2011 European HRD conference, and one of the main topics of the HRD conference in
the Americas and the European HRD conference in 2012. Among other things, an
important idea emerging from these debates is that a paradigm shift is needed – a shift
away from our fixation on constant economic and organizational growth towards more
balanced and sustainable practices and philosophy. And this shift needs to happen not
only in the realm of business strategies, but also in HRD work and scholarship
(Ardichvili, 2011; Garavan and McGuire, 2010; Tome, 2011).
In this paper I will focus on an important for the future of HRD question: to enable
the shift from the expansionist to the sustainability paradigm, what changes need to
occur in HRD academic programs? My analysis is supported by a review and
interpretation of the relevant literature in HRD and in related fields of social science,
including HRM, organizational studies, and business ethics. The argument is
developed in the following four parts of the paper: