When I was going through college, ethics courses were taught through the philosophy department and there wasn’t much talk about how ethics applied to the workplace. With more exposure of unethical business practices, such as Enron, coming to light and their effects impacting citizens in all walks of life, teaching ethics is a key component in more business schools across the country.
Former Professor Cal Boardman, who was the Bill Daniels Chair of Ethics, saw the need for an ethics course emerge about 25 years ago. He worked with management department to create an elective course, Foundation of Business Thought, which would address the growing interest. Boardman says the crux of the course is to “draw parallels between long-run viability business enterprises with the necessity to grow ethical business in order to succeed.” Put simply, Boardman summarizes, “You can’t mess with people because it’s a short-run business and not sustainable.” Professor Abe Bakhsheshy who teaches Business Ethics in the undergraduate and graduate programs agrees. “In order to be successful in business you need to collaborate, work in teams, and get the respect of others. If you are unethical, cheating and lying, you lose people’s trust,” which will end your career prospects very quickly.
Since the early 2000s, when the financial markets faced their biggest crisis, people are demanding more responsibility from business leaders and that starts with educating the future leaders. It was once taught that a businessperson’s only responsibility was to make money. Bakhsheshy adds, “There was no accountability. Businesses were immune because no one was being held accountable.” Now it’s essential to show students the rewards of doing business ethically while still achieving financial reward. The Foundation of Business Thought course gives students historical examples of people and companies that were destroyed because of not doing the right thing. Boardman says, “Corruption takes place because individuals believe they can outsmart the system when history shows you cannot. Money can be a motivator, but it’s more than that. There’s a feeling of invincibility, superiority, and power.” Business Ethics exposes students to the companies that have thrived due to living ethical principles.
Both Boardman and Bakhsheshy agree the basic principles of ethics are inside a person far before they ever walk into a college classroom. That being said, you can teach, through case studies, how to practice and look at ethical behavior. “Ethics classes give you a chance to think twice about your decisions and question the direction you might be headed,” says Boardman. In the Business Ethics course, students are given real-world examples of issues they discuss in class to determine where it stands on the ethics scale. Bakhsheshy says students take a critical dive into, “the consequences of the issue; who will benefit, who will be harmed, whose rights are exercised and whose rights are denied.” The model of practical dissertation creates students who are analytical thinkers and ready one day one to do the right thing in business. “As educators we have a lot to offer. Young people are looking up to us. We must present both sides of an argument in order for students to determine for themselves what is ethical, ” concludes Bakhsheshy.
Ethical issues are being discussed throughout courses taught at the David Eccles School of Business; from finance to marketing, accounting to management, decisions and consequences are debated. No matter what your field of study, ethics will be a foundation that you’ll be able to build upon as you start your career.