Research
Opened in 2018 as a collaboration between Lloyds Banking Group and Birmingham Business School, the Centre for Responsible Business was created to undertake ground-breaking, interdisciplinary research into what it means to be a Responsible Business.
Since then, it has engaged with many partners to produce insightful academic research from carbon accounting and reporting to responsible marketing and consumption, and to translate this into a portfolio of practical resources to be used for education and business transformation. Today, with over 75 academic associates and growing, the Centre continues to explore and redefine what Responsible Business means and may become, drawing upon the breadth of research across Birmingham Business School. Join us on this important journey.
Strategic research areas
- Defining the academic foundations of responsible business
A number of core theories and philosophies underpin the research we conduct at the level of organisations and society. These theories and philosophies are fundamental to the work that we do and involve perspectives that enable us to think differently about, and solve pressing problems related to, responsible business. At the heart of our research are foundational concepts informing responsible business such as business ethics, fairness, justice, EDI, trust and sustainability. We delve into these principles and concepts, including their tensions and differences, to understand how they shape business thinking and practice, and how they can influence positive change in society.
- Examining and measuring responsible business
Our academic research, approach to education, and active engagement with stakeholders are underpinned by a range of original, rigorous methodologies and methods for researching and learning about responsible business. We develop discipline-specific and interdisciplinary approaches and tools to underpin the insights and perspectives that we can contribute to understanding and solving the challenges of responsible business. We engage with a range of different types of business organisations and stakeholders, defining, understanding and measuring the environmental, social and economic impacts of responsible business at different spatial scales.
- Imagining possible production and consumption futures for responsible business
Through our research programmes, we acknowledge the place of business within complex, multi-level systems, where environment, society and economy are interdependent. Drawing upon the academic foundations, methodologies and methods that we develop, we imagine alternative, more responsible futures: from business models, leadership, financing and business functions to global systems of production and consumption and their impact upon society and nature. We consider a wide range of stakeholders and facilitate debate towards the development of more sustainable and ethical pathways for businesses and society.
- Shaping responsible and sustainable innovations and technologies
New innovations and technologies have the potential to produce positive step-changes in the journey towards responsible business, but only if society and nature are considered in their design from the start. From new materials and recycling processes, new sources of energy and cooling, better capture and analysis of data, circular economy improvements, nature regeneration, to responsible generative AI applications, we are engaged with innovation across the range of disciplines at the University of Birmingham. The Centre for Responsible Business provides social science expertise, perspectives and analysis to multi-disciplinary projects and networks, including Food and Plastics, which strive for transformation in key systems.
- Engaging through the responsible business education lab
We approach responsible business education as an ongoing learning process and an action-research method to develop reflective and innovative ways to teach and learn responsible business. We bring together staff, students and external stakeholders to foster curiosity and thought leadership in this area. We are interested in decolonising the curriculum and are developing pedagogical approaches that integrate diverse ways of knowing and doing to effectively support students and practitioners in developing context-specific responsible business practices. Current research projects explore the use of creativity and arts-based pedagogies as well as nature-based learning in responsible business education. Programmes of work include embedding SDGs in the curriculum, developing sustainable, green and just transition case studies as teaching materials, using responsible business simulations, creating authentic modes of assessment, examining how to approach the challenges of irresponsible business practices in complex systems, and developing models of research training for community partners.
Research highlights
We are working on an interdisciplinary clean-cooling programme, sponsored by the UK Department of the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the United Nations Environment programme (UNEP). The programme aims to increase the adoption and uptake of resilient, efficient, inclusive and climate friendly cooling and cold-chain with the objectives of reducing food and vaccine loss; improving equitable access; economically empowering subsistence and smallholder farmers and their communities, while mitigating the potential environmental impact of the cold-chain. The project represents a partnership between Governments, NGO’s, industries and academics, with a Centre of Excellence created in Kigali. Responsible Business Centre academics have been developing a model to examine the economic, nutritional and environmental impacts of investing in cold-chain infrastructure under different scenarios.
As part of this programme, we contributed to a policy report, The Hot Reality: Living in a +50°C World, and provided written evidence to the UK Parliament on ‘Fairness in the food supply chain’
We edited an interdisciplinary book addressing the challenges of poverty (SDG1) and food insecurity (SDG2), and the business and political-economic measures that exacerbate them. We have also published research articles, a policy brief and an article for The Big Issue addressing these sustainable development challenges.
We published a research article on how community-led food retailers contribute to the resilience and sustainability of urban retail systems and communities in the UK. It was cited by a report of the Food Standards Agency, and another by the Joint Research Centre (JRC, the European Commission’s science and knowledge service).
We submitted written evidence on sustainable consumption to a UK Parliament, House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee Inquiry into Behaviour Change in the Context of Climate Change and the Environment, which was cited extensively in a report published by the Authority of the House of Lords.
Our first 5 years
Our first 5 years
Our history is a testament to our ongoing commitment to shape business, policy and society. We won the best research paper prize at the British Academy of Management Conference for pioneering the theory of ‘aesthetic diversity’ and the need for a more inclusive approach to ‘invisible’ employee traits in the workplace, such as neurodiversity.
We led an in-depth evaluation of the innovative Nigerian Oil-Spill Monitor (OSM), which allowed affected local communities to challenge corporate and official accounts of oil spills in the Nigerian Delta.
We worked on a two-year international research project with Procter & Gamble, surveying consumer habits in the US and UK and identifying the patterns and barriers to more sustainable consumption.
We published a landmark research paper on electric vehicles in the UK and the need for a circular economy for their batteries, which involved extensive and revealing interviews with car manufacturers, vendors, policy makers and other key stakeholders.
We created a new and adaptive model of responsible business governance based on a long-running study of Heart of Midlothian FC and their supporter-owned structure, which helped inform later discussions around the government’s review of football.
We developed a scenarios-based decision-making framework to help localise the Sustainable Development Goals through grassroots consultation, which was tested in a series of workshops with Birmingham schoolchildren and youth leaders. Published as open source, the tool is widely available and helping carry forward similar research in other communities around the world.
We held our Equal Parenting Project mentioned in Parliament by Maria Miller MP as part of an International Women’s Day debate in the House of Commons. The project was also cited in the New Statesman and The Guardian.
We contributed to the University of Birmingham’s curtain-raising series of climate change essays, 'Addressing the climate challenge', ahead of COP26.
We published ‘Net Zero Accounting for a Net Zero UK' that exposes the inadequacy of carbon accounting methodologies used by businesses and governments, making a mockery of the UK government’s net zero plans. The report was picked up by magazines and newspapers in the UK and US.
We looked into consumer emotions and behaviour in response to personalised online advertising, with research exploring the effects of overt and covert data collection.
We agreed to provide rolling data analysis for Business in The Community’s Race At Work initiative, which surveyed almost 75k employees across the UK, with trends and best practice identified for future surveys and recommendations.
We launched Keeping 1.5 Degree Alive report at Houses of Parliament.