The Importance of Education in Developing Sustainable Environmental Leadership in Business - Coursework Example

The importance of education in developing sustainable environmental leadership in business Your full name: Your ID no: Unit code and name: Lecturer name: Assignment #: Due Date: Future leaders need to view business organisations as complete systems. They ought to understand the implications of individual actions across the board. Business matters are not always simple. Creating sustainable business environment for an organisation may seem complex if there are no right-thinking and intelligent minds. The role of institutions of earning is to produce individuals who fully understand that they have the mandate as the leaders within organisations and in the society in the future. This paper will discuss the importance of education in developing a sustainable environment for business leadership by examining the existing literature on the topic, identifying the issues that both the business students and professionals should know in order to develop environmental sustainability, identifying the skills needed by the educational institutions to implement so as to produce effective leaders of the future as well as investigating programs meant to develop a sustainable environmental leadership in the area of business. A number of sources have discussed the roles of education in creating awareness and skills that can promote to sustainable businesses in the future. Palthe (2013) posits that ‘business students need to understand the importance of assessing organizational success from an economic, environmental and social standpoint....’ this is because the concept of sustainability can be defined in relation to the ability of the business education to satisfy the economic, social and environmental needs of people in the society. Educators of business are entitled with the role of educating the future leaders in ways that leads to the sustainability of value for business and the society at large. In other words, there is need to teach current business students on the best approaches of establishing an inclusive and sustainable environmental leadership for business. Environmental sustainability can be achieved if business educators produce the leaders who will put more emphasis on meeting the environmental objectives. Swaim et al (2014), points out that ‘limited research exists to understand student behavioural influence on sustainability education especially as it translates to environmental sustainability behaviour in workplace.’ The gap undermines the ability educators and other professionals within education sector to effectively employ the best methods in their daily practice so as to address the diversified needs of the students. The authors states further that environmental sustainability leads to crucial business apprehensions that must be solved in business education at higher levels. The goal of addressing such business concerns is to help students master the art of making effective decisions in business in relation to corporate objectives of the environment. Swim et al continues to note the importance of business educators to be aware of the different sustainability perspectives among students in order to train the future generation of leaders. According to Mabry (2011), education systems should consider the integration of governmental and non-governmental institutions, industrial resources and communities in the development of enough training programs and courses on sustainable issues. The education for sustainable development should incorporate the environmental, economic and social aspects of leadership. Business students and businesses should be aware of the several issues in relation to environmental sustainability. Three of the issues are: Getting the right definition and understanding of sustainability concept, knowing the Secondary Challenges to Sustainability and understanding the National- Cultural Disposition towards Sustainability. Define and Understand Sustainability Concept Sustainability practices are highly dependent on the understanding of the concept by both businesses and business students. A clear picture of what education for environmental sustainability entails enables one to embrace sustainability from practical and theoretical approaches. Environmental sustainability can mean different things to many businesses and business students. For this reason, students and businesses should understand the concept environmental sustainability in its wide scope and from its diverse perspectives. They should view sustainability as a concept that encompasses economic, social and cultural factors and must be pursued in its best way. Knowing the Secondary Challenges to Sustainability Defining sustainability and understanding it scope and perspectives is normally considered the primary challenge to the achievement of sustainability in business education. However, other set of challenges are set to arise given the fact our socio-cultural attitudes, values and our view of science and technology affects sustainability. Business students should also be aware of fact that general literacy does not mean that they have acquired the entire necessary prerequisite needed to understand environmental sustainability. General literacy rather, enables them to be logical and rational in their thinking and to read and write. Therefore, businesses and business students should embrace learning as a continuous process in order to create sustainability-driven practices at the organizations they work at. National- Cultural Disposition towards Sustainability This is an important requirement needed to facilitate the process of making education an efficient tool for sustainability. When students and businesses think of sustainability at its roots, they recognize how culture will impact on the behaviours and economic activities of people, hence determine the extent in which people embrace sustainability. From a cultural poi of view, it is difficult to embrace sustainability practices and promote sustainability education at national level particularly when the literacy levels are low across communities and some groups. Business institutions must champion the development of effective leaders by implementing skills in students. Such skills include; Developing public awareness and understanding of sustainability, providing training as well as promotion and improvement of basic education. Developing Public Awareness and Understanding of Sustainability Basic education is necessary in order to increase the economic, social and environmental awareness of the citizens on issues affecting them. Therefore, business institutions should initiate public awareness right from institutions of learning to communities and finally to the national level. By so doing, the general public will gain a better understanding of the concept of environmental sustainability. In order to realize a sustainable society, there must be a massive social education alongside a media platform that is conscious about social responsibility so as to promote initiatives from the public fraternity. Providing Training Sustainability issues should be weaved into the curricula by business institutions of learning. It is unfortunate that quite a number of training courses, both professional and vocational course that are related to sustainable work environment are still administered from industrial departments. Since the concept of environmental education is directly related to education for environmental sustainability development, business institutions should incorporate training programs alongside the theoretical teachings. Promotion and Improvement of Basic Education Without consideration of the level of development, basic education is an essential element to every nation. Although literacy is considered an important step in economic development, its significance does not address all educational concerns. Education should promote values, perspectives and skills required to engage in decision-making and development activities in the community. Therefore, critical thinking, change of status quo and proposition of opinions are the basic elements of communicative abilities that should be promoted by basic education. Sustainable environmental leadership in business can be developed through the use of suitable programs and internships. Shriberg and MacDonald (2013) describe the rush by universities and colleges to respond to the urgent challenge and the need to develop future sustainable leaders. The analysis shows that there is a rapid increase in programs that utilize experimental education in their methodologies. The characteristic features of most programs aimed at developing environmental sustainability in business education include the elements of network-building, project-based learning and systems thinking. Sustainability is defined broadly by program leaders with special emphasis on social justice. The definition of leadership is based on engagement and communication of students across all networks. Challenges encountered in the program include; conflict of interest in training analytical and specific skills and the tradeoffs in depth verses breadth (Shriberg & MacDonald, 2013). Also, programs have a tendency of focusing on leadership with an element of sustainability or sustainability education with leadership. Peer-to peer leaning is also emphasized in all programs examined. Environmental sustainability plays a crucial role in economic development. Giovanardi (2011) acknowledges the steady growth of China’s economy due to the existence of sustainable economic policies. She also warns that the economy of China will beat that of the west if the Western countries continue to hold their pride of their achievements instead of creating economic policies that promotes economic sustainability. During her internship, the author discovered that Foresight’s environmental sustainability and competitive advantage was greatly influenced by deep rooted Chinese culture. This is demonstrated by the fact that all staff were of Chinese origin. Helgert and Greene (2011) states that there is need for higher education to go beyond the usual teaching and scholarships to integrate sustainability activities as a way of serving not only the environment but also the society. A positive direction is a requirement for every institution aiming at giving the students environmental importance as seen in the case of Grand Valley State University. The success of the program was facilitated by the institution’s commitments to entrepreneurship and sustainability, establishment of the pedagogical legitimacy of entrepreneurial learning, faculty involvement and motivation and students selection of assignments and subsequent evaluation. In conclusion, it is apparent that the concept of environmental sustainability is broad and it can be understood differently by different people. The degree in which sustainability can be embraced in business organisation is dependent on the understanding of the concept by the businesses and individuals. However, there is hope for better embracement of sustainability given the fact that institutions are developing and integrating sustainability programs into the curricula of their schools. In my opinion, business students and other business corporations should intensify mass education on the importance of environmental sustainability. By so doing, community is able to understand that sustainability is not an affair belonging to the business entities alone but also it requires the input of the community to promote it. Such education will also promote the spirit of corporate social responsibility. References Giovanardi, MB 2011, ‘A Reflection on an Internship in China: Will the Losers of Yesterday be the Winners of Tomorrow?’, Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 137 – 141, Academic Search Complete. Helgert, J & Greene, E 2011, ‘Applied entrepreneurialism in a communications program: a case study in Green internships’, Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, February, vol. 3, no. 8, pp. 41 – 51, retrieved October 17th, 2014, Education Source. Mabry, S 2011, ‘Tackling the sustainability dilemma: A holistic approach to preparing students for the professional organization’, Business Communication Quarterly, June, vol. 74, no. 2, pp. 119-137, Education Source. Palthe, J., 2013. Integrating Human Rights in Business Education: Embracing the Social Dimension of Sustainability. Journal of Education for Business, 88: 117–124, 2013. Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Shriberg, M & MacDonald, L 2013, ‘Sustainability leadership programs: emerging goals, methods and best practices’, Journal of sustainability education, June, p. 22, retrieved October 19th, 2014, Education Source. Swaim, J., Maloni, M., Napshin, S., & Henley, A., 2013, Influences on Student Intention and Behaviour Toward Environmental Sustainability, Education Source. Read More