For a while, it seemed
as if every newspaper that came out had a different
business scandal: executives spending shareholders’ money
on toga parties; chief executive officers borrowing
money set aside for employee pensions and never paying
it back; accounting firms turning a blind eye to
their clients’ wrongdoing; corporate boards
not exercising their oversight responsibilities.
The headlines have given professors in the Tippie
College of Business opportunities to emphasize standards
of business ethics and ethical dilemmas their students
may face after graduation.
Nancy Hauserman, the college’s associate dean,
undergraduate program, says that business professors
ask students to think about the ethical dimensions
of responsibility every day—an emphasis that
isn’t new. Since the 1970s, standards by which
business colleges are reaccredited have required
course work in business and society or social issues
in management.
“We teach the issues behind those headlines
and ask (students) to think about not only how they
would make decisions but also why they make certain
decisions under various circumstances,” Hauserman
explains.
Questions of ethics are addressed in all required
undergraduate courses, such as Introduction to Accounting
and Introduction to Marketing. The college also offers
some courses that deal specifically with ethical
issues, such as Law and Ethics.
Lon Moeller, associate professor of management and
organizations, is teaching an honors section of Introduction
to Law. The recent headlines have provided him with
a teaching tool.
“I use the Enron, Martha Stewart, and Tyco
case studies to get the students’ attention,” Moeller
says. “It’s easy to say that ethics is
an abstract idea, but now you have celebrities who
once were on the cover of Business Week on trial.
Their fall gets the students’ attention.”
Moeller says he tells his class that some of the
accused executives have reputations for having strong
personal ethical standards.
“Former Tyco chief executive Dennis Koslowski
is a very religious, well-read man whose personal
standards of ethics are strong. What happened in
the Tyco business culture that made him go wrong?” he
asks. “It’s easy to say, ‘That
wouldn’t be me,’ but most of those executives
are MBAs, and no doubt they once said they wouldn’t
do those things, too. How were they corrupted by
power?
“If you teach ethics directly, students wonder
if it should be part of the curriculum. But if you
ask them to examine their own ethical standards in
the context of these case studies, it’s relevant
to them.”
In the MBA program, a course on business ethics
was eliminated two years ago to accommodate a different
course. Thomas Gruca, professor of marketing, believes
that was a wise move.
“When you teach business ethics as a separate
course, you’re teaching it in a vacuum,” he
says. “You need to teach it in the context
of decision making throughout all the core courses.
Otherwise, students study for the test and then forget
it. When it’s part of their analysis of a situation,
they don’t forget.”
Lynn Pringle, professor of accounting, says he,
too, prefers to see ethics taught across the business
curriculum.
“If it’s just one course, students put
on their ‘ethics hat,’ and when the course
is done, they may not think of ethics issues in their
other courses,” he says.
Pringle teaches a required course, Professional
Orientation Seminar Series, which features a session
for discussing ethics. He also teaches an auditing
course that uses a case book made up entirely of
fraud cases that auditors have dealt with.
Terry Boles, associate professor of management and
organizations, teaches Negotiations, a course for
MBA, Executive MBA, and undergraduate students.
“Ethics is an issue that comes up frequently
in Negotiations,” she says. “A negotiation
can create the opportunity for short-term gain at
the expense of a long-term relationship. Negotiators
often have to balance a mixed-motive situation—trying
to achieve the best for themselves while also considering
the needs of the other person.”
When people focus only on the short-term benefit
for themselves, they’re more likely to be tempted
to engage in questionable tactics, she says.
“When you look at Enron or WorldCom or the
others, you see they were often under pressure to
come up with the best quarterly numbers,” Boles
adds. “This gave them a short-term incentive
to lie. It’s easy to get a good deal by misrepresenting
the facts, but when people learn about the misrepresentation,
your reputation is damaged for the future.”
Hauserman says business ethics are addressed in
the college’s extracurricular activities as
well.
“Two years ago, thanks to a gift from an alumnus,
we were able to send two students to an ethics conference
at West Point,” she says. “This year,
we sent more students to various conferences addressing
leadership and ethics. It is a great opportunity
for the students and for us—since we learn
what they learn.”
Students also have formed a chapter of the Optimist
Club to do community service, Hauserman notes, and
most student organizations in the college also work
on community projects. In addition, several courses
in the undergraduate curriculum include community
service or service learning projects.
Several years ago, the business college became the
first college at the University to enact an honor
code. The code was developed by students. Today,
each student applying for admission to the college
signs a document accepting the honor code provisions,
which include accepting personal responsibility to
uphold ethical standards in academic endeavors, accepting
cultural differences and treating all individuals
with respect and dignity, and setting a standard
for ethical behavior.
Hauserman says she believes students are interested
in hearing about and discussing ethics issues.
“They are not naïve,” she says. “They
have no illusions about what is out there waiting
for them. I don’t know if they are worried,
but I know they are interested.”
by Anne Tanner
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