Developing Socially Responsible Behaviour in Managers - Experimental Evidence of the Effectiveness of Different Approaches to Management Education

Most of the discussion by academics and practitioners regarding CSR (corporate social responsibility) pertains to the organisation. Little research has explored how to develop socially responsible behaviour (SRB) at the individual level. As part of a large-scale research project, RESPONSE,† four companies took part in randomized controlled experiments to test the effectiveness of different approaches to management education designed to develop such socially responsible behaviour. The data provides evidence that traditional approaches to management education are not effective in changing decisions made regarding CSR dilemmas. Approaches aimed at personal development, such as training techniques of relaxation and mental silence meditation, even without explicit reference to CSR, show strong impact on changes in the decisions made (SRB) and specific psychological characteristics of managers (affect, values and cognitive reasoning, referred to as ‘social consciousness’) that enhance the emergence of socially responsible behaviour. Implications are drawn for a better understanding of learning processes connected to CSR, as well as for the design of management education in this specific domain.