What drives ethics education in business schools? Studying influences on ethics in the MBA curriculum

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to identify relevant factors that influence ethics in the MBA curriculum. We attempt to uncover a selection of factors that are likely to determine how ethics-related debates are delivered within the MBA curriculum. Our analysis includes reflections on four key issues. First, we ask whether the geographic location of a school influences the way ethics is anchored in MBA programs. While there is much research and debate on ethics education in US-based MBA programs and to a more limited extent also on European institutions, a comparative analysis between these two regions is missing with a focus on sustainability courses in undergraduate and graduate programs). Second, we study the influence of a school’s position in a ranking on ethics education. Our analysis looks at differences between globally ranked top schools (according to the 2009 Financial Times Global MBA Top 100 ranking) and non-ranked institutions in the way they approach ethics education. Third, we study the effects of program length on how ethics-related debates are delivered. We analyse differences in ethics education between short (up to 18 months) and longer (over 18 months) MBA programs to examine whether program duration has an impact on the availability of relevant courses. Finally, we explore the effects of participation in the United Nations (UN)-backed Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) on ethics education. Studying such effects can provide answers to questions about the efficacy of schools’ public self-commitments in the context of ethics education.