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Are business students buying it? A theoretical framework for measuring attitudes toward the legitimacy of environmental sustainability
Author(s) -
Thomas Tom E.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
business strategy and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.123
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1099-0836
pISSN - 0964-4733
DOI - 10.1002/bse.446
Subject(s) - operationalization , legitimacy , sustainability , curriculum , conceptual framework , context (archaeology) , profit (economics) , business , knowledge management , marketing , public relations , psychology , sociology , political science , economics , pedagogy , computer science , social science , epistemology , ecology , philosophy , paleontology , politics , law , biology , microeconomics
Abstract Environmental sustainability has begun to penetrate the business school curriculum. Whether it ultimately becomes a key component of managerial decision‐making models will depend upon whether it is perceived as legitimate within the context of profit‐making enterprises. This paper draws upon the cognitive psychology and organizational legitimacy literatures to develop a conceptual framework for operationalizing perceived legitimacy. This framework can be used to develop survey instruments and simulations that evaluate the effectiveness of various pedagogical approaches to integrating sustainability into business school curricula. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.