Transforming the Business School Ethos Through the Teaching of a “Strong” Social Innovation: Pedagogical Opportunities and Tensions

Over the past 15 years, social innovation (SI) has gained ground as a promising approach for tackling today’s grand challenges. A “weak” conception of SI focuses on improving how social needs are addressed through new products, services, technologies, business models, or practices. In contrast, a “strong” conception emphasizes deep social transformation and the empowerment of historically marginalized groups. In management education, SI has predominantly been taught through the lens of the weak conception. This paper explores the pedagogical opportunities and challenges of teaching a strong SI to business school students. We conducted a qualitative study of six courses that emphasize a strong SI, drawing on semi-structured interviews with both instructors and students. Our findings reveal the transformative potential of these courses, suggesting they can better prepare students to tackle today’s complex challenges by reshaping the traditional ethos of business schools. However, teaching a strong SI also requires instructors to navigate several key tensions related to action, organizations, management, emotional engagement with the world, and consideration of values and politics. These tensions offer a pedagogical map not only for courses centered on a strong SI but also for those adopting a critical approach to management and business organizations.