An Assessment of Critical Reflection in Management Education for Sustainability: A Proposal on Content and Form of Shared Value Rationality

• Main Authors: Janette Brunstein, Marta Fabiano Sambiase, Claudine Brunnquell
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-06-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: critical reflection; shared value; sustainability; strategic management education
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/6/2091

This article describes and analyzes a proposal for the teaching-learning of strategic management for business students, from the angle of critical reflection (CR) presuppositions. The proposal was designed to broaden the dominant rationality in teaching strategies at business schools and has been in progress since 2011 in a Brazilian business school. We argued that changes in the organizational environment and in competition demand not only a review of strategy theoretical content, but also of the way that strategy is taught with more critical and reflective teaching-learning approaches. We conducted a survey to analyze the results of this educational experience from students’ points of view. Considering a sample of 165 undergraduate students who have taken the course since its implementation, we evaluated the students’ CR levels. The results present implications for professors, business schools, and researchers, revealing challenging aspects and also CR enhancers in the context of the undergraduate strategy initiative. We expect that the described experience can be replicated and improved in comparative studies in different geographical and disciplinary contexts, encouraging the evaluation and promotion of CR in the teaching of strategic management in business education.