As the Justice Department and the Securities Exchange Commission find more and more financial institutions guilty of unethical business dealings, the question arises as to whether business education places enough emphasis on morality.
At the John M. Olin School of Business, the professors have not turned a blind eye to the recent scandals surrounding the heads of Enron and Worldcom. As Student Life reported on Tuesday, “professors.expect to incorporate these current events into their coursework by discussing the cases and their effects on business ethics.”
However, the fact that such consideration with regards to ethics seems to come only now, after such extreme violations of both the law and moral standards is extremely troubling. Ethical considerations should be a prominent part of any education and should not be brought to the forefront simply because of a highly-publicized incident regarding the lack of it.
Within the School of Business, students center their education on finding the tools and means to make every extra cent on a business transaction. Without a doubt, individuals graduating from the school of business come away with a sound business rationale.
It may be presumed that most individuals graduating from business schools like school of business also leave with a sound set of moral principles, the growing number of inventory accounting scandals and allegations of insider trading bring to light that not enough is being done in teaching individuals about dishonesty and when business becomes unethical.
Furthermore, what seems to be stressed in the wake of current events is the harm that comes to the individuals caught in such scandals, not the millions of individuals that lose their life savings as a result of such financial catastrophes.
The recent scandals have brought it into the minds of business students that cheating the system can be dangerous and lead to both financial and social ruin. Not enough attention however seems to be paid to the harm that such actions cause affected individuals. Business students now know that regulators have the capability of ferreting out illegal financial behavior and have come to understand that if caught, they will face prison time.
What students often overlook is that even when not caught, their actions affect millions of individuals whose incomes and savings they handle. The current financial scandals are most appalling not because the involved individuals made millions illegally, but that they did so without regards for their shareholders and individuals that trusted them to handle their money in a sound manner. The fact that this aspect of the current situations often gets glanced over sends a clear message that ethical education needs more emphasis.
The business school could take note of changes that are taking place on other campuses across the nation in restructuring their curriculums. At Rutgers University for example, all full time business students are now required to take a class in business ethics.
The Olin School of Business could adopt similar measures, and perhaps to take it another step further, require professors to teach ethical business standards in all classes and make them an integral component of what students will be tested on.
These steps would not only make ethics a greater component of the Business School’s curriculum, but also ensure that students learn the values they are taught.
The most ideal situation would be one in which the Olin follows the structure of the College of Arts and Sciences and makes the instruction of ethical behavior latent in all its classes.
Whether it be in a class regarding Human Resource Management or Accounting, the school should strive to make its students aware of what constitutes moral behavior at all times.