Abstract
In light of the continued erosion of business ethics in America, the ongoing question is what are the nation's business schools doing to prepare ethically responsible future leaders of industry and government? This paper reports the findings of a survey mailed to every program accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business. The curriculum treatment of business ethics is identified at the undergraduate and the graduate levels in public as well as in private colleges and universities. In addition, the paper presents the status (required versus elective), credits, and enrollment patterns associated with institutions offering a special course whose primary focus is the ethical or moral component of business decisions. Depending on one's perspective, the results range from “encouraging” to “disappointing” and suggest that more can and should be done within the curriculum of American post-secondary higher education.
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Richard J. George is Professor of Marketing at Saint Joseph's University. He has won the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. He has conducted extensive research into the ethical perceptions of undergraduate and graduate students and managers and he has written the lead article for a special ethics edition of the Marketing Educator.
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George, R.J. Teaching business ethics: Is there a gap between rhetoric and reality?. J Bus Ethics 6, 513–518 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383742
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00383742