Mainstreaming Corporate Social Responsibility at the Core of the Business School Curriculum

Abstract

Extant literature has highlighted that business schools have been accused of promoting an educational ethos that emphasizes shareholder value and the pursuit of short-term profits, thereby preparing overly competitive future generations interested in profit maximization. This chapter highlights the importance of integrating CSR into the mainstream of business schools’ curricula, arguing for the responsible role that business schools should play and emphasizing the strategic case for such integration. The chapter analyzes the main challenges and opportunities that both hinder and facilitate mainstreaming of CSR at the heart of the business school curriculum and the role that the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) can potentially play as a facilitating factor and driving force. The chapter illustrates these drivers and constraints in the context of one specific business school in Lebanon that has successfully experimented with CSR mainstreaming in recent years.