The Declaration of Business School Independence

Abstract

The Declaration of Business School Independence is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek, somewhat serious, line-by-line ”rewriting” of the United States Declaration of Independence. In place of seeking the American colonies’ freedom from the perceived and enumerated oppressions of the British Crown, this version of the declaration seeks to liberate global business schools, and the world, from the oppressive and destructive theories and thinking of the present Neoliberal global paradigm taught in business schools. The new declaration lists harmful and destructive teachings that occur in finance, marketing, accounting, economics, management, and ethics and calls for their replacement by teaching and research that will contribute to a sustainable/flourishing world – a world that works for everyone with no one left out. This new declaration was inspired by the following resolution unanimously passed on July 18, 2016, at the combined World Forum of the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools and the Annual Meeting of the Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education in Nairobi Kenya: The annual meeting of the IAJBS requests the IAJBS leadership, CJBE leadership, and the rest of the network of Jesuit business schools to work together to apply for the MacArthur Foundation 100 million dollar 100&change competition with a project to transform Jesuit business education to be fully aligned with the wisdom in Laudato Si, with our universally-valid Jesuit educational tenets, and with the need for global sustainability, social justice, and poverty alleviation. Although referring only to Jesuit business education, the resolution and the subsequent 100&change application seek to transform all of global business education as a vehicle for transforming the entire global producing-distributing-consuming system.