[Ir]responsible leadership: addressing management and leadership curricula biases

Irresponsible leadership (IL) research vis-a-vis curricular development in management education receives a modicum of attention, particularly in comparison to responsible leadership (RL). At best, IL is embedded in topics such as leadership and management development, corporate social responsibility (CSR) or business ethics.
The report problematizes IL embeddedness and examines irresponsible leader behaviors and practices, particularly through the lens of multinational corporations (MNCs) in the context of CSR/CSI (corporate social irresponsibility). IL is defined, and the authors argue for stand-alone IL courses in the management/leadership curricula, as embedding alone does very little to reflect the growing problems associated with IL behavior and practices. Hence, management curricula bias is addressed by emphasizing the criticality of IL education to improve RL understanding, pedagogy, and professional practices in work organizations.
The authors adopt a bricolage philosophy which allows for ontological and epistemological flexibility, useful for investigating under-researched issues.
The targeted audiences are people involved in management/leadership education, learning and development, including academics involved in curricula development studies, as well as management consultants, and HR partners.
Key words: Irresponsible leadership, Responsible Leadership, HRM, Management, Curricula development, Higher Education, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Irresponsibility, Sustainability Teaching and Learning