Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR): Essential topics for business education

The current changes and challenges of the economic and financial environments have created a need for further development in the way higher education, organizations and management systems view the sustainable development and business education. The purpose of this paper is to examine different aspects and approaches regarding sustainability, sustainable development, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the context of business education. The research is based on a literature review, on the experience gained as a result of our participation in various projects and international activities regarding the above-mentioned concepts, and on the results of several qualitative and quantitative marketing researches developed by the authors. Based on these findings we are underlining the fact that the concepts related to CSR and its components are not well known by managers of companies and public institutions and we also point out the fact that the respondents that have knowledge and skills in this field, have acquired most of them outside the formal education system. Furthermore, the paper contributes to the discussion needed to take place in order to understand that universities should make important steps not only for reorienting curriculum, developing programs, and modules, but also in implementing innovative teaching methods in order to integrate such topics in their educational programs.