Fostering the development of attitudes towards responsible leadership : A design-based research study in executive education

Abstract

In recent years the quality of executive education has been questioned substantially. There are doubts about Business Schools' ability to prepare students with the competencies they need to deal with complex problems in modern organizations. A part of the scholarly discussion focuses on ethical issues and the process by which students can be enhanced to develop the ‘right' attitudes. The study brings together research on attitude development from both social psychology and education. As a design-based research project exemplary learning designs have been developed for an Executive MBA program with the focus on attitudes towards responsible leadership. The learning designs have been evolved through multiple cycles of development, testing and refinement with the pursuit of theory building and practical innovation.