Guest Speakers: An opportunity to create shared value?

Approaches to responsible management education are evolving with Business Schools. Through the UN Principles of Responsible Management Education, Business Schools are adopting a mission to educate the leaders of the future in the Sustainable Development Goals and responsible business practices. This has stimulated a shift from traditional teacher-centred lectures to student-centred activities that co-create real world knowledge, employment skills and personal values. One approach, which can extend the value of student-centred activities is the inclusion of sustainability practitioners as guest speakers through smart partnering with Business Schools. Students’ appreciation of guest speakers is generally accepted. However, little consideration of their ability to create shared value for students and guest speakers exists. To address this, this paper reports findings from a two-year study into the shared value of guest speakers within responsible management education and assesses potential benefits of being a guest speaker. Findings confirm students can gain value from guest speakers who provide real world knowledge, particularly if they provide an input for assignments, and suggest that guest speakers can benefit from new perspectives provided by students, including unrecognised personal and business challenges and opportunities. Consequently, the study suggests that through being a guest speaker or engaging with guest speakers, students and sustainability practitioners may be inspired to have a positive impact on their lives and lives of others, as called for by the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper contributes to two strands of pedagogic discourse: firstly, benefits for sustainability practitioners from engaging with Business Schools as guest speakers, and secondly, novel approaches to responsible management education. It will therefore be of interest to those seeking innovative approaches to responsible management education, to those seeking shared value creation through smart partnering with Business Schools and to those who simply want a new challenge.