In many B-schools, business ethics (BE) is being introduced as a core course. One needs to analyse the demand side and supply side to find its true relevance for managers.
The demand side practitioners emphasize on bottom-line. It's not that they don't prefer ethical decision-making but they just don't know whether the other person is ethical or not. Consequently, the demand side mostly tries to give lip-service to it to cut cost and remain a going concern. The supply side mainly comprises of consultants and B-school faculties who generally try to operationalise BE as CSR or a means to mitigate various (extra) costs like government regulations/interventions, hue and cry by civil society activists, etc., in the events of unethical business practices.
Furthermore, who head the CSR projects in organizations; well, they are mostly the superstars with expertise in core functional areas like marketing, finance, and so on. Hence, the bottomline thinking slowly but steadfastly creeps into the CSR, (sic) BE, realm; and the same vicious cycle of profiteering at all cost (and unethical modus operandi) takes the full circle. And, who are teaching BE in B-schools? We know that CSR is in great demand in the market primarily for window-dressing and cost-cutting purposes. The industy captains also are showing increasing interest in it mainly for bottom-line objectives. And, CSR is being taught in the name of BE in B-schools. Hence, it is unsurprising that one witnesses a rate race among faculties to teach it because: 1. to become the darlings of the market players and getting new consulting projects in return, and 2. to embelish their CV and get more of such projects. And most of them do not have any training nor education in ethics! All they have is a motivation to teach BE; motivation without expertise!! Isn't it like intending to drive downtown to have coffee without knowing if there's fuel in the car!!!
In the process, a subject which needs to be practiced and taught with diligence ends up being abused thoroughly. Period! As you can see the demand and supply sides of BE is just tantamount to an obsession for the sake of looking fashionable and up-to-date. Here, one mustn't forget that being ethical is fundamentally human, not entrepreneurial; BE too is. But, how many humans do we encounter in the workplace nowadays?
Till demand side is bereft of humans and supply side continues to create humanoids (the neoclassical version of managers), BE will remain an oxymoron. A situation wherein an obsolete subject will be made a core course!
Quoting Peter Drucker, “When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course.”
Doesn't Drucker's words resonate with the current state of BE as a core course in B-schools? :)
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