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Managing obligations to society. Case of best ranked universities in social responsibility

Author

Listed:
  • Păunescu Carmen

    (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania)

  • Găucă Oana

    (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania)

  • Drăgan Gilmeanu Denisa

    (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania)

Abstract

Universities have always been engines for the economy, in multiple roles they play, trying to adapt to the continual dynamic changes in the environment, to better align their offerings with the current expectations of the students, employers and society as a whole. Many of the jobs that are now developing on the market and still will develop, as well as the multiple roles that the graduates are asked to play in society, have never been on the agenda of the universities in the past, nor on the mind of the curriculum designers. The current paper aims to assess the university engagement with community by analyzing 27 world universities best ranked in social responsibility according to QS Stars University Ratings 2016. In the paper, we discuss the extent to which different attributes of the university social responsibility are reflected among the initiatives and projects run by the universities investigated. Also, we analyze correlations between university ranking in social responsibility and other rankings. Following the QS Stars methodology, the criteria used to evaluate social responsibility of selected universities included: community investment and development, social work and service in community, human capital development, environmental concern and impact, and other social responsibility actions. The results show that the degree of involvement of universities in social responsible initiatives varies broadly for each one of the dimensions analyzed, in terms of nature, intensity and impact of initiatives. Our research findings offer good insights for both universities’ leaders and community developers in their joint-efforts to develop and grow a prosperous community.

Suggested Citation

  • Păunescu Carmen & Găucă Oana & Drăgan Gilmeanu Denisa, 2017. "Managing obligations to society. Case of best ranked universities in social responsibility," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 11(1), pages 818-825, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:vrs:poicbe:v:11:y:2017:i:1:p:818-825:n:87
    DOI: 10.1515/picbe-2017-0087
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mtawa, Ntimi N. & Fongwa, Samuel N. & Wangenge-Ouma, Gerald, 2016. "The scholarship of university-community engagement: Interrogating Boyer's model," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 126-133.
    2. Anna Afshar, 2005. "Community-campus partnerships for economic development: community perspectives," Public and Community Affairs Discussion Papers 2005-2, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    3. Paul Benneworth & Alan Sanderson, 2009. "The regional engagement of universities: Building capacity in a sparse innovation environment," Higher Education Management and Policy, OECD Publishing, vol. 21(1), pages 1-18.
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