Abstract
Media stories of ethical lapses in business are relentless. The general public vacillates between revulsion, impatience, cynicism, and apathy. The role of the Business School in Moral Development is debated by scholars, accrediting agencies, and Schools of Businesses. It is a question to which there is no easy answer and one with which Business Schools continue to grapple. This article places the concept of “moral imagination,” theories of moral development, and ethics in a behavioral context. It then discusses a staple of business education, the case study, as a form of ethics narrative that provides ethical modeling within that context. Finally, in discussing the narrative role of the classroom professor in ethical modeling, it provides a framework for further discussion of the role of business education in moral development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aristotle: 1999, Nichomachean Ethics (Prentice-Hall, New Jersey).
Becker, B., P. Dawson, K. Devine, C. Hannum, S. Hill, J. Leydens, D. Matuskevich, C. Traver and M. Palmquist: 2005, Case Studies. Writing@CSU, Colorado State University, Department of English, http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/research/casestudy/. Retrieved September 2008.
DeCalle, S. and P. Werhane: 2008, ‘Moral Motivation Across Ethical Theories: What CAn We Learn for Designing Corporate Ethics Programs?, Journal of Business Ethics 81, 751-764.
Donleavy, G.D.: 2008, ‘No Man’s Land: Exploring the Space between Gilligan and Kohlberg’, Journal of Business Ethics, 80: 807-822.
Driscoll, C. and McKee: 2007, ‘Restorying a Culture of Ethical and Spiritual values: A Role for Leader Storytelling’, Journal of Business Ethics 73: 205-217.
Galla, D., Cavico, F., and Mujtaba, B.: 2007, ‘Compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Requires Formal Ethics Training: Are You Doing It?’, Journal of Business & Economics Research 5 (9), 15-18.
Goodpaster, K.E.: 1994, ‘Work, Spirituality and the Moral Point of View’, International Journal of Value-Based Management 7(1), 49-62.
Heider, K.G.: 1988, ‘The roshoman Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree’, American Anthropologist 90 (1), 73-81.
Hess, D.: 2007, ‘A Business Ethics Perspective on Sarbanes-Oxley and the Organizational Sentencing Guidelines’, Michigan Law Review 105: 1781-1815.
Kennedy, M.J. and L. Horn, 2007, “Thoughts on Ethics Education in the Business School Environment: An Interview with Dr. Jerry Trapnell, AACSB”, Journal of Academic Ethics 5 (1), 77-83.
Ketcham, A. F.: 2003, Variations on the Ethics Component of the AACSB Accreditation Process. Proceedings of the Academy of Business Education.
Miller, R.: 1998, “Lifesizing in an Era of Downsizing: an Ethical Quandry”, Journal of Business Ethics 17: 1693-1700.
Paine, L.S.,: 1994, “Managing for Organizational Integrity”, Harvard Business Review 72 (2), 106-117.
Romero, E.J.: 2008, “AACSB Accreditation: Addressing Faculty Concerns, Academy of Management Learning & Education 7(2): 245-255.
Swanson, D.L. And W.C. Frederick, 2003, “Are Business Schools Silent Partners in Corporate Crime?”, Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 9:24-27.
Watson, C.E.: 2003, “Using Stories to Teach Business Ethics’, Teaching Business Ethics 7:93-105.
Weber, J.A.: 2007, ‘Business Ethics Training: Insights from Learning Theory’, Journal of Business Ethics 70: 61-85.
Werhane, P. H.: 1999, Moral Imagination and Management Decision Making. The Ruffin Series in Business Ethics (Oxford University Press, New York).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Miller, R.A. The Ethics Narrative and the Role of the Business School in Moral Development. J Bus Ethics 90 (Suppl 3), 287–293 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0416-2
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0416-2