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Sustainability in management education is an increasingly important topic, both in practice (notably with the emergence of the PRME, Alcaraz & Thiruvattal, 2010) and in research (particularly since the call of Starik et al., 2010). In particular, business schools offer more and more courses on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to educate future leaders about the impacts that companies have on society. But educators face challenges in teaching this paradox-specific content, especially since learners are equipped with representations of the role and responsibilities of business in society, and come to class with very different perceptions of what CSR is. While some describe CSR in terms of economic profit, others define it as the contribution of companies to sustainable development. Indeed, CSR is a multidimensional concept that balances the economic, social and environmental concerns of companies. Recent studies have adopted a paradox perspective (Smith & Lewis, 2011) on CSR, because of its interrelated but conflicting dimensions (Hahn et al., 2018; Carmine & De Marchi, 2022). This perspective offers better insights into the complexity of CSR and invites to embrace its inherent tensions; allowing to move beyond the traditional instrumental view of business and achieve superior sustainability performance (Carmine & De Marchi, 2022). CSR is also described as an essentially contested concept (Gallie, 1956) because of its multiple definitions and various context-specific applications which generate debate (Okoye, 2009; Mitnick et al., 2021). CSR is therefore a source of ambiguity and complexity, making the concept open to different understandings. These different perceptions further influence attitudes towards sustainability issues and reactions to corporate actions (Gond et al., 2017). At the individual level of analysis of CSR, we are interested in the cognitive frames (Hahn et al., 2014) of learners from different backgrounds approaching the tensions inherent in CSR. For management education, it is crucial to better understand how learners frame their perceptions of CSR and to take into account individual and cultural variations at the beginning of the course. Especially when the learning audience is diverse, as in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) developed by business schools (Whitaker et al., 2016). In this context, we investigate how learners in MOOCs perceive CSR according to their individual and cultural background (e.g., paradox mindset, Miron-Spektor et al., 2018, culture, Keller et al., 2018). We explore the tensions inherent in CSR and analyze how the paradoxical nature of the concept influences the way learners frame their perceptions. To do this, we analyze the perceptions shared by leaners starting MOOCs on CSR. We conduct an inductive thematic analysis of an initial discussion forum on their preconceptions of CSR, which we then link to their respective individual characteristics collected through an online survey. Informed by the paradox perspective, we contribute to the advancement of CSR research with respect to the way learners frame their CSR perceptions depending on their individual and cultural backgrounds. We aim to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding how individuals construct meaning about CSR. This framework refines and nuances the two traditional cognitive frames, which contrast the business case with the paradox (Hahn et al., 2014). By empirically investigating the individual factors that favor a paradox thinking when learning about CSR, we also extend the paradoxical frame/thinking stream of research (as defined by Carmine & De Marchi, 2022). For management education research, a better understanding of learners’ perceptions of CSR and their varied approaches to tensions is necessary to inform the design of adapted pedagogical approaches. This would allow business schools and educators to be better equipped to teach paradox-specific content such as CSR.
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de Montpellier d’Annevoie, P., Swaen, V., & Frenay, M. (2023). A paradox perspective on CSR perceptions: insights for sustainability management education. Paradox Research Education Practice Conference 2023, Online. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/244121