How Higher Education Promotes the Integration of Sustainable Development Goals—An Experience in the Postgraduate Curricula

COVID-19 and management education: From pandemic to endemic

The disruption in management education caused by COVID-19 was significant, creating a noteworthy impetus for new research. Given that COVID-19 has transitioned from pandemic to endemic, it is an opportune time to retrospect the contributions of related research to shape the future of management education. Using the SPAR-4-SLR protocol, a systematic literature review was conducted on management education research relating to COVID-19 published between 2020 and 2022. A total of 56 relevant articles were found in and retrieved from the Web of Science database and subsequently analyzed using descriptive and content analyses. The descriptive analysis revealed a steep increase in research on the impact of COVID-19 on management education over time, with most research appearing in The International Journal of Management Education . The contributions came from various countries, with the top five being the USA, the UK, Australia, India, and China. The content analysis showed that most research adopted empirical methodologies while self-determination theory emerged as the most popular theoretical lens for study. The related research revolved around five major themes—i.e., digital teaching and learning , collaboration and partnership , embracing uncertainty and building resilience , transformation and innovation , and developing an entrepreneurial mindset —and provided implications for management education in the new normal, wherein the priority is focused on enhancing education quality and preparing future business leaders for profound challenges in the new normal, thereby necessitating the development of innovative pedagogies and leadership competencies.

The strategies of private higher educational institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic. A review of literature

This paper sought a qualitative/quantitative bibliometric approach, using the literature review, to present the main strategies with a bias toward sustainability, used by private Higher Education Institutions, in an attempt to neutralize the effects of the lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. To meet the reliability requirements of the source of the papers used, a search was made in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, where 47 papers were selected. As a result, there was a scattering of strategic actions in several works. However, no actions were identified that orientated to deliberate planning, as a way of confrontation with the new environment that was quickly established, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, we found fragmented or emerging strategic actions, mostly concentrated on Teaching activities as a possible response, given the circumstances, to a situation that presented itself as an emergency. This study divides the actions identified in the strategic areas of the Institutions into Teaching, Research, Extension, Business Management, and Teacher Training.

Integrating SDG 12 into Business Studies through Intercultural Virtual Collaboration

Intercultural Virtual Collaboration (IVC) has been a growing field in recent decades as it allows students from different cultures to work together without having to move physically. Besides providing students with an authentic experience that they are going to encounter in their future professional careers in increasingly globalised and digitised workplaces, more recently, IVC has also been used as a means to engage university students from different cultures in social and political issues that are common across societies. In this paper, we present an analysis of an IVC project that involved undergraduate Business students from a university in Spain and a university in the Netherlands where students from both universities were asked to collaborate online to develop a business case to analyse how companies communicate about the way they integrate SDGs in the different cultures involved. A content analysis of group reports delivered by students was carried out. In addition, intercultural competence development was measured through a questionnaire. Results show that the IVC project contributed to raising students’ awareness of how companies approach SDGs and adapt their products to different cultures. Students were also perceived to have developed intercultural knowledge, intercultural virtual teamwork, intercultural attitudes and intercultural awareness.

How Do Different Types of University Academics Perceive Work from Home Amidst COVID-19 and Beyond?

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a massive and unintentional shift to work from home (WFH) or working remotely, as well as broad adoption of web-based platforms. The goal of this research is to uncover the attitudes to WFH among different types of academics in the Sri Lankan higher education sector. An online questionnaire survey was conducted amidst a severe COVID-19 wave during June–September 2021, and 337 valid responses were received. The questionnaire contained 49 questions under four sections excluding demographic questions. The gathered data were analysed using multiple regression models. Results of the study ascertained a significant (p < 0.01) positive attitude among academics towards online teaching (academic orientation), other than academics who from disciplines with more practical components, and there was a significant (p < 0.01) positive attitude among academics to conducting research (research orientation) while WFH. Further, the findings indicate a significant (p < 0.01) negative attitude to WFH when disseminating knowledge and engaging in community services with various stakeholders. When considering the criticality of demographics variables in the new normal, a hybrid working model can be introduced by reaping the benefits of WFH based on different types of academic orientations and their favourability towards the WFH model, rather than reverting to a full physical academic working environment. As a developing country, Sri Lanka can formulate policies on effective hybrid working models for academics to realise the potential from the lessons learned. This experience will enable the country to accomplish or move towards accomplishing the fourth goal of SDGs, quality education by 2030.