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Reflections and reflective practice to advance responsible management education for sustainability: the case of an Australian MBA programme

Lee, Ki-Hoon; Hales, Rob

Authors

Rob Hales



Abstract

Purpose
This paper aims to explore Master of Business Administration (MBA) students’ “reflections” and/or “reflection on practice” of sustainability into responsible management education using Bain et al.’s (2002) 5Rs (reporting, responding, relating, reasoning and reconstructing) reflective scale.

Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a case study approach using content analysis and written reflective journals analysis from MBA students’ assignments.

Findings
This study revealed that responding and relating (emotionally-based reflections) scales are dominant reflections while reasoning (cognitively-based reflections) is a slightly less dominant reflection. The findings confirm that effective management education for sustainability should encourage and motivate students to reflect on their emotional learning to improve leadership values, attitudes and activities. Such reflection can lead to transformative experiences.

Research limitations/implications
This study adopted a small-scale content analysis using an Australian university’s MBA case. To increase validity and generalisation, researchers will benefit from a wide range of quantitative analyses in different countries and cultural contexts.

Practical implications
Curriculum design using reflections and reflective journals should be enhanced in management education for the practice of sustainability and/or sustainable development.

Social implications
Higher education should encourage socially and environmentally responsible management in programme and curriculum design with a reflective approach.

Originality/value
This study presents a conceptual framework and analysis approaches that can serve as some bases for the development of a more robust analysis in responsible management education.

Citation

Lee, K., & Hales, R. (2022). Reflections and reflective practice to advance responsible management education for sustainability: the case of an Australian MBA programme. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 23(5), 1158-1172. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-04-2021-0135

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Oct 28, 2021
Publication Date May 10, 2022
Deposit Date Mar 8, 2024
Journal International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
Print ISSN 1467-6370
Publisher Emerald
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 23
Issue 5
Pages 1158-1172
DOI https://doi.org/10.1108/ijshe-04-2021-0135
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/3531575