Say!

Week Four - “Shaping the Future”
Comment / Comentario / Commentaire

Jonathan Gosling, Director of the Centre for Leadership Studies at Exeter University, United Kingdom

Moderating team: Professor Jonathan Gosling draws attention to the role of leadership and organisational responses in advancing sustainability - two issues which seem to be ommited in the e-debate on shaping the future. He comments that it is no longer acceptable for business schools to continue sending out graduates who focus on only growth, profits and economic outputs. He invites feedback on a proposal to create a Centre for Leading Sustainability in the United Kingdom which will help educate a new generation of managers to respond to global challenges in ethically, environmentally and socially responsible ways.

El Profesor Jonathan Gosling menciona dos elementos que han sido omitidos en la discusión de esta semana: el rol del liderazgo y la necesidad de respuestas organizacionales a la sostenibilidad . Comenta que no es aceptable que las escuelas de negocios continúen formando profesionales centrados en crecimiento, rendimiento y resultados económicos. Solicita retroalimentación sobre una propuesta de crear un Centro de Liderazgo en Sostenibilidad en Gran Bretaña que permitirá educar una nueva generación de gerentes con capacidad de respuesta a los desafíos globales de manera ética, ambiental y socialmente responsable.

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We urgently need to explore new leadership, management and organizational configurations that are relevant to the sustainability challenges of the twenty-first century.

Within academic and research fields there have been numerous studies that consider 'organisations and the natural environment’. But many of these have consisted of prescriptions that are based on existing management rationales which are often of limited relevance in helping organizations tackle ecological issues.

In developing governance strategies to address environmental degradation, we still lack detailed knowledge on key aspects or organizational change such as the ways in which private and public sector organizations can adopt measures to limit carbon consumption and enhance environmental protection.

Who will teach new leadership and management innovations relevant to he sustainability challenges of the twenty-fist century? Business schools have a role to play but what would business school education look like if it enabled business managers to act in a manner consistent with sustainable development? Business Schools were originally founded on the assumption that they would contribute to organisational performance and hence economic growth. To some extent this economic focus has since been moderated by the inclusion of subjects such as corporate social responsibility and ethics but it still underpins most programmes. However, it is now recognized that a focus on efficiency, growth and profit making does not create a healthy and robust workplace or planet. Within the UK, and elsewhere, there is growing public concern and increasing political pressure for business activity to address environmental and social outcomes as well as economic results. As a result managers will increasingly come under pressure to act in ways which are ethically, environmentally and socially responsible.

We believe that it will soon become unacceptable for business schools to send graduates out into the world who have been educated to focus only on economic outcomes.

To further research this area and to pilot changes in teaching and learning, we are proposing to to create a Centre for Leading Sustainability within the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, and most likely in partnership with other institutions around the world. By combining traditional organisation studies with more applied leadership studies we aim to have substantial impact on developments in sustainability by directly assisting people willing to take a lead on key issues.

One promising new research area is 'networks' – formal and informal - which will explore the interactions between international environmental regulatory frameworks, industrial/social networks that link specific technologies with supply and consumption, and political networks of activism at local and international scales.

I would welcome your feedback on the initiative to create a Centre for Leading Sustainability, as well as suggestions of partners, funders and someone to lead it!

Moderators Note/Nota del equipo moderador/Note du équipe de modération:

For more information on the Centre for Leadership Studies a the University of Exeter please see: http://www.leadership-studies.com/