Institutionalizing Sustainability: The Role of Multiple Logics in B Corp Course Integration

Maija Lähteenkorva ()
Additional contact information
Maija Lähteenkorva: University of Jyväskylä

Journal of Business Ethics, 2025, vol. 199, issue 3, No 1, 494 pages

Abstract: Abstract Sustainability has gained increased importance in business schools, yet its full institutionalization within the curricula remains challenging. To address this gap, business schools are increasingly collaborating with alternative organizations, such as B Corporations. However, the factors driving the integration of these B Corp courses into the curricula are not well understood. This study employs an institutional logic approach to examine in what way institutional logics coexist and shape the integration of B Corp courses within business school curricula. A qualitative analysis of 31 U.S. business schools revealed how the coexistence and hybridization of industry, social institution, and sustainability logic shape B Corp course framing, implementation, and perception. Industry logic drives career readiness and market alignment, social institution logic emphasizes community engagement and ethical responsibility, and sustainability logic promotes long-term impact and transformative education. This research contributes to the discourse on sustainability in business education by illustrating how multiple institutional logics can coexist constructively, offering a model for enhancing the effectiveness of sustainability initiatives in higher education.

Keywords: Institutionalization of sustainability; Business school; Institutional logic; B corporations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-024-05851-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:199:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s10551-024-05851-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... cs/journal/10551/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10551-024-05851-4

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Business Ethics is currently edited by Michelle Greenwood and R. Edward Freeman

More articles in Journal of Business Ethics from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().