1. KHADIJA KANWAL - Jonkoping International Business School, Jonkoping University, Gjuterigatan 5, Jonkoping, Sweden.
2. MUGHEES MALIK - Department of Linguistic, literary, historical, philosophical, and legal studies (DISTU), University of Tuscia,
Viterbo, Italy.
3. ANDLEEB AKHTAR - Department of Psychology, University of Haripur, Hattar Road Haripur City, KP, Pakistan.
4. FARIHA REHMAN - Department of Economics, COMSATS University of Islamabad, Lahore Campus, Punjab, Pakistan.
5. SAMEENA HUMAYUN KHAN - Department of Psychology, University of Haripur, Hattar Road Haripur City, KP, Pakistan.
6. ANILA TABBASUM - Environment Specialist, MM Private Limited Tarbela KP, Pakistan.
7. MAJID HUSSAIN - Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Haripur, Hattar Road, Haripur City, KP,
Pakistan.
This research study examines the relationship between two business school’s academic and operational engagement and their strategies for sustainability integration. The effectiveness of these strategies is studied through their impact on business students’ sustainability perception, their corporate social responsibility (CSR) attitude, and their current behavior regarding sustainability. Based on a quantitative approach and a sample of 158 business students from two well-reputed business schools (i.e., Jonkoping International Business School (JIBS) and Gothenburg School of Business, Economics, and Law (GOTBS), we employ an independent sample t-test to assess our research hypotheses. Our findings suggest that the impact of sustainability integration strategies used by business schools is significantly different. That is, a business school that uses operational engagement in addition to academic engagement is more effective than a business school that uses academic engagement only for sustainability integration. More specifically, we found that business students’ sustainability perception, their CSR attitude, and their current behavior regarding sustainability are better in schools that use operational engagement than the business school that does not use operational engagement. This implies that for sustainability integration, it is important to provide practical demonstration and opportunities to business students to make them responsible future business leaders.
Sustainability, Responsible Management, Future Business Leaders, Sustainability Integration Strategies, Academic Engagement, Operational Engagement.