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Dear Colleagues,

The management department at my university is revising the list of required classes for the undergraduate major in general management. One issue the major revision committee is wrestling with is whether to require a stand-alone business ethics and social responsibility course. The students do get some exposure to ethics in a law class, an introductory management class, and perhaps in a few other classes.

I know the issue of whether it is optimal to have an integrated approach to ethics (i.e., touching on ethics in many courses) and/or having a stand-alone class is a big debate in the area of ethics education. I would love to get your feedback on the pros and cons of these two approaches so that I can be informed when I report back to my committee. Further, I know there is a movement by some scholars to petition AACSB to require a stand-alone ethics course. Any information on the arguments made by proponents of those scholars would also be quite useful.

In advance, thank you for your feedback. I am happy to summarize the responses for you all. My apologies for cross-postings.

Regards,

Dave

************************************
David M. Mayer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Management
College of Business Administration
University of Central Florida
PO Box 161400
Orlando, FL 32816-1400
Phone: 407-823-3209
Fax: 407-823-3725
Email: dmayer@bus.ucf.edu
Web: www.bus.ucf.edu/dmayer
Lab: www.bus.ucf.edu/dmayer/SJO/Home.htm

Well, that one is a can of worms for those of us who have been through the ringer!  I will let others take first crack at an answer; but you might want to check out aacsb's report from the Ethics Education Task Force for some thoughts on the content issue.  It can be accessed at http://www.aacsb.edu/resource_centers/ethicsedu/eetf.asp.  

Best of luck . . .

Laura

Dear Colleagues,

The management department at my university is revising the list of required classes for the undergraduate major in general management. One issue the major revision committee is wrestling with is whether to require a stand-alone business ethics and social responsibility course. The students do get some exposure to ethics in a law class, an introductory management class, and perhaps in a few other classes.

I know the issue of whether it is optimal to have an integrated approach to ethics (i.e., touching on ethics in many courses) and/or having a stand-alone class is a big debate in the area of ethics education. I would love to get your feedback on the pros and cons of these two approaches so that I can be informed when I report back to my committee. Further, I know there is a movement by some scholars to petition AACSB to require a stand-alone ethics course. Any information on the arguments made by proponents of those scholars would also be quite useful.

In advance, thank you for your feedback. I am happy to summarize the responses for you all. My apologies for cross-postings.

Regards,

Dave

************************************
David M. Mayer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Management
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Business Administration</st1:placename></st1:place>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">University of Central</st1:city> <st1:state w:st="on">Florida</st1:state></st1:place>
<st1:address w:st="on"><st1:street w:st="on">PO Box</st1:street> 161400</st1:address>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Orlando</st1:city>, <st1:state w:st="on">FL</st1:state> <st1:postalcode w:st="on">32816-1400</st1:postalcode></st1:place>
Phone: 407-823-3209
Fax: 407-823-3725
Email: dmayer@bus.ucf.edu
Web: www.bus.ucf.edu/dmayer
Lab: www.bus.ucf.edu/dmayer/SJO/Home.htm

Dear Colleagues,

 

The management department at my university is revising the list of required classes for the undergraduate major in general management. One issue the major revision committee is wrestling with is whether to require a stand-alone business ethics and social responsibility course. The students do get some exposure to ethics in a law class, an introductory management class, and perhaps in a few other classes.

 

I know the issue of whether it is optimal to have an integrated approach to ethics (i.e., touching on ethics in many courses) and/or having a stand-alone class is a big debate in the area of ethics education. I would love to get your feedback on the pros and cons of these two approaches so that I can be informed when I report back to my committee. Further, I know there is a movement by some scholars to petition AACSB to require a stand-alone ethics course. Any information on the arguments made by proponents of those scholars would also be quite useful.

 

In advance, thank you for your feedback. I am happy to summarize the responses for you all. My apologies for cross-postings.

 

Regards,

Dave

 

************************************
David M. Mayer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Management
College of Business Administration
University of Central Florida
PO Box 161400
Orlando, FL 32816-1400
Phone: 407-823-3209
Fax: 407-823-3725
Email: dmayer@bus.ucf.edu
Web: www.bus.ucf.edu/dmayer
Lab: www.bus.ucf.edu/dmayer/SJO/Home.htm

 

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Hi David:

In 2002, in the wake of destructive corporate scandals, hundreds of professors and practitioners petitioned AACSB  *not* to frame the issue of ethics coverage in terms of either a standalone course or (so called) "integration" across the curriculum.

Bill Frederick and I organized this petition campaign in response to Duane Windsor's insightful Open Letter to AACSB, which he sent to AACSB  months before that accreditation body approved new standards in 2003.

Based on the comments of those who signed the petition, most thought that "integration across the curriculum" amounted to little or no standards  for ethics education.  Speaking for myself, I think that framing the issue as "either/ or" is a very artful way of allowing schools to pass accreditation when ethics topics are merely scattered across the curriculum haphazardly -- at best.

I won't repeat the arguments for a standalone ethics course here, but you can find Duane Windsor's Open Letter to AACSB at

http://info.cba.ksu.edu/swanson/Call/Call.pdf

Also, if you want to read about the petition campaign, you could get the following article (or I could send it to you under separate cover.)

Swanson, D. L. The Buck Stops Here: Why Universities Must Reclaim Business Ethics Education. D. Reed & R. Wellen (Eds.) Special Issue on Universities and Corporate Responsibilities. Journal of Academic Ethics, Fall 2004.

This article summarizes the various reasons for requiring a standalone course in ethics and AACSB's response to the petition campaign.

Best of luck with ethics education at your school.  As Duane Windsor has noted, the current accreditation environment politicizes the quest to get even one ethics course required in the curriculum. This despite the growing job market for people trained in the area.

Regards,

Diane Swanson

Diane L. Swanson, Ph.D.

The von Waaden Business Administration Professor

Founding Chair, Ethics Education Initiative

Professor of Management

Kansas State University

Manhattan, Kansas 66506

swanson@ksu.edu

Phone: 785-532-4352

Fax: 785 532-1339

Dear Colleagues,

The management department at my university is revising the list of required classes for the undergraduate major in general management. One issue the major revision committee is wrestling with is whether to require a stand-alone business ethics and social responsibility course. The students do get some exposure to ethics in a law class, an introductory management class, and perhaps in a few other classes.

I know the issue of whether it is optimal to have an integrated approach to ethics (i.e., touching on ethics in many courses) and/or having a stand-alone class is a big debate in the area of ethics education. I would love to get your feedback on the pros and cons of these two approaches so that I can be informed when I report back to my committee. Further, I know there is a movement by some scholars to petition AACSB to require a stand-alone ethics course. Any information on the arguments made by proponents of those scholars would also be quite useful.

In advance, thank you for your feedback. I am happy to summarize the responses for you all. My apologies for cross-postings.

Regards,

Dave

************************************
David M. Mayer, Ph.D. Assistant Professor
Department of Management
College of Business Administration
University of Central Florida
PO Box 161400a
Orlando, FL 32816-1400
Phone: 407-823-3209
Fax: 407-823-3725
Email: dmayer@bus.ucf.edu
Web: www.bus.ucf.edu/dmayer
Lab: www.bus.ucf.edu/dmayer/SJO/Home.htm

_______________________________________________________________________

To send a message to the list, send your email to SIM@aomlists.pace.edu

_______________________________________________________________________

Visit the SIM Division website at: http://sim.aomonline.org _______________________________________________________________________

If you wish to unsubscribe from this list or change your delivery options, you can do so online at: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=sim&A=1 _______________________________________________________________________

Dear Colleagues,

 

The management department at my university is revising the list of required classes for the undergraduate major in general management. One issue the major revision committee is wrestling with is whether to require a stand-alone business ethics and social responsibility course. The students do get some exposure to ethics in a law class, an introductory management class, and perhaps in a few other classes.

 

I know the issue of whether it is optimal to have an integrated approach to ethics (i.e., touching on ethics in many courses) and/or having a stand-alone class is a big debate in the area of ethics education. I would love to get your feedback on the pros and cons of these two approaches so that I can be informed when I report back to my committee. Further, I know there is a movement by some scholars to petition AACSB to require a stand-alone ethics course. Any information on the arguments made by proponents of those scholars would also be quite useful.

 

In advance, thank you for your feedback. I am happy to summarize the responses for you all. My apologies for cross-postings.

 

Regards,

Dave

 

************************************
David M. Mayer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Management
College of Business Administration
University of Central Florida
PO Box 161400
Orlando, FL 32816-1400
Phone: 407-823-3209
Fax: 407-823-3725
Email: dmayer@bus.ucf.edu
Web: www.bus.ucf.edu/dmayer
Lab: www.bus.ucf.edu/dmayer/SJO/Home.htm

 

_______________________________________________________________________

To send a message to the list, send your email to SIM@aomlists.pace.edu

_______________________________________________________________________

Visit the SIM Division website at: http://sim.aomonline.org _______________________________________________________________________

If you wish to unsubscribe from this list or change your delivery options, you can do so online at: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=sim&A=1 _______________________________________________________________________

To send a message to the list, send your email to SIM@aomlists.pace.edu

_______________________________________________________________________

Visit the SIM Division website at: http://sim.aomonline.org _______________________________________________________________________

If you wish to unsubscribe from this list or change your delivery options, you can do so online at: http://aomlists.pace.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=sim&A=1 _______________________________________________________________________