The Importance of Teaching Ethics at Business Schools

This it has not stopped business schools, to their credit, from trying. Recently, the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management held its annual Collegiate Ethics Case Competition, which has students confronting the kinds of ethical dilemmas real businesses face.

Last year, the case was based on the debate between Apple and the FBI about unlocking phones in the aftermath of the San Bernardino terrorism case. “I believe that the more that you can raise awareness about the importance of good decision making, the more you can simulate the realities of what will occur in the business sector for these students,” said Paul Melendez, founder of the Center for Leadership Ethics at Eller and organizer of the event.

The good news is that students’ mindsets are evolving. Once upon a time, they did not stress a desire for an education in this area. But millennials want to have serious conversations about ethics, particularly corporate social responsibility (CSR). Business schools are responding with what some have coined ‘responsible management education’ (RME). 

The United Nations’ Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) initiative supported the Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Australia in conducting a survey of 1,699 respondents. The resulting ‘The State of CSR and RME in Business Schools and the Attitudes of Their Students’ found that, “Students exhibited positive CSR attitudes, with a heightened focus on acting ethically and a diminished focus on financial considerations.”

Half the respondents said they would give up more than 20% of their starting salary to work for a company that cares about its employees. PRME also found one in five respondents would sacrifice 40%, or more, of their future salary to work for a company with a sense of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

As students’ principles shift so do the schools’ responses. In recent years, top business schools have made an effort to infuse ethics into the curriculum through workshops, panel discussions, and courses. In 2004, a task force run by accrediting body AACSB determined that business schools had to improve ethics education, but it left schools with the freedom to decide how. Discover some ways business schools are teaching ethical leadership:

•  Case studies - Business schools have long used case studies to illustrate the challenges businesses regularly face. These real-life stories spark classroom discussions about what leaders did right and what they did wrong. Case studies are a good way to demonstrate the sort of ethical dilemmas business executives may face in their future career.

• Guest speakers - Business schools provide frameworks and theories to help students learn how to make decisions about investments, hiring, and marketing. But it is significantly harder to bring reality into the classroom. Along with case studies, one way to address this is to host guest speakers from industry. They can talk about their own experiences with ethics.

• Simulations - Simulations allow students the chance to apply what they have learned without any risk. Technology is utilized to replicate situations similar to those experienced in business reality. Replicating ethical dilemmas in a simulation allows students to evaluate their values and decide where they are willing to compromise. Often, these simulations ask students to work in teams, reflecting one of the biggest challenges faced when encountering ethical quandaries in real life.

• Integration - One criticism business schools have faced is that ethics are taught in a vacuum. Educators now believe that a pedagogical approach which sees ethics weaved into all courses is a more effective approach. Slowly, business ethics is becoming better integrated in MBA curricula.

• Self-assessment and reflection - An MBA is a time away from the pressures of the workplace, when individuals can reflect on their personal goals and develop a strategy for their upcoming career. It is, therefore, a critical period for the embedding of ethical principles that can act as a compass to navigate the challenges of the future.

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