Leading the way in growing responsible businesses and institutions
The Department of Management in St Andrews Business School is a signatory member to the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME), a United Nations-supported initiative that aims to raise the profile of sustainability in classrooms through seven principles focused on safeguarding our planet and serving society.
Responsible Management Education is seen as a critical factor in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Department of Management submits annual reports on their activities across the Principles, which include aligning curricula and research to the SDGs, engaging with students to commit to and act in support of the SDGs, and developing applied research to create sustainable and effective business solutions around the SDGs.
“The Department of Management’s mission is to explore, envision and encourage responsible, accountable and sustainable Management. To this end, we critically reflective approach to Management principles, policies and practices at individual, communal, organisational and societal level, on a national and international scale.
“As a community of academic and professional colleagues, we work collaboratively and collegiately to conduct world-leading research, educate a diverse and inclusive cohort of outstanding students, and actively engage with a variety of stakeholders to address existing and emerging challenges in the global environment, foster talent, and provide demonstrable benefits to society and organisations.”
Research is organised around four thematic groups – Accounting; Governance and Organisations Group; Financial Institutions and Markets, Knowledge and Practice; and Organisations and Society. The work of the groups is supported by several research centres and institutes. These centres also form a focus for taught postgraduate work and doctoral research. Much of the work of the groups is directed through these centres and their increased orientation towards a much more diverse and pluralistic notion of responsible management.
In November 2023, the Department of Finance at the University of St Andrews Business School, in cooperation with the Department of Finance, University of Vienna, and the Center for Ethics in Society, Saint Anselm College, hosted the Sixth Transatlantic Conference on the Ethics of Business, Trade and Global Governance: Ethics and Sustainability in Banking and Finance. The goal of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring together ethicists, economists, political scientists, international relations scholars, policy experts, and business leaders to examine how banking, international trade and investments can be conducted more ethically in a post-pandemic and conflict context.
Centre for Responsible Banking & Finance (CRBF)
The Centre for Responsible Banking & Finance (CRBF), established in December 2011, conducts banking and finance research by focusing on responsibility issues and bringing together an experienced team of researchers across disciplines within the University and beyond.
The CRBF aims to better understand current issues and challenges facing corporates, financial institutions and financial markets. A particular feature of the Centre is its orientation toward empirical research which increases an understanding of corporate governance, social, environmental, ethical and trust issues for financial and non-financial firms. Membership comprises faculty, PhD candidates and an extensive network of academic fellows.
The Centre runs a regular seminar series and organises the biennial Contemporary Issues in Banking Conference, which was held in December 2023 and attended by leading researchers from UK, Europe and North America.