Learning to deal with CSR issues in the classroom

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is now a popular topic for business and educational institutions. However, its manifold manifestations and interpretations make its learning interesting whilst at the same time challenging. This paper reflects on the use of systems thinking to develop business students' awareness and intervention skills on CSR issues. To develop our approach, we consider three areas of CSR that we think need attention. These are (1) the incorporation of CSR issues into organizational purposes; (2) stakeholder management when thinking about CSR and (3) assessment of CSR impacts on society. Our approach shows how key systems thinking ideas and methodologies have helped us to facilitate discussion about these elements in the classroom. We suggest some ways of improving our approach towards improving students' engagement with CSR in the future. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.