----- Forwarded Message -----
From: James Highsmith <[log in to unmask]>
To: James Highsmith <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sat, 09 Feb 2013 09:45:01 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Fwd: [IABS-L] Wall Street Journal -- B-School ethics efforts
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: *Donna Wood*
Date: Friday, February 8, 2013
Subject: [IABS-L] Wall Street Journal -- B-School ethics efforts
To: George Watson <[log in to unmask]>
Cc: Denis Collins <[log in to unmask]>, "[log in to unmask]" <
[log in to unmask]>
Sigh.
Does anyone else out there get really tired of fighting these same idiotic
battles over and over and over?
It's easy: an A in ethics class means the student mastered the material
presented. An A in marketing, OB, HR, finance, accounting, etc., presumably
means the same. Does the A student in marketing go on to become a marketing
guru? Could an OB A student be a psychopath? Is the A kid in finance a whiz
at investing or CFOing?
I have to disagree with George a bit on the "pro-business" thing. What is
more truly pro-business than an ethics education? I'd say the WSJ has a
do-whatever-we-want slant, which isn't surprising, given who owns it.
Who has a vested interest in "quantifying virtues" and "predicting" ethical
behavior? I'd say no one, except those who think the whole ethics venture
is either a stupid waste of time, or a potential hindrance to an
anything-goes strategy, or those of our colleagues who would much rather
use our university resources for their own career schemes.
It is noteworthy that Pitt, whose current dean is so approvingly quoted in
this article, had a vibrant flock of ethics/B&S scholars, and one by one,
they were all chased away, or left in disgust.
I decided a long time ago that one of my principal jobs in the classroom
was to help the students who were naive and inexperienced learn how to
recognize and put a stop to (or avoid) trouble before they were roped in.
This is far removed from teaching adults how to be ethical. Oy vey.
Cheers,
Donna
On Fri, Feb 8, 2013 at 3:40 PM, George Watson
<[log in to unmask]<javascript:_e({}, 'cvml', [log in to unmask]);>
> wrote:
>
> Thanks to Denis for another thought provoking article. The article,
> predictably I suppose, has a decidedly business tilt. I would be
> interested in others' views regarding our ability and responsibility to
> assess anything that is meaningfully predictive of future ethical behavior.
> Is it the professor's job to this? Or is it her job to assess the
> student's performance regarding the material presented? Is an "A" in any
> other class predictive of future performance? Regards, George
>
>
> On 02/07/13, *Denis Collins * <[log in to unmask] <javascript:_e({},
> 'cvml', [log in to unmask]);>> wrote:
>
>
> February 6, 2013, Wall Street Journal
> Does an 'A' in Ethics Have Any Value?
> B-Schools Step Up Efforts to Tie Moral Principles to Their Business
> Programs, but Quantifying Those Virtues Is Tough
>
>
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324761004578286102004694378.html?KEYWORDS=%22boston+university%22
>
>
> Professor Denis Collins
> Edgewood College School of Business
> 608-663-2878, [log in to unmask] <javascript:_e({}, 'cvml',
> [log in to unmask]);>
>
> New Book for Students: Business Ethics<
> http://www.wiley.com//college/sc/collins/>
> New Book for Managers: How to Create an Ethical Organization<
> http://business-ethics.edgewood.edu/>
> Blog: http://deniscollins.tumblr.com/
> Ten Ethics Tips: Ten Best Tips for Reinforcing Ethics<
> http://www.ibmadison.com/In-Business-Madison/July-2009/Ten-Tips-to-Reinforce-Ethical-Behavior-at-Work/
> >
> Website: http://dcollins.faculty.edgewood.edu
> Vitae: http://dcollins.faculty.edgewood.edu/full_vitae.htm
>
> The time has come to take the ethics revolution to the next level. Besides
> practicing kindness, what needs to get done?
>
>
-- 
James Highsmith, Emeritus Professor of Business Law and Finance
Past President, Academy of Legal Studies in Business alsb.org
Former Chair, California State University statewide Academic Senate
"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of
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PETER C. NEWMAN, Canadian journalist
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