How European business schools can find their way

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims at explaining why “Globally Responsible Humanism (GRH)” is presented here as the pivot for a re-foundation of European Business Schools’ culture. Explaining the concept and its difference with traditional European Humanism, the related argumentation is organized around two main parts: the first one explains why the European Union and its business schools do not make sense in a globalization process driven by the financialized economy; the second one shows how a sustainable exposition of European management students to a transcultural approach, a postcolonial perspective, and critical thinking, can lead to their training as future globally responsible leaders in New Business Schools for Societal Studies. Design/methodology/approach – An international political sociology perspective, applied to the interpretation of globalization trends, and a critical thinking approach to education allow for a questioning of the values and contents of mainstream business learning. Findings – The new proposed transversal, postcolonial and interdisciplinary pedagogical approach regarding business education is conducive to closely related operational tracks: on the one hand, how to improve the skills and systemic understanding of students’ global environment; on the other hand, how to lead, organize and manage the coherent “GRH”-driven business school. Originality/value – The originality of this paper stems from the combination of critical works issued from the social and human sciences realms to revisit business education.