As the world learns the lessons of business practices of the past, many companies have evolved to incorporate a responsibility for the greater good into their corporate practices.
Corporate Social Responsibility—a business model that encourages companies to operate in ways that enhance society and the environment while being accountable to their stakeholders and the public—has an important place in the curriculum taught by the Adelphi University Robert B. Willumstad School of Business, as well as its operations.
Throughout the 21st century, the business world and the environment have experienced positive change and often-unintended negative consequences as technology becomes more sophisticated. Industrial processes and energy consumption have led to climate change. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to widespread fear of mass unemployment. Globalization has led to increased competition and market pressures.
Since most of these issues cannot be solved individually, there has been a growing demand for businesses, as trustees of the community, to rise up and solve these challenges—to ensure Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and contribute to a more sustainable future. In order to educate and equip the business leaders of tomorrow with knowledge that can lead this movement forward, colleges and universities are increasingly incorporating CSR into their curriculum and operations.
Willumstad Implements CSR Into Its Curriculum
For years, CSR has been a major focus of the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business. MaryAnne Hyland, PhD, dean of the Willumstad School, has made CSR a priority for the school, her faculty and the students. “Developing socially responsible leaders is part of our business school’s mission, so it is central to all that we do,” she said. And it shows.
Willumstad has largely integrated CSR into its curriculum, offering various courses in ethics, teaching case studies, fostering class discussions and assigning projects on ethics and CSR. Ethical leadership, one of Willumstad’s prioritized learning competencies, addresses various CSR issues. Global business challenges, which are covered in many business courses, often contain elements related to CSR.
Gita Surie, PhD, professor in the Department of Management at Willumstad, has been on the faculty at Adelphi for 21 years and has taught CSR for much of that time. Dr. Surie touches on the subject in her Business Policy and Strategy undergraduate capstone course, as well as in her Graduate Strategic Management capstone course in Adelphi’s MBA program. “Students need to learn about corporate social responsibility so that they can apply these concepts when in the workplace,” she said. “They must be trained from the beginning to think beyond the individual to thinking about the social consequences of their work and encouraged to build community.”
Dean Hyland couldn’t agree more. “College is where future business leaders begin to shape their values and decision-making frameworks, including an understanding of the ethical, social and environmental implications of business,” she said. “Learning about corporate responsibility also equips students with a strategic perspective for managing risk and fostering innovation that can lead to competitive advantage.”
CSR Beyond the Classroom: Renowned Lecturers and Faculty Researchers
Adelphi also promotes CSR beyond the classroom. Since 2003, Willumstad has held the annual Hagedorn Lecture Series on Corporate Social Responsibility, which was established by the late Amy Hagedorn ’05 (Hon.) and the late Horace Hagedorn ’01 (Hon.), founder of Miracle-Gro, which is itself highly focused on corporate responsibility. The Fall 2024 lecture focused on making a business case for health equity, while the Fall 2025 lecture will focus on CSR in the professional athletics industry.
Additionally, Adelphi and Willumstad foster faculty-led research on CSR-related topics. Many of these studies explore socially responsible practices that can be applied directly within organizations to improve outcomes and promote ethical innovation.
Zhimin Huang, PhD, professor of decision sciences and marketing, guest edited a special issue of the journal International Journal of Production Research: Production Optimisation in Carbon Reduction Engineering Management and published research including “Capturing the least costly measure of CO2 emission abatement: Evidence from the iron and steel industry in China,” which calculates the cost of green manufacturing, and “Transitioning from gasoline to electric vehicles: Electrification decision of automakers under purchase and station subsidies,” which developed an analytical model that encompasses key factors influencing the transition of automakers from gasoline-powered vehicles to eclectic-powered vehicles.
Dr. Surie researched renewable energy and sustainability from 2009–2020 in India. Her research, published in “Emergence of an Industrial Innovation Ecosystem: Renewable Energy in India,” showed that small-scale solar, biogas and wind energy were helpful for low-income populations, who did not have access to energy. In addition to providing low-cost energy, these renewable energy solutions facilitated entrepreneurship in rural and semi-urban areas and led to financial inclusion and the creation of new markets.
“There’s a widespread lack of trust in business,” said Dr. Surie. “It can only be addressed by acting in a manner that builds trust in customers and other stakeholders.”
Each year, Willumstad honors faculty whose research advances the field of CSR with the Annual Bender Research Awards, named for James Bender, PhD, founding dean of Willumstad. The 2024 award went to Susan Li, PhD, professor in the Department of Decision Sciences and Marketing, who was recognized for her study, “An Extended Cross-Efficiency Evaluation Method Based on Information Entropy With an Application to the Urban Logistics Industry,” which was published in the Journal of Modelling in Management. Her work focuses on enhancing environmental efficiency in urban logistics, contributing to more sustainable and responsible supply chain practices.
The 2025 award will be presented to Zahra Sedighi-Maman, PhD, associate professor of decision sciences and marketing, for her study, “Prediction of Adverse Drug Reactions Using Demographic and Non-Clinical Drug Characteristics in FAERS Data.” Published in Scientific Reports, her research demonstrates how machine learning can be used to predict harmful drug reactions, potentially improving public health outcomes while reducing the cost and risk of traditional testing methods.
These faculty contributions reflect Adelphi’s commitment to integrating CSR into both scholarship and practice, reinforcing the University’s mission to prepare students to lead with purpose and impact. By integrating corporate social responsibility into its educational practices and operations, the Willumstad School of Business is preparing the leaders of tomorrow to address global challenges and build a more sustainable and equitable future.