Examining Grand Challenges Through a Systems Thinking Lens: An Innovative Multi-Day Case Study Approach to Exploring Sustainability
Date
Authors
Sankaran, Shankar
Hedges, Peggy
Kenworthy, Amy L
Wall, Tony
Dyer, Suzette
Jones, David R
Hurd, Fiona
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Abstract
In this article, we present an innovative 4-day intensive course which responds to the urgent need to explore issues related to the grand challenges of our time. The course was iteratively designed and developed over a 14-year period. It is designed to utilize systems thinking ideas within a management education domain to deepen student capabilities of collaboratively dealing with complex socio-ecological challenges. The aim is to encourage development of practical capabilities to transform multifaceted problems. To provide evidence for the efficacy of this approach, we draw learning themes from student feedback and faculty members’ reflections from the most recent iteration of the course. We highlight three key student learning themes related to a holistic systems thinking approach to understanding the complex issues within a selected sustainability issue in one of today’s grand challenges: (1) interconnectedness, (2) conceptual modeling as a basis for intervention, and (3) dialogic and participatory action planning. The information and materials we share are those used in recent iterations of this course, which focused on reducing poverty through an analysis of issues related to informal settlements.Description
Keywords
39 Education, 3904 Specialist Studies In Education, 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy, 1503 Business and Management, 3505 Human resources and industrial relations, 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour, 3901 Curriculum and pedagogy, grand challenges, systems thinking, experiential learning, active learning, role play, simulation
Source
Journal of Management Education, ISSN: 1052-5629 (Print); 1552-6658 (Online), SAGE Publications. doi: 10.1177/10525629251399886
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© The Author(s) 2026. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).