All the Muses Are Here (original) (raw)
Related papers
The State of Business Schools, Business Education, and Business Ethics
2009
Business schools and business education prepare students to learn the basics of thinking critically, communicating effectively and managing small and large enterprises so they can serve society in a successful and socially responsible manner. However, recently business schools and their graduates seem to be a target for many critics as they link the ethical lapses of senior executives to major scandals that have partially led to the financial challenges that the world is facing today. Perhaps some analysis and reflections are needed for a self-analysis of business education and its curricula. The questions and thoughts reflected upon in this writing are focused on business schools, business education, and the integration of ethical thinking in business curriculums. The authors offer reflections, suggestions and practical tips for the consideration of university administrators and business school faculty members.
This paper makes the review of the literature dedicated to relevant social issues that have been addressed by business practices and the business ethics literature, especially during the past century. The review of practical literature is undertaken from the perspective of the practitioner and demonstrates that the business ethics literature has been lax in the sense that it mostly addresses specific managerial problems and personal ethics within the business environment.
The History and Ideals of Business Education
2016
Recent Wall Street scandals involving graduates from the best business schools have provoked questions about the methods and effectiveness of business ethics education. More specifically, educators and commentators are asking if the triple emphasis on personal career advancement, short-term business gain, and maximum shareholder value is overwhelming instruction in managerial ethics and social responsibility. Such educational cross-purposes raise the question of educational foundations. It is important to ask on what philosophical assumptions and social facts business ethics education was established, how well these assumptions and facts serve the educational enterprise, and if more solid foundations can be identified. These questions are addressed first in tracing the social and philosophical foundations of education in Western society, then locating the founding of American business schools in the historical conflicts and ideals of late nineteenth and early twentieth century educa...
Fulfilling Our Obligation: Perspectives on Teaching Business Ethics
2005
Public confidence in business has yet to recover from the damage wrought by the most recent wave of corporate scandals. In February 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported that a whopping 75% of Americans found the image of big corporations to be "not good" or "terrible" (Rich, 2004). Graduates of the nation's top business schools echoed this sentiment, reporting the lack of ethics in the business world to be one of their major concerns (Lewis, 2004). That business schools might bear some responsibility for this state of affairs has not escaped the attention of the popular press, as can be seen from related articles in Bloomberg Press,
The Case Against Business Ethics Education
Journal of Business Ethics Education, 2004
Several popular arguments against teaching business ethics are examined: (a) the ethical duty of business people is to maximize profit within the law, whence the irrelevance of ethics courses (the Milton Friedman argument); (b) business people respond to economic and legal incentives, not to ethical sentiments, which means that teaching ethics will have no effect; (c) one cannot study ethics in any meaningful sense anyway, because it is a matter of personal preference and is unsusceptible to rational treatment; (d) moral character is formed in early childhood, not while sitting in ethics class; and (e) business students see no motivation to study ethics and will not take it seriously. The mistakes and confusion that underlie these arguments are exposed.
Practicing What We Teach – Ethical Considerations for Business Schools
Journal of Academic Ethics, 2005
The raging cynicism felt toward businesses and business leaders is a by-product of perceived violations in the social contracts owed to the public. Business schools have a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on present and future business leaders, but Fpracticing what we teach_ is a critical condition precedent. This paper presents frameworks for ethical practices for assessing the social contracts owed by business schools in their role as citizens in the larger community. We identify the ethical implications of business school practices to guide the development of tools for self-assessment and to focus on delivering the implied duties owed to the stakeholders of business schools.
Business schools: ethics, assurance of learning, and the future
Organizational Management Journal, 2011
This paper reviews the teaching of business ethics at 70 of the top ranked business schools in the United States and internationally as determined by Business Week magazine. Interviews were conducted with deans, associate and assistant deans, directors and faculty with a survey instrument focusing upon ethics in the curriculum, modifications to the ethics curriculum, and assessment of learning.
The Reformation of Business Education: Purposes and Objectives.
Business education is at a critical juncture. How are we to justify the curriculum in undergraduate business awards in Aotearoa New Zealand? This essay suggests a philosophical framework for the analysis the business curriculum in Western countries. This framework helps us to see curriculum in a context of global academic communities and national needs. It situates the business degree in the essential tension which modernity (Western metaphysics) creates and which is expressed in an increasingly globalised economy. The tension is between those who insist that the degree is to serve modernity and those who hope that it may contribute to a new era of justice and harmony with nature. One critical battle ground for the business curriculum is the subject Business Ethics. The business ethics curriculum often indicates the intention of the business ethics degree itself. Kant's distinction between heteronomy (rule following) and autonomy (making your own decisions) provides us with a means to judge the purposes of business ethics courses: there are courses which seek to produce reliable and compliant (heteronomous) employees, and there are those which seek to produce independent creative (autonomous) human beings. The question for this conference is: what do we as business educators see as our task?