Steve Shu's Blog

I wanted to highlight one of the 'blogs of interest' that I have listed in the sidebar entitled Steve Shu's BusinessWeek Online Blog. Steve is an MBA alumnus from Chicago and the topic of his blog is "Teaching Ethics in Business Schools." There is a very interesting discussion going on there and this topic has come up several times in my classes at USF. I think a more pertinent question is "Can ethics be taught in business schools?" There are a lot of interesting points of view on Steve's blog.

My point of view is that ethics cannot truly be 'taught' after adolescence, since ethical behavior stems from one's values and beliefs. However, is it possible to teach business men and women 'how to act ethically?' Which brings me to an excerpt that I found from the working papers of the Kellog Leadership Studies Project (also linked in the sidebar) entitled Moral Leadership and Business Ethics. It's excellent reading and I hope you take the time to look at it. Author, Al Gini of Loyola University states, "Ethics is an evaluative enterprise. Judgments must be made in regard to competing points of view." He suggests using a modified version of the scientific method when evaluating the ethical component(s) of a decision or action:

A) Observation, the recognition of a problem or conflict; B) Inquiry, a critical consideration of facts and issues involved; C) Hypothesis, the formulation of a decision or plan of action consistent with the known facts; D) Experimentation and Evaluation, the implementation of the decision or plan in order to see if it leads to the resolution of the problem.

Along with this type of evaluation, one should ask the basic questions: How does it affect the self and others? What are the consequences involved? Is it harmful? Is it fair? Is it equitable? Other approaches to ethical dilemmas, as I learned in my second year of auditing are, after analyzing a course or courses of action, take the 'deontology' approach, which would ask, "Does the action fulfill one's duties, obligations and responsibilities to all of the different stakeholders?" If it does, then it is likely an ethical decision. The 'teleology' approach asks whether the action results in the best outcome or result for the different stakeholders. The one I like best is the 'TV' approach: Could you go on TV that will be seen by family, friends, church members, employer, civic groups, etc., and defend your actions?

Other very interesting pieces of Gini's paper include surveys taken of executives and business leaders and their views on ethics, as well as public opinion polls of corporate America. You can find the results for yourself in the article. Very interesting and supports my hypothesis that 'corporate integrity' is indeed an oxymoron.