The sustainable management vision for excellence: implications for business education

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to: analyze the meaning of sustainability and its relation to excellence, in an era of management transformation, integration and evolution; to present the global challenges for sustainable management of the future; and to examine how sustainability should be approached by business schools.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach of this paper is theoretical and has been based on scholarly literature regarding sustainability and its integration in business education, for which critical issues are presented.

Findings

The findings of the paper suggest that sustainability and excellence are two interrelated concepts (under certain conditions). The post crisis management vision includes the refinement of management practice through the integration of specific factors in business strategy, which allows sustainable corporate growth. Hence, the role of business education becomes crucial. While a steady progress regarding the incorporation of the sustainability concept in business education is being made, further improvements can be achieved. Business education should be considered as an odyssey towards personal advancement that will allow systemic, multidisciplinary and innovative business thinking for sustainable management and excellence.

Practical implications

The paper suggests some critical issues for business education, so that future managers have a wider and diversified knowledge repository that will allow them to practise management in ways which are scientifically and ethically correct.

Originality/value

The paper presents the relation of sustainability to excellence and emphasizes certain future sustainable management challenges. In addition, it gives an overview of how sustainability in business education should be approached.

Citation

Anninos, L.N. and Chytiris, L.S. (2012), "The sustainable management vision for excellence: implications for business education", International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 61-75. https://doi.org/10.1108/17566691211219733