Our research
Our research investigates the interaction between business and society, uncovering both positive and negative impacts, with an aim to enhance desirable outcomes. Together, we focus on the following areas:
Responsible business examines how businesses can be more socially, culturally, environmentally and economically responsible.
Inclusive business focuses on how businesses can better reflect diverse societies, and how they can drive societal change through inclusive action.
Resilient business explores how businesses can assist societies to be more resilient in relation to both natural and human-made disasters.
Key projects
We take a multidisciplinary approach to the themes of responsible, inclusive and resilient business to deliver impactful research, teaching and industry engagement.
Inclusive business
Our Organisational Change for Audience Diversification project, undertaken by the Arts and Creative Industries Research and Engagement Unit, helps arts organisations identify how they can make changes that will improve audience diversity. It will provide advice, toolkits and frameworks for action.
Responsible business
The Better Consumption Lab is generating consumer insights to help our funding partners – Mondo Energy, AusNet Services and Australian Energy Market Operator – understand how to further encourage the adoption of new renewable energy technologies.
Resilient business
Through a series of projects, the Centre for Disaster Resilience and Recovery is investigating the socioeconomic impacts of disasters on different industries and social demographics to provide data that will improve policy and recovery support. Another series of projects investigates economic and business strategies for disaster response, assessing the effectiveness of policy responses, mitigating individual and business vulnerabilities to disasters, supporting firms in effective disaster response, and achieving business agility.
Our research centres
The following Deakin Business School research centres are aligned with the Business and society theme.
Deakin Centre for Refugee Employment, Advocacy, Training and Education
CREATE develops practical research-based solutions to support people from a refugee background to obtain employment and gain access to education and training.
Arts and Creative Industries Research and Engagement
ACiRE conducts research that helps arts and cultural organisations with organisational change, audience and stakeholder engagement, workforce development, policy analysis, impact evaluation, and market and brand development.
Centre for Disaster Resilience and Recovery
The CDRR provides research, consultancy and training to assist individuals, businesses and governments to enhance economic and social resilience to, and recovery from, disasters.
Leadership Futures Hub
The Leadership Futures Hub helps leaders address contemporary and future challenges and creates positive impact on societies through leadership research and industry engagement.
Better Consumption Lab
The Better Consumption Lab provides consumer and service insights to help address the world’s consumption challenges. Its aim is to transform consumption into something that is healthy, sustainable and just.
Partner with us
We collaborate with a range of partners, including AusNet Services, Mondo Energy, Australian Energy Market Operator, Asuria Assured People Services, Department of Jobs Precincts and Regions, Australia Council for the Arts and the Crescent Foundation. We provide consulting and evaluation services, research partnerships, event and media speakers, and professional development and education.
Curriculum and teaching innovations
We want our business curriculum to equip you with the capacity to practice responsible business. Undergraduate students can take a unit that explores the incorporation of the United Nations Development Programme's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into business operations. Similar curriculum is available to postgraduate students, including these key study units.
Management
This core unit (MMM132) incorporates an awareness and learning assessment activity on SDGs. You’ll learn about the SDG framework and brainstorm ways a large retailer could support an SDG.
Managing Arts in Community Settings
This core unit (MMM796) in the Master of Business (Arts and Cultural Management) helps you to learn about the use of the SDGs in the management of community-based arts initiatives.
Contact us
Stay in touch with us to hear about the latest study opportunities, research news and much more. Have a question? Get in touch with the team.