Ethics
Integrity is one of the core values of Queen’s Management School (QMS) and this informs the actions of both staff and students. At QMS we are committed to developing leaders who transform business and society, and who do so in full cognisance of their ethical, social and environmental responsibilities.
Concern for Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability is reflected across all aspects of our work at QMS.
About Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability
At QMS we approach Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability (ERS) across three interconnected pillars: Education, Research, and Society.
- Education refers to the embedding of ERS across all programmes offered at QMS.
- Research concerns the School’s outputs and activities within the specific areas of ERS.
- Society reflects our relationships with external stakeholders, including the business community, politicians and policy makers, third sector organisations, schools and colleges, the media, and members of the general public.

Ethics, responsibility and sustainability are addressed within all of the degree programmes offered at Queen’s Management School. This is achieved through a combination of dedicated modules, including Business, Government and Society and Business Ethics, as well as via the integration of content on ERS within a broad range of other subject areas, such as Supply Chain Management, Financial Institutions and Markets, Public Economics, and many more. You can learn more about our ERS related teaching in our award winning 2019 PRME SIP Report.
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Queen’s Management School has a long history of engaging in world-class research addressing issues related to ethics, responsibility, and sustainability. Recent examples include Dr Stephanie Graham's exploration of environmental challenges within supply chains; Dr Niall Farrell's research on energy and climate policy; Professor Duncan McVicar's investigation into the relationship between disability and unemployment; and Dr Theodor Cojoianu's analysis of sustainable finance initiatives. The Management School also hosts a number of leading research centres which support work related to ethics, responsibility and sustainability, including the Centre for Leadership, Ethics and Organisation and the Centre for Not-for-Profit and Public Sector Research.

Our mission at Queen’s Management School is to educate and equip leaders to transform local and global businesses and societies. We are committed to promoting ethics, responsibility and sustainability through our engagement activities. This takes a wide variety of forms, including hosting events, working with businesses, engaging with policy makers, supporting communities, and developing resources. For example, in September 2018 we hosted a meeting of the Northern Ireland Business and Human Rights Forum, where Louise Nicholls, Corporate Head of Human Rights, Food Sustainability and Food Packaging for Marks & Spencer, discussed the organisation’s approach to respecting and protecting human rights.

Queen’s Management School is a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).
PRME is a United Nations-supported initiative founded in 2007 as a platform to raise the profile of sustainability in schools around the world, and to equip today’s business students with the understanding and ability to deliver change tomorrow. Working through Six Principles, PRME engages business and management schools to ensure they provide future leaders with the skills needed to balance economic and sustainability targets, while drawing attention to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aligning academic institutions with the work of the UN Global Compact.
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The QMS Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability Blog
The QMS ERS Blog exists to share information on our educational activities, research output, and societal engagement in relation to ethics, responsibility and sustainability in a fast, informative and accessible way.
Read our Blog
Academics from across the Management School are actively involved in research related to ethics, responsibility and sustainability. Learn about their work - and why it is important - through our Researcher Spotlight feature.
Read our Researcher SpotlightAs part of our commitment to promoting ERS within management education we are developing and making available free teaching and learning resources, starting with a podcast. The QMS Good Business Podcast goes beyond the bottom line and asks, what does it mean to be a ‘good’ business?
Learning Resources
Are you ready to become an ambassador for ethics and human rights in business?
Read MorePodcasts
QMS Good Business Podcast Episode 10 -
Mental Health, Wellbeing, and Work
(Featuring: Laura Steele, Queen’s Management School;Tom McEneaney, Head of Business Development and Support Services with AWARE-NI; Dr John Moriarty, a lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work and Fellow of the Centre for Evidence and Social Innovation at Queen’s University Belfast; Dr Trisha Forbes, postdoctoral research fellow on the iAmAware Project; Dr Heike Schroder, a lecturer in Queen’s Management School; and Michael Willis, a director at PwC based in their Belfast office.)
QMS Good Business Podcast Episode 9 -
Renewable Energy and Entrepreneurship
(Featuring: Dr Laura Steele, Queen's Management School, and David Surplus OBE, B9 Energy)
QMS Good Business Podcast Episode 8 -
Closing the Disability Employment Gap
(Featuring: Dr Laura Steele, Queen's Management School, Sean Fitzsimons, Disability Action)
QMS Good Business Podcast Episode 7 -
Food Sustainability and Waste (Autumn/Winter 2019 Edition)
(Featuring Kerry Melville, Belfast Food Network, Jilly Dougan, Jilly Dougan Edible Gardens and Laura Steele, Queen’s Management School)
QMS Good Business Podcast Episode 6 -
Photography Ethics
(Featuring: Savannah Dodd, Photography Ethics Centre, and Dr Laura Steele, Queen's Management School)