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Business schools have been trying for decades to educate ethical managers, but have often fallen short of expectations. The difficulty for many schools may lie in barriers that prevent the inclusion of ethics into the graduate business program. This case study describes the development of an MBA program in a small Catholic college which emerged naturally infused with values. We propose that the barriers that often inhibit the creation of such a program can be overcome, if the program emerges from a value-laden culture. Results of this single case study are promising, finding that both faculty and students recognize the emphases placed on ethics two years later. The question for further research is whether this experience is unique to a single institution, or whether all faith-based institutions have an advantage when trying to integrate ethics into an MBA curriculum. If faith-based institutions truly have the edge in developing ethics-infused graduate business programs, they could have an important competitive advantage in the MBA market., INTRODUCTION Business schools have been trying for decades to educate ethical managers. The results of their efforts, however, often fall short of their hopes. MBA students, despite their exposure to [...]

We argue that the declining female enrollment in graduate business schools is a manifestation of gender bias in business education. The extant conceptual foundation of business education is one which views business activity in terms of a game with fixed and wholly material objectives. This concept betrays an underlying value system that reflects a male orientation. Business education is not merely amoral, therefore, but is gender biased. We suggest that business educators adopt a broadened behavioral rubric. Virtue-ethics theory provides such a rubric.

Unethical behavior on the part of business corporations and their leaders has led many business executives and university administrators to call for the inclusion of ethics in MBA programs. This paper reviewed studies and commentary relating to the teaching of ethics in MBA programs in the United States. The results showed that ethics has not yet gained an integral place in the curricula of business schools. A plan of action for the systematic incorporation of ethics into the MBA curriculum was proposed based on the system model of training commonly used in the training field. In concluding, a question about the total responsibility of the business schools toward the promotion of ethical behavior on the part of their graduates was raised.

ONLY ONE QUARTER of the top U.S. business schools require a stand-alone ethics course before graduation. But that figure is up from just 5 percent 20 years ago. That's according [...]