Genius Loci: Introducing a Place-conscious Approach to Management Education

The current management curriculum tends to focus on large, context-free corporations, despite the fact that some other disciplines recognize that localized learning and a sense of place can enhance their pedagogical strategies. The purpose of this article is to advocate for the diffusion of place-conscious management education (PCME) in order to develop students’ tacit knowledge and better address issues of sustainability within a specific location. To this end, I develop a framework for place-based management education and illustrate how each dimension can be incorporated into an MBA course on corporate sustainability. PCME contextualizes business education to nurture a deeper understanding of the interconnections between the social, environmental, and economic realms and thus can lead to more effective teaching strategies, and ultimately, greater innovation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the commonalities between existing management education concepts and PCME.