Overview
Members of the Academy of Responsible Management are actively involved with research and analysis of CSR and Sustainability issues in a range of areas and contexts. The aim is to uncover themes of material importance in the development of CSR, Sustainability and Applied Ethics and to examine ways in which they can be addressed by effective responsible management programmes in businesses and other organisations and agencies.
The research programmes are run directly by ARM or in collaboration with other organisations in the countries in which we operate. They form the basis of our mission to enhance information and understanding of CSR issues and help us to develop our course materials to make them relevant to the needs of participants. They also serve to contribute to the global research agenda in the academic and practioner communities.
Research results are published in leading academic journals, practitioner publications, conference and seminar presentations and in our forthcoming research paper series.
Selected Research Projects
The Social Market Economy – An Option for Malaysia?
Lead Researcher: Dr. Geoffrey Williams
Focus: Market Economics
Supporting Organization: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
During the current economic crises affecting global markets, especially those in Europe, the economy of Germany has proved amongst the most resilient. This economic success story, both in the absolute and relative terms, is often credited to the Social Market Economy (SME) model.
The SME model is a form of socio-economic management that has been the mainstay of economic of economic policy in Germany since World War II. It is founded on the political philosophy of Ordoliberalism attributed to the Feiburg School that proposes a governance model that pursues the dual aims of efficiency and economic performance, and social justice and equality in the socio economic order.
The project aims to examine current Malaysian covering issues like education, types of capital and social principles and draw parallels with the model presented by the Social Market Economy.
Sustainability Reporting - Measuring economic, social and environmental systems' performance
Lead Researcher: Carlos Oliveros
Focus: Sustainability Reporting
Supporting Organization: OWW Consulting and Institute of Graduate Studies Universiti Malaya
As a primary source of non-financial organizational performance, sustainability reporting plays a vital role not only as an internal measurement instrument, but also as a guide for strategic decision making of organizations. The tool is recognized to serve a primary role in bringing about economic, environmental, and social improvements, as it provides a consistent platform of sustainability disclosure to enable effective stakeholder relations, investment decisions, and other market relations.
Previous studies have shown that current methods for measuring sustainability information in economic, social and environmental dimensions present limitations. These limitations frequently refer to issues of boundary setting, data selection and standardization, and methodological appropriateness resulting in an unclear picture of sustainable performance and complicating decision making based on sustainability information.
Building on the postulates of Systems Theory this project aims to evaluate the actual sufficiency of sustainability frameworks to represent organizational sustainability performance in their economic, social and environmental areas.
Emerging Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Markets for CSR in South East Asia: Thailand and Vietnam
Lead Researcher: Melissa M Petros, Laura Parewski, Sarah R. Schwimmer, Sarah Champawat DeNicola, Casey E. Nairn-Mahan
Focus: Environmental and Social practices in food processing SMEs in Vietnam and electronics manufacturing SMEs in Thailand
Supporting Organization: NYU Capstone and Academy of Responsible Management
With the high level of economic growth currently present in Southeast Asia (SE Asia), businesses, communities and governments are increasingly recognizing the simultaneous need for increased corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. This is especially true among the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that comprise a huge proportion of the region’s businesses. Considering the benefits that have been gleaned from CSR implementation in developed countries, these tips and strategies for implementing CSR can help emerging market SMEs in the region develop environmental, labor, and governance practices to promote their long-term sustainability. In an effort to promote CSR practices in this region, we have decided to focus on two CSR core areas - environment and labor - within two sectors in two neighboring countries.
