Sustainability Centres and Fit: How Centres Work to Integrate Sustainability Within Business Schools

Rieneke Slager*, Sareh Pouryousefi, Jeremy Moon, Ethan D. Schoolman

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

For nearly as long as the topic of sustainable business has been taught and researched in business schools, proponents have warned about barriers to genuine integration in business school practices. This article examines how academic sustainability centres try to overcome barriers to integration by achieving technical, cultural and political fit with their environment (Ansari et al. in Acad Manag Rev 35(1):67–92; Ansari et al., Academy of Management Review 35(1):67–92, 2010). Based on survey and interview data, we theorise that technical, cultural and political fit are intricately related, and that these interrelations involve legitimacy, resources and collaboration effects. Our findings about sustainability centres offer novel insights on integrating sustainable business education given the interrelated nature of different types of fit and misfit. We further contribute to the literature on fit by highlighting that incompatibility between strategies to achieve different types of fit may act as a source of dynamism.
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Business Ethics
Volume161
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)375–391
Number of pages17
ISSN0167-4544
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2020

Keywords

  • Academic centres
  • Fit
  • Sustainable business education

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