Developing a Framework for Responsible Business Education in Nigerian Universities: Ethics, Governance, and Social Impact

This study developed and validated a comprehensive framework for responsible Business Education in Nigerian universities, integrating ethics, governance, and social impact as core programmatic dimensions. Responsible Business Education, aligned with the Principles for Responsible Management Education initiative, advocates for the embedding of ethical reasoning, stakeholder governance, and social responsibility into the core of business school curricula. In Nigeria, where corporate governance failures and ethical crises have repeatedly undermined economic development, the need for a contextually grounded framework for responsible Business Education is both theoretically urgent and practically imperative. Drawing on Stakeholder Theory, the Responsible Management Education Framework, and the Capabilities Approach, a multi-phase sequential mixed-methods design was employed. Phase one synthesized the global PRME literature and conducted 40 expert interviews to identify contextual adaptation requirements for Nigeria. Phase two surveyed 1,000 Business Education stakeholders across the six geopolitical zones. Phase three validated the proposed framework through expert panels and two institutional pilot implementations in Lagos and Abuja. Structural Equation Modeling and iterative expert validation were employed. The Nigeria Responsible Business Education Framework (NRBEF) encompasses five dimensions: ethical curriculum integration, governance education, sustainability mindset development, stakeholder engagement pedagogy, and social impact assessment. The framework demonstrates excellent validity and reliability metrics. The study makes a landmark original contribution to management education theory in West Africa and recommends national adoption of the NRBEF through a Federal Ministry of Education directive. Keywords: responsible Business Education, ethics, governance, social impact, Nigeria