Reference no: EM133333803

Case Study: Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Education: Shifting the Worldview ROBERT A. GIACALONE Temple University KENNETH R. THOMPSON DePaul University While the topics of business ethics and social responsibility education have received much attention in scholarly and pedagogical literature (although less in the pedagogical literature), the authors argue that the core teaching problem has not been discussed, that is, the worldview underpinning all of management education. The authors discuss this worldview, propose a more ethics-friendly worldview, and provide some considerations of its implication. Business educators walk a road where ethical idence is found in a seemingly unending flurry of signposts are unclear, new scandals lead to new newspaper articles and video documentaries (e.g., laws, and society's increased expectations change Greenwald, 2006) that reveal new morally reprethe parameters for what we teach. In this environ- hensible actions. Undoubtedly, it is this stream of ment, how we sensitize our students (i.e., how we bad news that leaves us asking how teaching ethteach our students about business ethics and so- ics and social responsibility might mitigate the cial responsibility) becomes central to the influ- problem (see, e.g., Gentile, Parks, & Piper 1993). ence we might have in shaping their thinking. As While authors of the scholarly and practitioner the basic pedagogical approaches we use are re- ethics literature have focused on more traditional tooled, the premises of our instruction are recon-
issues such as how students' moral standards imsidered, and the sources of our assumptions are pact their ethical work decisions, how organizaquestioned (see, e.g., Koehn, 2005). Helping stu- tional climates impact ethical decisions, and how dents become more socially responsible and ethi- organizations fail to create the appropriate struccally sensitive is a substantive part of our respon- ture for ethical decisions, authors presented here sibility as we prepare a new generation of direct their attention to the task of teaching ethics business practitioners. We face a difficult struggle, and social responsibility. For those who believe for even as we offer new approaches for dealing the task is difficult because students do not care with changing business environments, less re- about the topic or find it irrelevant or uninterestsponsible individuals and businesses learn new ing, demonstrating relevance, changing pedagogy ways to prosper through immoral means (Calla- and resources, and motivating learning would be han, 2004). the focal points. While we see these as important, Clearly, the inoculations to immoral behavior we believe another perspective is worth considerthat we provide students, often through the direc- ing, one which focuses not on the students but also tion of philosophical strategies and notions of so- on the educational weltanschauung or worldview cial responsibility, are inadequate. Supporting ev- (Payne, 2001) that defines our curriculum. To this end, we argue here that we face a fundamental problem in teaching business ethics and The authors wish to thank Lynne Andersson, Lisa Calvano, social responsibility unrelated to pedagogy or Gordon Dehler, Jonathan Doh, David Hoch, Marc Lampe, and Diane Swanson for their helpful comments on previous drafts. This manuscript was reviewed through an independent review
basic worldview underlying our management edprocess.
ucation worldview that undermines and coun- 266

Question: What theories could go with human worldview and organization worldview ?