Does business education cultivate environmental citizenship

Abstract

Reductive management theories (based on the utility maximisation economic model) are increasingly being criticised as the cause of recent corporate scandals. Management education has neglected the interwovenness of humans and the environment, and the moral obligation of businesses towards the natural environment. This study identified perceptions of students and academics at a prominent South African university regarding levels of environmental awareness and values, implications of environmental management, environmental education, pro-environmental behaviours, and incentives to go green, using a questionnaire. The results revealed that business students and academics differ from their counterparts in other faculties regarding perceptions of factors that influence environmentally responsible citizenship.