Business and Development
The private sector is viewed as an integral part of the solution to a sustainable world; and yet the nature of business engagement in sustainable development and its impact on amongst other things poverty, transparency, gender equality, decent work, peace and justice, to name but a few remains a big challenge. The private sector has a role and responsibility to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all as enshrined in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in September 2015. The Business and Development research hub covers a range of topics, utilising various approaches and methods to theorize the role of business in development and the extent of business creativity and innovation to solve development challenges. The research projects can either be comparative in nature (i.e. country or sector-based) or industry specific (i.e. extractive, agri-business). The Business and Development research hub welcomes critical and innovative research that extents the knowledge and understanding of:
Partnerships for development
- The alignment of business strategy and sustainable development goals
- The extent to which the private sector facilitates, supports and promotes business interventions or market mechanisms that enhance sustainable development
- Inclusive stakeholder engagement for development (herein focusing on vulnerable and fringe stakeholders like women, indigenous and other marginalised communities, etc)
- Inclusive business models; Measurement and scaling up impact
- Institutional arrangements (and systemic institutional reforms) that support the implementation of SDGs
- Ethical and governance dilemmas and implications of business as development actors
- The limits of market mechanisms and radical business approaches for systemic change.
Participants
Dr Judy Muthuri, Associate Professor in Corporate Social Responsibility
Dr Wendy Chapple, Associate Professor in Industrial Economics
Paul Caulfield, Assistant Professor in Responsible and Sustainable Business