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PurposeThe purpose of this study is to analyze sustainable human resources management (HRM) in the Brazilian banking industry and to propose an integrative framework of HRM practices toward sustainability, linking stakeholders to HR systems.Design/methodology/approachSupported by the stakeholder theory, the research design follows a triangulation of multiple data sources, covering 85% of the national banking industry: (1) annual Global Reporting Initiative sustainability reports, (2) employment tribunal decisions and (3) in-depth interviews with top managers of the Banking Trade Union and the Brazilian Federation of Banks, a trade association.FindingsThe analysis reveals various engagement levels across the sustainable HRM dimensions: justice and equality, transparent HR practices, profitability and employee well-being. However, current practices in all dimensions fall largely behind sustainable standards. An integrative framework of HRM practices is also proposed.Originality/valueThe study provides the first integrative framework of sustainable HRM practices in the literature.

Sustainability leadership entails the processes, which leaders, policymakers, and academics undertake in order to implement sustainable development policies and other initiatives within their organizations. It encompasses approaches, methods, and systemic solutions to solve problems and drive institutional policy towards a more sustainable organization. Higher Education Institutions (HEI) play a particularly important role, especially with regard to their institutional leadership role in promoting sustainable development. There is a paucity of research focusing on sustainability leadership in universities. In order to address this gap, this paper discussed the concept of sustainability leadership based on literature and empirical insights. The study aimed to understand the main characteristics of sustainability leaders at HEI and the main challenges they are confronted with. Secondary research questions involved gender issues and positive outcomes of sustainability leadership. The empirical component of the study consisted of an online-questionnaire survey performed among leaders (n = 50) from a set of universities in 29 countries. The sampling scheme was purposive, based on the membership in the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Program (IUSDRP). The study was explorative in nature, and the descriptive statistics were used for the analysis. Due to the purposive sampling, the participants from top management positions could be considered as experienced, and their views were assumed to be information-rich. With a self-evaluation, the respondents described their leadership style and their usual traits, with inclusive style and systemic thinking being predominant in the sample. Regarding the skills, the respondents selected the ability to innovate, to think long-term, and to manage complexity from a pre-defined set of options. Connectedness with interdisciplinarity and knowledge about organizational settings, as well as global challenges and dilemmas, were stated as important issues related to the knowledge required for being a leader. Regarding requirements for a change towards more sustainable universities&rsquo, curriculum adaptation, investments in education for sustainable development (ESD), sustainable procurement, and reporting were mentioned. The study also revealed that gender issues were taken seriously among the sampled institutions, which is an encouraging trend. Challenges seen in implementing sustainability leadership are, for instance, a lack of interest by the university administration and among some members of the academic community, as well as lack of expertise and materials or resources. Based on the empirical insights, a set of measures were listed and which may be adopted in the future, so as to allow leaders of Higher Education Institutions to enhance their sustainability performance.

Purpose The concept of sustainability evokes a multiplicity of meanings, depending on the field. Some authors have criticized the concept for its vagueness. Notwithstanding this criticism, worldwide efforts to meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs) are in progress and are expected to yield results by 2030. This paper aims to addresses two issues and make two primary contributions. First, the concept of sustainability is revisited to develop its integrative understanding. This concept is built on systems thinking – specifically, on the concepts of synergy, emergence, recursion and self-organization. Second, an approach is developed to help determine whether the efforts being made towards the SDGs can be expected to be effective (i.e., whether the world can hope to soon be a system that self-organizes towards sustainability). Design/methodology/approach Based on the assumption that the SDGs and their respective targets are systemically interrelated, the data on the progress towards the SDGs are correlated and the outcome is analysed. Findings The emerging pattern of correlations reflected the systemic coherence of the efforts as an indication of self-organization towards sustainability. This pattern also revealed that the efforts are still spotty and that the systemic synergy has not yet taken place. This correlation approach to Brazil is then applied. The data about Brazil’s progress towards the SDGs from the World Bank’s Word Development Indicators (WDI) database are gathered. The outcomes indicated that Brazil as a whole cannot yet be seen as self-organizing system that is evolving towards sustainability. Research limitations/implications To enable the calculation of the correlation matrix, the data series were not allowed to have missing values. Some of the WDI data series had many missing values and had to be eliminated. This unfortunately reduced the variability of the original data. In addition, the missing values in the remaining data series had to be calculated by means of interpolation or extrapolation. There are alternative algorithms to perform such functions. The impact of the interpolation and extrapolation of the missing values on the study, as well as the pros and cons of different algorithms, required investigation. It is important to remark that the WDI series was the only global and open data set that aligned with the SDGs. Social implications In Brazil, it is important to maintain the public policies that affect SDG 1-6, but it is necessary to develop policies geared towards SDG 12. Environmental goals also need more public policies (SDGs 14 and 15). To achieve this 2030 Agenda, much effort will be required for SDG 17, which is related to greater synergy through partnerships. Originality/value Three qualitatively distinct levels of efforts to sustainability are identified: individual, organizational and world activities. At the individual level, progress regarding sustainability depends on personal attitudes, including the willingness to abandon a self-centred lifestyle in favour of a more cooperative way of living and making decisions, and to embrace a new approach to ethics, which replaces self-interest by self-denial and self-sacrifice (de Raadt & de Raadt, 2014). At the organizational level, a paradox of the need to internalize environmental and social costs into generic strategies and the sustainability strategy that involves core businesses are challenges for systems working towards sustainability. When it comes to global level, in this paper, the authors tried to make a contribution to push forward the frontier of knowledge by proposing an approach to understand whether the progress made towards the SDGs in the past 25 years indicates that the world is, after all, organizing for sustainability (Schwaninger, 2015).

By applying systems thinking theory to capabilities literature, this paper examines the factors that support the development of dynamic capabilities towards sustainable management. For such, we conducted an in-depth single case study using Soft System Methodology (SSM) in an energy organisation from an emerging economy. Our analysis of the last twenty years of operation revealed that the organisation has developed new ways to change and adapt in a disturbing environment by integrating sustainability into three factors: (1) integrative strategy (green products, biodiversity, organic processes and self-sufficient electricity), (2) sustainable culture (sustainable mindset, environmental awareness, learning orientation and decision-making processes) and (3) organisational routines for innovation (new green processes and products, partnerships/alliances and knowledge management). Our results extend the literature by raising a conceptual framework of the fundamental dimensions of dynamic capabilities for sustainability. This is the first study that connects systems thinking and dynamic capabilities theories applied to sustainable management.

One negative point of management education is the lack of integration between the disciplines that restrains a systemic view. Moreover, there is not much research about an interdisciplinary approach to management. This paper applies soft systems methodology to develop a scale of interdisciplinarity in order to evaluate management education. We conclude that interdisciplinarity in management education is a social system that requires complex thinking development for management students. The scale addresses three dimensions: curriculum structure, organization and didactics. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Although corporate citizenship (CC) has gained space in the discussion of organizations' responsibilities, previous research indicates that this is not a solid concept inside a company, suggesting a significant level of heterogeneity below the firm level. Based on secondary data collection, documental analysis, interviews and a survey of 403 employees, we investigate the microfoundations of CC in a company leader in sustainable initiatives. Our analyses revealed four distinct profiles: (a) dreamers, who see CC at an advanced level of understanding inside the company and whose corporate actions are coherent with the strategic intent of the firm to become a global citizen; (b) believers, who recognize previous actions on CC but who still see low leadership engagement and, consequently, room for improvement regarding CC management; (c) critics, who perceive that the company is doing something but who identify several faults and areas for improvement; and (d) skeptics, who do not acknowledge the company's effort toward CC or who are not able to connect corporate strategy with CC. Furthermore, we provide a framework for managing the perceptions of CC to increase employee engagement. Thus, the study brings fresh thoughts on how CC is spread and understood inside firms and reveals the importance of firms' microstructures for the development and implementation of sustainability strategies.

This paper presents an analysis of student perspectives in a public college of management, signatory of the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and demonstrates how these students are able to promote the 2030 Agenda of the Sustainable Development through their student organizations. Student organizations may be considered Communities of Practice (CoPs) since they are dynamic, interactive and not controlled by the institution. Thus, an exchange of knowledge and participants’ engagement occurs naturally through shared values and practices. The proposed research question is “What are the values and practices shared in student organizations that are interpreted as CoPs in a public college of management that has concrete actions and potential to promote the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?” A questionnaire was sent to all of the members of the nine student organizations, and it contained six open-ended questions as well as profile questions. The answers to the open-ended questions were submitted to qualitative and quantitative content analysis. The results show that there is evidence that student organizations connect people by their beliefs, passions and shared values to achieve several goals, acting as CoPs, and have concrete actions and potential to promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

For many students, education does not simply mean obtaining a university degree and, consequently, a good job; rather, there is also a need to attain personal satisfaction and a sense of responsibility for the community in which one lives. In the business school that we studied, we observed that learning not only occurs in the formal education program but also is complemented by operations in the nine existing student organizations, which constitute much of the school's hidden curriculum. This research entailed a survey with a qualitative approach. Analyzing the keyword answers of the students, 91% affirmed that they dealt with ethical concerns, corporate social responsibility and sustainability in student organizations. Based on the content of the other answers of the questionnaire, it can be concluded that students are creating their own learning content in student organizations in varied subjects to meet demands unmet by the formal curriculum. The student organizations are a fertile field for reflecting on and practicing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and learning the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). The students of the surveyed student organizations demonstrated a predisposition to social impact actions, thus ensuring their responsibility, ethics, interest in sustainability and awareness of society.