Table 1. Theoretical perspectives on... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1.

Theoretical perspectives on societal impact of business schools

Theory	Postulation	Societal impact of business
Institutional theory	Organisations seek legitimacy by conforming to societal norms	Explains why schools adopt principles for responsible management education (PRME), UN SDGs and AACSB reporting and impact metrics in response to accreditation and public pressure
CSR and stakeholder theory	Firms (and schools) owe responsibilities to a broad stakeholder set	Highlights curriculum reforms and outreach designed to regain trust after the global financial crisis and neoliberal market failures
New institutionalism/institutional logics	Actors navigate competing logics (market vs mission)	Illuminates tensions between rankings driven strategies and societal mandates
Critical theory	Power relations and neoliberal ideologies are primary motivators	Encourages scrutiny of how schools may reinforce inequality and environmental harm
Social constructivism	Meaning is cocreated through interaction	Guides analysis of how teaching practices shape graduates’ ethical worldviews
Resilience and Adaptive Capacity (Holling, 2001)	Systems evolve through adaptive cycles (growth, accumulation, collapse, renewal); sustainability depends on adaptive capacity	Encourages governance that embraces flexibility and cross-scale interactions; highlights the need for institutions to reorganize and maintain core identity under changing societal expectations
Adaptive Governance (Folke et al., 2005)	Governance should be flexible, collaborative and learning-oriented to manage complexity and uncertainty	Suggests polycentric decision-making, trust-building, and social networks to enhance resilience; relevant for embedding sustainability and responsiveness in higher education governance
Participatory systemic inquiry (PSI)	The world is a web of relationships with co-evolving dynamics. Change is emergent, non-linear and often unpredictable	Identifies all actors and forces influencing the business school’s social impact, such as: Curriculum design, research agendas, community engagement, graduate outcomes, employer expectations Interdependencies and power dynamics that shape the school’s role in society A participatory approach (students, faculty, alumni, employers and community partners) considers multiple perspectives, especially those often marginalised in traditional evaluations. PSI is useful for business schools navigating rapid changes in societal expectations, such as demands for sustainability, ethics and inclusivity

Theory	Postulation	Societal impact of business
Institutional theory	Organisations seek legitimacy by conforming to societal norms	Explains why schools adopt principles for responsible management education (PRME), UN SDGs and AACSB reporting and impact metrics in response to accreditation and public pressure
CSR and stakeholder theory	Firms (and schools) owe responsibilities to a broad stakeholder set	Highlights curriculum reforms and outreach designed to regain trust after the global financial crisis and neoliberal market failures
New institutionalism/institutional logics	Actors navigate competing logics (market vs mission)	Illuminates tensions between rankings driven strategies and societal mandates
Critical theory	Power relations and neoliberal ideologies are primary motivators	Encourages scrutiny of how schools may reinforce inequality and environmental harm
Social constructivism	Meaning is cocreated through interaction	Guides analysis of how teaching practices shape graduates’ ethical worldviews
Resilience and Adaptive Capacity (Holling, 2001)	Systems evolve through adaptive cycles (growth, accumulation, collapse, renewal); sustainability depends on adaptive capacity	Encourages governance that embraces flexibility and cross-scale interactions; highlights the need for institutions to reorganize and maintain core identity under changing societal expectations
Adaptive Governance (Folke et al., 2005)	Governance should be flexible, collaborative and learning-oriented to manage complexity and uncertainty	Suggests polycentric decision-making, trust-building, and social networks to enhance resilience; relevant for embedding sustainability and responsiveness in higher education governance
Participatory systemic inquiry (PSI)	The world is a web of relationships with co-evolving dynamics. Change is emergent, non-linear and often unpredictable	Identifies all actors and forces influencing the business school’s social impact, such as: Curriculum design, research agendas, community engagement, graduate outcomes, employer expectations Interdependencies and power dynamics that shape the school’s role in society A participatory approach (students, faculty, alumni, employers and community partners) considers multiple perspectives, especially those often marginalised in traditional evaluations. PSI is useful for business schools navigating rapid changes in societal expectations, such as demands for sustainability, ethics and inclusivity

Source(s):Burns (2012), Folke et al. (2005), Godonoga et al. (2023), Holling (2001), Miotto and Rom Rodríguez (2017), Nonet et al. (2016)