Responsibilities of Educators in International Business

Introduction

At a time when international business scholars have called on executives and managers to place greater attention on corporate social responsibility in order to address issues of inequality, diversity, inclusion, and sustainability, in line with Rasche and Gilbert’s (2015) broader call, it is appropriate for the academic community to turn its attention inward and address the issue of responsibility in international business education.  Given the expansion of IB educational activities through increasing coverage of relevant topics in functional courses, what is the role of IB education in shaping the mindsets and values of the business leaders of tomorrow?  What is the unique contribution of IB courses to transforming business students into citizens of the world?  In short, what responsibility do international business educators have and what do they aspire to achieve as educators?

Several aspects of IB education raise distinctive issues when addressing matters related to educator responsibility.  It is not uncommon, for instance, for educators to seek not just education, but transformation.  This has given rise to increasing use of experiential learning approaches (Taras & Gonzales-Perez, 2015), particularly in cross-cultural management courses.  In 2014, AIB Insights (Maznevski, 2014; Peterson, 2014) dedicated an issue to one instance of an experiential activity that went terribly wrong, thereby plunging students, the instructor, and the institution into turmoil.  What responsibility do instructors and institutions have in the selection and implementation of different pedagogies? To what extent do IB educators consider the impact their instructional decisions may have on their students, institutions of higher education, and the world?

In a similar vein, in a time of instability in sociopolitical and economic structures on the global level (Meyer, 2017) – amid calls for de-globalization and appeals to reconsider capitalism – what role does IB education play in promoting and maintaining civility and rationality in the broader public square?

In this AIB Insights Special Issue, we seek to further flesh out the contours of responsible IB education and promote a dialogue about enhancing the quality of IB education through an acceptance of greater accountability.

Example Topics

While we are broadly interested in any topic related to the Special Issue theme that encourages a discussion of the responsibilities of IB educators, some potential topics for the special issue are listed below.

• What is different about teaching IB from teaching in other disciplines (e.g., management, finance)?
• What ethical considerations and concerns underlie the teaching of IB?
• What are the responsibilities of educators in the IB field to stakeholders (i.e., students, sponsoring institutions, employers, societies)?
• How do these responsibilities vary based on:
  • Lcation (e.g., within country or outside)?
  • Timeframe (e.g., befre, during or after international experience)?
  • Student demgraphics (e.g., age, gender, domestic versus international)?
• How do we ensure that IB education provides the transformational process that we aim for, and what responsibilities do educators have in designing and overseeing this process?
• What are the ethical issues associated with IB education?
• How does viewing IB education as a calling impact perceptions of responsibility?
• What is the role of IB education in a time of calls for de-globalization?
• What responsibility do educators have when selecting and implementing different pedagogy?

Submission Process and Timeline

AIB Insights is the Academy of International Business official publication that provides an outlet for short (around 2500 words), interesting, topical, current and thought-provoking articles. Colleagues interested in submitting their work to this Special Issue should consult the AIB Insights Editorial Policy and use the Online Manuscript Submission System, both of which can be accessed via the AIB Insights website at https://aib.msu.edu/publications/insights. Please select “Special Issue: IB Education” under ‘Track’ when submitting your manuscript.

Timeline: Please submit your work on or before October 31, 2019. Expected publication of this Special Issue is in the first half of 2020.

References

Maznevski, M. (2014). Managing Deep Intercultural Training Exercises. AIB Insights, 14(2), 7.

Meyer, K. E. (2017). International business in an era of anti-globalization. Multinational Business Review, 25(2), 78-90.

Peterson, M. F. (2014). Stepping on cultural and religious assumptions. AIB Insights, 14(2), 4.

Rasche, A., & Gilbert, D. U. (2015). Decoupling responsible management education: Why business schools may not walk their talk. Journal of Management Inquiry, 24(3), 239-252.

Taras, V., & Gonzalez-Perez, M. A. (Eds.). (2015). The Palgrave handbook of experiential learning in international business. Palgrave Macmillan.

For Submissions, Ideas And Questions, Please Contact: insights@aib.msu.edu

AIB Insights (ISSN: print: 1938-9590; online: 1938-9604) provides an outlet for short, topical, stimulating, and provocative articles.

Past copies of AIB Insights can be accessed through the AIB website at http://aib.msu.edu/publications/insights

AIB Insights Editorial Team

John Mezias, Editor

William Newburry, Associate Editor

Anne Hoekman, Managing Editor

Chei Hwee Chua, Communications Officer