Handbook of Research on Teaching Ethics in Business and Management Education

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Preface

“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”

Albert Einstein

“The Earth has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed”

Mahatma Gandhi


The global economic catastrophe, which started in summer 2007, enmeshed with numerous corporate, governmental and international ethical and financial scandals and problems along with the previous numerous corporate, national and international ethical and financial scandals and crises, prompts discussion of it  root causes, facets, and trajectory, and makes lively discussion on what constitutes responsible management education emphatic (Moon & Shen, 2010; Lane & Bogue, 2010; Miller, 2009; Christensen et al. 2007; Crane & Matten 2004; Matten & Moon 2004; Nicholson & DeMoss 2009; Swanson & Fisher 2008; Wankel & DeFillippi, 2006).

Today, it is hard to sidestep concerns of what might be factors facilitating unethical conduct in organizations of all sectors: business, government, even religion. Beyond consequent dire economic conditions, educating managers for a culture of greed, false values and moral blindness may be faulted (Neubaum, Pagell, Drexler, McKee-Ryan & Larson, 2009). Wall Street brokers, Lehman Brothers’ managers and other creative designers of financial services unfortunately are often products of business schools. They have used the know-how they gleaned to amorally take actions whose dénouement included the US real estate market bubble that burst in 2008.   In Europe, currently several national economies are tittering on the verge of collapse also premised on a dearth of moral courage. What can we do as business educators to emerge from this epoch of catastrophes? The secret of success is no secret!  We need to bolster the ethical acumen of managers through business education imperatives. It is incumbent upon business schools to not only imbue students with deep practical understanding of globalization, innovation and increase their ethical awareness in all functional areas of management and, further, develop their ability and inclination to think and act wisely and morally. Leading with integrity is what all organizational executives should aspire to. However, in the maelstrom of contemporary globalized business, rapidly involving technologies, and socio-political sea changes, many managers are ill-equipped to confidently act with integrity. Our hope and challenge is for management education to impart knowledge and skills not abstracted from but rather imbued with a moral compass supported by appropriate sensibilities and sophistication. Business culture is a keystone in the edifice of a virtuous society. Is this some Promethean undertaking? We think it is something the world of business education can move towards. This book is meant to be a pathway for those embarked on this journey to make progress through. This book suggests a rejiggering of the recipe for an excellent business education by adding ethical perspectives throughout. Based on our belief that integrity without knowledge is vitiated and knowledge without integrity can be dangerous, this book provides empirically grounded, theoretical insights for rethinking business curricula to meaningfully confront the salient challenges of the second decade of the twenty-first century.

This book is like a conclave of scholars from around the world, reflecting a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives, synergistically sharing knowledge, experience, aspirations and speculations on how morality should best be taught in a global economy.

This book responds to the following questions:

1. How are teaching approaches adapted from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences changing business ethics is taught?
2. What kinds of pedagogic approaches and tools should be used for preparing future leaders to cope effectively with challenges of leading with integrity in a global world?
3. How might integrity within academia be improved?
4. How might business ethics teaching be integrated with human fulfillment and spirituality in helpful ways?
5. How might improvements in the integrity of individuals translate into the integrity of organizations they work?

Though this book is not a panacea for business curricula, it provides useful perspectives on the rejuvenation of management education with new ways of improving the moral compass of students.

References:

Christensen, L.J. et al. (2007) Ethics, CSR, and Sustainability in the Financial Times Top 50 Global Business Schools, Journal of Business Ethics, 73: 347-368.

Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2004) Questioning the Domain of Business Ethics Education, Journal of Business Ethics, 54: 357-369.

Lane, I.F., & Bogue, E.G. (2010) Faculty Perspectives Regarding the Importance and Place of Nontechnical Competencies in Veterinary Medical Education at Five North American Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, JAVMA-Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 237(1): 53-64.

Matten, D., & Moon, J. (2004) Corporate Social Responsibility Education in Europe, Journal of Business Ethics, 54: 323-337.

Miller, R.A. (2009) The Ethics Narrative and the Role of the Business School in Moral Development, Journal of Business Ethics, 90: 287-293.

Moon, J., & Shen, X. (2010) CSR in China Research: Salience, Focus and Nature, Journal of Business Ethics, 94(4): 613-629.

Neubaum, D.O., Pagell, M., Drexler, J.A. Jr, McKee-Ryan, F.M. & Larson, E. (2009), Business education and its relationship to student personal moral philosophies and attitudes toward profits: an empirical response to critics, Academy of Management Learning and Education, 8(1), 9-24.

Nicholson, C.Y., & DeMoss, M. (2009) Teaching Ethics and Social Responsibility: An Evaluation of Undergraduate Business Education at the Discipline Level, Journal of Education for Business, 84(4): 213-218.

Swanson, D.L., & Fisher, D.G. (eds.) (2008) Advancing Business Ethics Education, Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Wankel, C., & DeFillippi, R. (Eds.) (2006).  New Visions of Graduate Management Education. Greenwich, CT:  Information Age Publishing.

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Author(s)/Editor(s) Biography

Dr. Charles Wankel, Professor of Management at St. John's University, New York, holds a doctorate from New York University where he was admitted to Beta Gamma Sigma, the national honor society for business disciplines in AACSB accredited universities. He serves at Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management on the Dissertation Committee and as Honorary Vice Rector at the Poznan University of Business and Foreign Languages. He was awarded the Outstanding Service in Management Education and Development Award at the Academy of Management’s 2004 meeting. At the August 2007 meeting, he was awarded the McGraw-Hill/Irwin Outstanding Symposium in Management Education Development Award. Columbia University’s American Assembly identified him as one of the nation’s top experts on Total Quality Management. He co-authored a top selling textbook Management (Prentice Hall, 1986), published a St. Martin’s Press scholarly book on interorganizational strategy development in Poland, and numerous scholarly articles, monographs, and chapters. The 18,000+ member Academy of Management, the world’s premier academic society in this discipline, presented its Best Paper in Management Education Award to him in 1991, and he has been selected to serve as an officer of AOM divisions every year for more than a decade. He is the leading founder and director of scholarly virtual communities for management professors, currently directing seven with thousands of participants in more than seventy nations. (A Google search for “Charles Wankel” will provide you with an awareness of the scope of his online presence). He has led online international Internet collaborations in teaching and research for more than a decade.Agata Stachowicz-Stanusch Ph.D., D.Sc., is an Associate Professor of Management at The Silesian University of Technology. She is the Head of Management & Marketing Department. Agata has authored and edited seven books including co-authoring of Management through Collaboration: Teaming in a Networked World edited by Charles Wankel; Organizational Immunity to Corruption: Building Theoretical and Research Foundations (IAP 2010), The Core Values of Universities in the Context of Different National Cultures (SUT Press 2009), The Power of Values (Helion 2007), Management by Values: Modern Company Development Perspective, (SUT Press, 2004), Marketing Culture (PWN 2001). She is also an author of over 70 research papers in national/international journals and conference proceedings. She was a reviewer of Academy of Management (AOM) European Academy of Management (EURAM) and Journal of Brand Management (Palgrave MacMillan). Agata is a member of Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Committee on Organizational and Management Sciences Department Katowice and PRME Working Group on Anti-Corruption. She is also a co-founder of Organizational and Management Journal edited by the Silesian University of Technology and Editorial Board’s member of Global Management Journal. Email: agata.stachowicz@polsl.pl.