Central European Business Review

16-22

Authors: Markus Prandini, Petronella Vervoort Isler, Petra Barthelmess

In the aftermath of the 2008/09 financial crisis, business schools had to face increasing criticism to have failed equipping their students with a broad and critical understanding of management and business practices which go beyond pure self-interest. Business schools are supposed to contribute to a holistic understanding of management which creates value along a triple bottom line: profit, people and planet. The triple bottom line finds its realization in the concept of sustainable corporate responsibility. This paper discusses possible approaches for business schools how to educate students to be future generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy. On the basis of the recently published Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) as well as contemporary learning theories, the paper provides concrete recommendations how to foster students’ development towards long-term thinking, responsible business leaders. The paper argues that student learning needs to occur within powerful learning environments to provide an active, problem-based and self-directed acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Two approaches to create best-practice learning environments are real-life case studies and real-life student projects which both lead to a strong buy in of students, faculty and company partners. Both approaches are exemplified with the bachelor degree program International Management at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland). As a conclusion, a responsible management education fosters the students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes towards responsible business leadership to shape the future direction of the 21st century.

29-36

Authors: Martin Lukeš

The paper is focused on existence and support of entrepreneurial behaviour and innovation in larger organizations. It first suggests why it is important to pay attention to entrepreneurship and innovation and then defines corporate entrepreneurship. Typical barriers of entrepreneurial activities are described as well as innovation dilemmas organizations solve. Innovation process is not linear, but six components of innovation behaviour may be identified, together with specific roles employees play when moving the idea forward from idea creation to implementation. Important factors influencing the success of entrepreneurial behaviour are discussed, involving the role of middle managers and reward systems. Recommendations for fostering entrepreneurial behaviour and innovation are provided together with a simple inventory for measuring employee perception of manager's and organizational support for innovation.

46-51

Authors: Gina Cook

This article presents some of the fundamental values and traits of American national culture with a focus on their potential effect on the behavior of US business people; this was done with a goal to map potential differences from the habits and norms typical in the Central European Region (CEE region) which might have an important impact on business activities. Methodologically, using a literary review including various different cultural frameworks which are briefly examined, the paper utilizes primarily descriptive and comparative methods, as well as analysis and synthesis to comprehend the issue in hand. The author complements this input with real-life personal and professional experience gained by working and living in both geographic regions. Finally, the article provides some key managerial implications for executives operating within the CEE environment who potentially conduct business transactions with Americans or US-based organizations.