Redefining the Roles and Duties of Management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the crisis of the business profession and the role that management education can play in renewing business management. It is argued that unless future managers demonstrate that they serve the common good in their daily practice, the legitimacy and moral standing of the business profession remain questionable.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the Masters in International Management Program of CEMS – Global Alliance in Management Education as a pioneering example of developing reflective and responsible managers.

Findings – The future manager is defined as a reflexive practitioner who is committed to environmental sustainability, exercises social responsibility, works with sensitivity toward gender and diversity issues, harmonizes information and communications technologies with processes and organizational culture, applies holistic perspective in problem solving, cooperates with social and political actors, and is engaged in progressive entrepreneurship.

Originality/value – The paper shows that responsibility can be successfully integrated into a global management education curriculum.