Business presses ethics

Kayla Webley
2004-01-22
The Daily

In a time when recent stock scandals and Enron have rocked the corporate world, the UW business school is taking its responsibility seriously as it shapes future business leaders.

The UW business school, which already has several ethics courses in the undergraduate and graduate-level, is putting a new emphasis on business ethics by bringing speakers and adding a new graduate level course.

"Any school is feeling the pressure, and they should after what has gone on in corporate America. It's outrageous. It's bad. And in some respect the business schools must do more in order to make people understand that ethical behavior is the most important part of being a great leader," said Yash Gupta, dean of the UW business school.

The increase in corruption and controversy has thrown the business school in head first to question whether or not it is doing enough to teach students to make ethical decisions.

"We're one of only a few schools that includes ethics education in its undergraduate programs and requires an ethics course in its regular and its core executive M.B.A. programs," said Scott Reynolds, assistant professor of business ethics.

Because the business school has always taught ethics courses, scandals have not radically changed the way the school functions.

As an undergraduate, students are required to take Management 320, Business, Government and Society. This course has an ethics component, which is the only mandatory requirement in ethics courses.

Also available as an elective course is Management 323, Business Ethics and Corporate Responsibility, which, incidentally, has not received more or less enrollment in light of current events, according to Vikki Haag Day, director of undergraduate programs for the business school.

However, some non-ethics professors have chosen to incorporate ethics training into their curriculum.

"It doesn't matter whether it was two years ago or 20 years ago, we have always talked about the issue because it is so critical. It is integrated into curriculum. I can't imagine taking a course in accounting and not learning about ethical behavior at this point," said Gupta. "I can't imagine people learning about any discipline and not learning about ethics."

According to Day, many business school faculty have previous training and hands-on experience in ethics.

"Many of our faculty have either had or currently do consulting or professional work so they are tied into the corporate world," said Day.

The business school is also noting students' interest in this field and trying to satisfy them by inviting speakers to events such as the dean's business breakfast and the CEO luncheon that will address ethical issues, according to Day.

"We choose the speakers, so I think we are doing a good job of soliciting speakers who will bring the (ethics) issue to the forefront, and we certainly want our students to go out thinking about those issues," said Day.

According to Day, business schools around the country are adding ethics elements to their curricula, but few teach ethics courses.

While there has been no increase in course requirements at the undergraduate level, there has been an increase at the graduate level in ethics education.

"We have taken the regular M.B.A. required course and have doubled the credit load," said Reynolds. "So while it could have been argued that we were doing enough, the leadership at the business school felt that we could do more, and I believe that that is a real testament to their commitment to this topic."