Every year, around the first week of August, business professors from around the world gather for the annual meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM). AOM is the preeminent professional association for management and organization scholars. This year’s meeting, with the theme, “Innovating for the Future: Policy, Purpose, and Organization,” was held in Chicago. About 10,000 people attended workshops, presentations, symposiums, and forums designed to examine the interplay of innovation, policy, and purpose as a lens for rethinking conventional ways of leading, managing, and organizing.
While the meeting focused on how to integrate the realities of AI in teaching and research, the members of the PRME Working Group on the Sustainability Mindset, led by Isabel Rimanoczy, organized an interactive professional development workshop (PDW), where colleagues from nine different countries shared how they are developing students’ “human-ness.” “Human-ness” here refers to the development of softer skills, emotional intelligence, and a deeper understanding of human values.
As the participants interacted with the presenters, they learned about the different stories and contexts related to developing human-ness. This global collaboration was evident when James A. Stoner and James Weichert shared how the business school at Hyderabad’s Woxsen University in India is bringing AI-enabled sustainability mindset concepts into the business school’s program. Their aim is to support its academic community in “becoming the kinds of people who can flourish on this planet without destroying it.” Alexander Nuer and Keren Naa Abeka Arthur, from Ghana, shared an intervention to support startups at the Design Thinking and Innovation Hub at the University of Cape Coast. The intervention is a training session whose participants learn about the concept of a sustainability mindset and reflect on themselves and their organizations.
Mehdi Majidi, who is based in Georgia, shared an exercise called Grandparents’ Storytelling, a unique approach to teaching business ethics. In this exercise, he would ask his students to share old local stories and sayings about business ethics that illustrate the role of the private sector. Aurora D’az-Soloaga of Kazakhstan used the innovative i5 pedagogical methodology, which addresses students’ innate humanity and capacity to recognize the human element in others. Hopefully, this recognition can propel us to the forefront of this pursuit for a brighter future.
Ekaterina Ivanova, who teaches in Austria, has designed a seminar held in a mixed format of cinemalogia and book cafe to help master’s students to understand themselves better and develop a sustainability mindset. Ayako Huang from the United States presented the positive impact of integrating AI with Shared Leadership and Team coaching principles, captivating students in a dynamic and interactive learning environment. Amelia Naim from Indonesia shared how her students worked in small teams with students from Canada, Spain, Kenya, and the United States. The interaction with students from diverse cultures made them realize the human connection, as they all support the sustainability of the earth. Beate Klingenberg of Germany talked about her Ethics, Leadership, and Sustainability course, where students are tasked to reflect on their personal development. This reflection includes a personal commitment to oneself and visualizing the commitment in any form, including AI-generated images.
Realizing that the training of most business students has focused on technical skills (e.g., accounting, finance, and operations) to the detriment of developing their softer/humane skills, I presented how using a simple drawing exercise made the students aware that they are creative beings. Here are some of their reflections on the journey to becoming fully human:
• “Being an accountant does not give me many opportunities to awaken my creativity. I always deal with numbers, and I must follow a set of rules and principles to perform my task. I realize now that I should not let it slip if opportunities exist in our company or church to use my artistic abilities. Instead, I would take that chance to participate, get involved, and show my creativity. After all, I have already proved that there is an artist in me.”
• “As I reflect on my journey with art and creativity, it becomes apparent that the flame of creativity never extinguishes. It’s a torch lighting the way through life, inspiring me and those who cross its path. In the world of art, there are no mistakes, only discoveries waiting to be made.”
The cherry on top of our collaborative experience was that my co-presenters and I were awarded the Best PDW by the Management, Spirituality, and Religion Division of AOM! We are truly grateful for this recognition, which motivates us to continue our work in developing human-ness in management education.
I am looking forward to next year’s meeting. For the first time in the Academy’s history, next year’s meeting will be held in Europe. See you in Copenhagen, Denmark, in July!
Pia T. Manalastas is a faculty member of the Department of Management and Organization of De La Salle University. She teaches Sustainability Management, Integral Human Development, and Lasallian Business Leadership with Ethics and CSR.
