Leadership Strategies for Promoting Social Responsibility in Higher Education

Enakshi Sengupta, Patrick Blessinger, Craig Mahoney, Enakshi Sengupta, Patrick Blessinger, Craig Mahoney

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781839094286
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Higher Education

In keeping with the phenomena of globalization and privatization of education institutions and the ever-growing competition in the higher education industry, many higher education institutions are adopting a corporate approach in the changing face of the industry. Institutions are discovering the importance of corporate image, identity, and reputation and the use of corporate social responsibility as a reputation and an advantage building strategy. These strategies are helping the university to move beyond the classroom and to establish deeper relationships with society and to work collaboratively on local issues.Higher education leaders are crucial to these developments, and guide the strategy for institutions adopting this more corporate approach. This book explores the theoretical underpinnings and interventions of CSR practiced by universities across the globe and the role their leadership plays in promoting this. It provides international examples from the US, Africa, Europe and Asia, with implications and insights for university leadership, staff, and students.

PART I

ROLE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Enakshi Sengupta, Patrick Blessinger and Craig Mahoney

ABSTRACT

Nations today are faced with unprecedented challenges due to rapid globalization and global climate change. Universities no longer operate in isolation but are now a part of society where they are expected to be socially responsible citizens. Universities need to have effective strategies in order to be effective in a highly competitive higher education (HE) landscape. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a preferred strategy that can help achieve a good reputation and competitive advantage for the institutions of HE. Such institutions imparting HE are engaging in debates and quality research work to gauge the need of the current generation with a vision to meet the needs of the future generation (Sengupta, Blessinger, & Yamin, 2020). This book contains chapters that review scientific literature with an aim to find out the theoretical underpinnings explored in the case studies and interventions practiced by universities across the globe. This book provides evidence for CSR and the role of civil societies in creating an organizational culture that promotes social competence and human relations. This collective knowledge will help facilitate continuous improvement in higher education institutions with external impact and internal capacity building and a focus toward performance and management.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility; higher educational institutions; universities; social ethics; value orientations; management; impact measurement; case studies; future generation; climate change; globalization

INTRODUCTION

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) dates back to 1953 with the publication of Bowen’s “Social Responsibility of Businessmen.” The term was further refined in 1984 when Peter Drucker spoke about turning social problems into economic opportunities. World started viewing the concept of CSR in a different light and not a charitable giving or wasteful expenditure. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development defines CSR as:

the continuous commitment by the business organization to behave ethically and contribute to the economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.

European Union describes CSR as:

the concept that an enterprise is accountable for its impact on all relevant stakeholders. It is the continuing commitment by business to behave fairly and responsibly, and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the work force and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.

European Commission (EC, 2006) emphasis that CSR practices “can play a key role in contributing to sustainable development while enhancing Europe’s innovative potential and competitiveness” (p. 24).

CSR has been further defined as “corporate citizenship, sustainable business, environmental responsibility, the triple bottom line; social and environmental accountability; business ethics and corporate accountability” (Moon, Slager, Brunn, Hardi, & Knudsen, 2012, p. 2). It is argued and agreed by educationists that there exists an urgent need to educate students and enable them to understand sustainability matters so that while growing up they assume the role of pro-sustainability citizens, caring for their planet and surrounding with a futuristic view toward conserving and preserving the planet for future generations (Sengupta, Blessinger, & Yamin, 2020). CSR is the crucial bridge that gaps the inequalities found in our society and universities, NGO’s civic bodies and government plays a vital role in being a part of this bridge. These bodies have the capacity to frame a comprehensive set of policies and practices that can be integrated into curriculum or running of businesses and impact decision making in an organization. Civil societies have joined hands with institutions of higher education (HE) to remediate social problems and create an ethical relationship in society with a focus toward transparency and accountability.

In keeping with the phenomena of globalization and privatization of education institutions and the ever-growing competition in HE industry, it is becoming imperative for higher education institutions (HEIs) to adapt a corporate approach in the changing face of the industry (Gioia & Thomas, 1996; Gumport, 2000; Weymans, 2010). Institutions are resorting to various strategies that are geared toward discovering the importance of corporate image, corporate identity, corporate reputation, and use of CSR as a reputation and an advantage building strategy (Atakan & Eker, 2007; Melewar & Akel, 2005; Porter & Kramer, 2006; Stensaker, 2007). Working with civil societies and use of CSR toward building competitive advantage is a direction chosen by the leaders of the institutions. These strategies are helping the university to move beyond their classroom and establish relationship with active members of society to help their students understand and appreciate the current problems and work on a collaborative effort to create a solution for such issues.

Educational institutions are charged with legitimate duties of educating the masses, advancing knowledge through research and contribute to economic development in a sustainable manner (Sengupta et al., 2020). Leaders in educational institutions have shown a commitment to CSR through “actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is required by law” (McWilliams & Siegel, 2001, in Strand, 2011). Leadership in educational institutions is considered to be crucial for CSR as they are actively involved in securing the commitment of management and develops a system of incentives to reward staff and faculty members who develop and push for the adoption of sustainability practices at all levels (Székely & Knirsch, 2005). A conscious effort is needed on the part of the active individual that is both a good leader and a good manager to transform the institution into a sustainable and socially responsible body who is both accountable to its stakeholders and helps inculcate it in the running of the institution (Székely & Knirsch, 2005).

A university’s decision to engage in CSR comes from its leader and is viewed as a strategic choice. While talking about the involvement of leaders in CSR academics have stated that “decisions regarding CSR activities are made by managers and stem from their mental models regarding their sense of who they are in the world” (Basu & Palazzo, 2008, p. 124) and from “their own perceptions of what they think is important or their own moral values” (Waldman, 2008, p. 118), while it holds true for businesses the same is applicable in an institution of HE. Leaders can give directional guidance and motivate the entire institution toward creating a conducive atmosphere and help create “a proactive strategy in shaping the perspectives of future leaders through sustainability related management education, research, management, and training programmes” (Lee et al., 2013, p. 4).

LITERATURE REVIEW

The controversy that surrounds HE is its role in economic prosperity of a nation and to what extent should it function as an ancillary unit in creating economic capital. The property that is zealously guarded by every university is its intellectual capital. Academics have argued in the past that the role of a university should be restricted to creation of intellectual capital. However, the intellectual capital is a source of economic prosperity of a nation. It is the source of research and development and growth and progress of manpower. CSR is noted as an approach that can help in creating a higher academic quality of life. The leaders along with their team of faculty, staff, and student should help accelerate the integration of civil society and CSR in the curriculum of students with an academic goal toward creating a solution to all those which are considered as social evil.

In recent years academic institutions have shifted their focus of working from a self-contained viewpoint to one that is collaborative in nature. Institutions of HE have realized that it can no longer thrive in an environment that enjoys predictable funding and student enrollment without having much of a competitive edge between institutions (Dill, 2003; Gioia & Thomas, 1996). Globalization and internationalization of HE have put institutions into an ambiguous arena that looks more like a consumer goods marketplace (Gioia & Thomas, 1996). There is a severe struggle to attract high quality students and academic staff not only within national borders but also in an international level (Melewar & Akel, 2005). This strategic change has led institutions to adopt a business-like approach to compete and survive in this industry (Gioia & Thomas, 1996). Universities have no alternative but to reform themselves and customize their approach toward education to new economic realities (Weymans, 2010).

Managing an institution of HE and making it financially sustainable is a large task that not only faces a global competitive environment but also faces financial realities that are looming large along with the pressure to alternative sources of resource commitment (Gumport, 2000). A traditional business talks about customers and implementing CSR in the company to garner market share and win favorable customer feedback and brand loyalty is considered to be a good strategy. However, treating students as customers is still not looked upon as a favorable approach to market an institution of HE.

Therefore, this uphill task can only be completed if educational institutions start changing their traditional mode of management and ushers in a multifaceted approach with help from civil society and government. Academics are not allowed to have an ivory tower approach any longer. The problem lies in the core where till date academia enjoys being self-contained, governing itself and focusing on knowledge activities that functions in isolation determined largely by themselves. This approach may have been suitable in the past century (Weymans, 2010). In the current global market environment, the social pressures on businesses have increased and stakeholders are demanding a commitment toward well-being of all, and concern for the CSR is not manifested only by academics but by the public and the shareholders as well (Popa, 2010).

To steer an educational institution in achieving its competitive edge and imbibe CSR not only in education but as an approach for management can only be done by an effective leader of the institution. Leaders are capable of promoting clear CSR goals and missions through a well-chalked-out strategic plan. Amagoh (2009) argues that it is only leaders that can be responsible for innovations, and he further views effective leadership as responders who can initiate change and are those individuals who will find ways to creatively address challenges while sustaining high performance of their institutions. Neera, Anjanee, and Shoma (2010) state that the concept of leadership remains ambiguous due to the changing environment of our time but the leader is definitely those who thinks and make decisions ahead of their time. Fairholm (1998) and Kanji (2008) discuss the significance of a leader who is capable of articulating the vision as a means of demonstrating support for the program being implemented.

In this case implementing CSR and tie-ups with civil society organization (CSO) to provide a meaningful and wholistic learning experience to students lies with the leaders. It is now nearly impossible to manage an educational institution in a traditional market-oriented manner. As Stensaker (2007) points out the challenges lie in managing an educational institution in keeping with the cha...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Part I Role of Corporate Social Responsibility
• Part II Leadership and Management
• About the Authors
• Name Index
• Subject Index