Kent Business School would like to congratulate three undergraduate students who represented the School in the 2016-17 Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) writing competition.
Second-year BA Business Administration student Helen Mullen was judged the overall winner in the undergraduate category for the whole of the UK and Ireland and will receive a £300 prize. Second-year BSc Marketing student George Kennedy was also ranked in the top 10 in the undergraduate category, and third-year Business Administration with a Year in Industry student Juan Teles Da Silva was also highly commended. The students will have their essays published by the PRME UK and Ireland Chapter. The Responsible Business and Management Writing Competition was designed by PRME to highlight and celebrate the range and quality of student writing. The competition has provided evidence of growing engagement with sustainability, ethics and related subjects across the business school sector.
Senior Lecturer in Sustainability Dr Adolf Acquaye put the three students forward for the writing competition based on their performance in assignments and the engagement they demonstrated in the CB733: Business Ethics and Sustainable Management module. In the announcement documents, Helen’s citation read: ‘Helen Mullen of Kent Business School, impressed judges with her perspectives on how environmentally sustainable management approaches might contribute to Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.’ Outlining the reasons for awarding her the top prize, Professor Carole Parkes, Chair of the UG Judging Panel and Chair of the PRME Chapter UK and Ireland, commented; ‘this essay demonstrated a critical approach to the subject. It was well argued, used good examples to support the points made and, importantly, really engaged the reader.’
After receiving the commendation, George Kennedy said:’ The process of writing the essay was very enjoyable, and allowed me to further explore the subject outside of the original title given by Adolf. I would encourage anyone to consider taking the business ethics module as I would class it as one of the most relevant modules of my second year. Adolf structured the lectures in a way that allowed you to clearly see how you could apply the techniques in a day-to-day working environment. He also gave clear evidence as to way these methods could increase business success, something that isn’t seen in many of the other business modules.’
Dr Acquaye said: ‘Teaching Sustainable Management in business schools has become important because, in the contemporary business environment, sustainability has become imperative to key stakeholders. In addition, there is a business case for it, both at the level of organisational strategy and day-to-day operations. As the convenor for the Business Ethics and Sustainable Management module at KBS, I am personally proud of the achievement of the participating students. Their success is also a positive reflection on the standard of responsible management education we provide our students with, which subsequently gives them an excellent preparatory platform to develop into responsible professionals in their careers.’
Congratulations to Helen, George and Juan from all at Kent Business School.
Find out more about the Business Ethics and Sustainable Management module.