Using Great Literature to Teach Business Ethics

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  sherrimba11/22/07 Report as spam
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  Using Great Literature to Teach Business Ethics

  Every school should incorporate Business Ethics as its core curriculum. Every course should have intertwined within its network of books, scenarios, simulations, some facet of ethical training. It is not enough to provide a class specifically designed to teach ethics. Ethics must be an underlying theme in every class from the abstract to the exact. Ethics should be taught akin to the way parents raise a child: in every situation ethics and moral business behaviour should be presented in both subtle and overt ways allowing the student to absorb the inferences within the context of the current learnings.

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  trnoebel@...11/23/07 Report as spam
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  Ethics starts earlier

  Schools should help reinforce discipline around ethical behavior, however, the true learning of ethics MUST start in the home. Ethical behavior by parents will teach the child (leader to be) more about ethics then any course, lecture, film or book provided by any University.
  
  To that end, why is it that we would want to rely on UNiversities to teach ethics? That means you must subscribe to, or at a bare minimum support, the ethical stance of the academicians teaching the courses.
  
  Layered on top of that, we have the varied cultural definitions of ethics. What is considered to be acceptable and ethical behavior in one culture might not be in another.
  
  There is no doubt that we need stronger ethical influence in our world and business leaders. And yet, do we not have choice in those leaders?

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  emann@...11/22/07 Report as spam
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  RE: Using Great Literature to Teach Business Ethics

  Movies such as "Officer and a Gentleman" are very useful

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  javaid.a.khan@...11/22/07 Report as spam
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  Lack of morality in world leaders

  There are clear signs that world leaders, at least the next generation, needs to be taught morality, because the current group only uses guns and bombs to get what they want and worst still from the weakest nations in the world.
  "My Interest' governs my decissions, and who ever is most powerfull tries to get as much as he can. The rule of law which regulates faireness and equality is becoming obsolete, as the civilized world gets deeper into the chase of "My interest' as opposed to "Our interest".
  Javaid
  Pakistan

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  recjr11/28/07 Report as spam
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  Moral Leadership

  Javid,
  
  You are correct. Without a moral conscience, most so-called leaders will default to a position of self-interest. It is the difference between "pseudo" leadership and authentic leadership, or as you've said, between my interests and our interests.
  
  Leadership, in my humble opinions, needs to start far earlier in the life of a child. Once they are at an age where they can grasp the difference between right and wrong, the concepts of moral leadership can begin to be taught. Certainly, as they reach adolescence, leadership should be part of middle and high school curriculum. Studies have shown that, regardless of culture or country, that children understand the fundamental and foundational differences between right and wrong; such things as lying, cheating, stealing, etc., were determined to be wrong by the children in this study despite a child's culture. It was inherent in their makeup as if they were pre-wired to do right, not wrong. This behavior could be reinforced or changed by their environment.
  
  The point is, by teaching our children moral leadership before they become jaded by a negative environment, those teaching it can help to create a better society.

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  lnballew11/26/07 Report as spam
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  RE: Using Great Literature to Teach Business Ethics

  I just finished my MBA and our ethics class was based on a classic ??? the Bible. Understanding that it is the basis of the Judeo-Christian laws upon which our government was founded, it makes pretty good sense. My university is a Christian organization, but my classmates came from all walks of life ??? Christian, Hindu, Muslim and nonreligious. All of us saw the value of this approach and I believe it gave us a solid foundation for our future endeavors.

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  Brucelloyd12/01/07 Report as spam
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  RE: Using Great Literature to Teach Business Ethics

  One valuable way to get these issues more widely discussed and accepted is through rehabilitating the concept of WISDOM.
  
  I have a couple of relevant articles on 'Wisdom & Leadership' and 'Power, Responsibility & Wisdom: Exploring the issues at the core of Ethical Decision-making' that I would be happy to share these with anyone who is interested ...
  
  Bruce Lloyd
  brucelloydg@aol.com

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  teambuild@...12/02/07 Report as spam
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  network

  let us say hello, thanks joe philip insight consulting

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  wdchapman12/11/07 Report as spam
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  Literature on Moral and Ethical Leadership

  I would be interested in the articles, websites/blogs on moral and ethical leadership.
  
  I am involved with the BYU Management Society (https://marriottschool.byu.edu/mgtsoc), whose vision is "growing moral and ethical leadership around the world." I would like to assemble literature that would help define that vision.
  Bill Chapman
  wchapman@BYU.net

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  artist5805/07/08 Report as spam
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  RE: Using Great Literature to Teach Business Ethics

  This is an outstanding idea. I returned to university, after many years, and am finishing up an American Lit course. Some of the things that I have learn from this course, about life in general, is outstanding, even as a baby boomer.