The sign of a tipping point emerged for me at exactly 3:11 pm, October 25, 2006. It was the closing ceremony of the Global Forum "Business as an Agent of World Benefit: Management Knowledge Leading Positive Change," convened by the Academy of Management (AOM), Case Western Reserve University, and United Nations Global Compact. In a casual, I-forgot-one-more-thing-during-my-thank-you-speech, AOM's President Ken Smith returned to the microphone and announced a joint effort to create "world benefit" principles for management education and research. Suddenly, it seemed that "tipping" the whole system of management scholarship was a reality just around the corner.
Surly, a new set of principles may not seem like anything of import -- after all, they are just words on paper. Yet, principles of operations, of design, of awareness represent a qualitative shift, as they are the blueprint of a system, including its decisions and actions. (I was taken once by the example of a sustainable design professor who talked about the dramatic differences that emerge when one introduces a new principle to the design of simplest things. "Just imagine", he said, "what a backpack would look like, if you add to the long list of design principles - durability, spaciousness, comfort, etc - just one more - the least number of elements used.")
But back to the story.
The announcement came as the perfect culmination to four days of intense Appreciative Inquiry conversations and action planning aimed at connecting the seemingly parallel worlds of business and academia in an effort to advance the role of business in society. Parallel indeed: while the number of stories of innovative business practices grows by the hour, the number of business schools positioning sustainability at the core of its curriculum remains stalled, and the research in the domain remains even more marginal. This situation is rather puzzling in the face of the survey results presented at the Forum by Liz Maw, Executive Director of Net Impact, suggesting that 78% of MBA students are eager to see sustainability embedded into management classes.
Fortunately, there are a number of recent developments, many of which were showcased during the Forum, providing an array of avenues that promises to bridge the business-academia gap. To name just a few:
But back to the tipping point. As Dr. David Cooperrider, the mind behind the idea of a forum connecting business pioneers with the best of management academia, addressed the fifteen+ action groups that emerged during the forum, he shared a story of his son discovering that the planet is losing an average of 40 species every day, and asking “Daddy, what am I supposed to do with that?” I think the answer to this question hides a key to creating a tipping point in management scholarship and education. As the cascade of academic projects and business initiatives aimed at elevating the role of business in society continues to gain strength, they merge together into a wave bringing about systemic shifts that define the true change.
So, what is our next step? Do we come together to co-create the umbrella of new universal principles that guide our goals and aspirations? Do we dare openly question academic performance educators, rankings, publishing principles, and beyond? Do we make decisions with a set of different criteria? Do we listen to businesses and their soon-to-be employees - and our students – as they ask for new visions in curriculum and research? I think we are about to find out.
Nadya Zhexembayeva heads up the World Inquiry, an action research project of the Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit (BAWB) at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management. A global effort, the World Inquiry aims to discover and share new ways for business to live in mutual benefit with the earth's ecosystems and the world's societies. Nadya served as the host of the Virtual Conference that extended the BAWB Global Forum to additional 500+ participants from all over the world.