Showing papers in "Journal of Academic Ethics in 2004"
TL;DR: The authors argue that top university officials must go beyond weak accrediting standards to insist that ethics courses be required in business school curriculum and argue that students will continue to get the message that practicing managers have little or no legal and ethical responsibilities to society.
Abstract: Given the groundswell of corporate misconduct, the need for better business ethics education seems obvious. Yet many business schools continue to sidestep this responsibility, a policy tacitly approved by their accrediting agency, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Some schools have even gone so far as to cut ethics courses in the wake of corporate scandals. In this essay I discuss some reasons for this failure of business school responsibility and argue that top university officials must go beyond weak accrediting standards to insist that ethics courses be required in business school curriculum. Otherwise, students will continue to get the message that practicing managers have little or no legal and ethical responsibilities to society.
93 citations
TL;DR: The academic treatment of corporate social responsibility illustrates this dilemma. as mentioned in this paper argued that universities have abandoned their original project of promoting a national culture and have tried to substitute by embracing “globalization,” but the vagueness and incoherence of the concept has failed to return purpose to the University.
Abstract: B. Readings (University in Ruins. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996) argued that universities have abandoned their original project of promoting a national culture and have tried to substitute by embracing “globalization,” but the vagueness and incoherence of the concept has failed to return purpose to the University. The academic treatment of corporate social responsibility illustrates this dilemma. For a generation after H.R. Bowen (Social Responsibilities of the Businessman. New York: Harper & Row, 1953) founded the field, scholars struggled to fit the concept within a national system of pluralistic power-sharing among a variety of institutions that would define and enforce standards of responsibility necessary for the general good of American society. That understanding changed in the nineteen eighties, shortly after corporate executives had united to an unprecedented degree to direct the power of government in their interests, influence the public agenda, and roll back the power of unions. In response, business ethicists began to reformulate corporate social responsibility as a voluntary practice on the part of these same executives. Since the Kantian and Lockean principles upon which this approach was based were themselves problematic, it is not surprising that the experience gained over the last generation casts doubt on the efficacy of this reliance on voluntary restraint and personal initiative. However, circumstances that include the failure of globalization to deliver on its promises may have changed sufficiently in recent years to revive interest in approaches that acknowledge the importance of countervailing power for encouraging greater corporate social responsibility.
37 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a stakeholder-based example of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within a university context is presented, with an emphasis on formation of advisory boards, development of appropriate coursework, relevant interactions with external constituency, and plans for assessment and continuous improvement.
Abstract: This article presents a stakeholder-based example of corporate social responsibility (CSR) within a university context. The first section provides a literature review that builds the case for CSR efforts by educational institutions. The next section details aspects of the focal corporate social responsibility program at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg (USFSP) from its early conception to its implementation. The Talking the Talk section describes the overarching mission of the larger university and its influence on the mission of the newly formed College of Business which undertook an ambitious community outreach program in a downtown neighborhood. The execution of the program is discussed subsequently in the Walking the Walk section, with an emphasis on formation of advisory boards, development of appropriate coursework, relevant interactions with external constituencies, and plans for assessment and continuous improvement. The article closes with recommendations for universities considering similar endeavors.
36 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a reinterpretation of the liberal arts tradition from a critical theory perspective is presented, with an initial conceptualization of the roles and functions of the university, an examination of these functions at two formative periods of the classical liberal arts, the medieval university and the rise of the modern university in Germany in the early 19th century.
Abstract: The issue of corporate responsibility has long been discussed in relationship to universities, but generally only in an ad hoc fashion. While the role of universities in teaching business ethics is one theme that has received significant and rather constant attention, other issues tend to be raised only sporadically. Moreover, when issues of corporate responsibility are raised, it is often done on the presumption of some understanding of a liberal arts mandate of the university, a position that has come under much attack in recent years. The purpose of this article is to investigate more systematically the nature of the obligations that the university has to promote more responsible corporate behaviour. It does so on the basis of a reinterpretation of the liberal arts tradition from a critical theory perspective. This entails: (1) an initial conceptualization of the roles and functions of the university; (2) an examination of these functions at two formative periods of the liberal arts tradition, the medieval university and the rise of the modern university in Germany in the early 19th century; (3) an investigation of ruptures in the understanding and practices of the liberal arts tradition, resulting in large part from the rise of the bureaucratic state and the industrial capitalist economy; (4) a reinterpretation of the liberal arts tradition from a critical theory perspective; and (5) a systematic elaboration of the obligations of the university vis-a-vis corporations based upon the university's key functions of teaching, research, formation and professional development.
28 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the relationship between the university and fair trade coffee campaigns in North America and asserts that the university has a moral responsibility to support fair trade and argues that the potential exists for administrators to employ fair trade as an "ethical fig leaf" to mask the growing corporatization of the university under the weight of neoliberal reforms.
Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between the university and fair trade coffee campaigns in North America. In recent years, fair trade coffee sales internationally have increased substantially but have still not grown large enough to meet the needs of fair trade producers in the South. In consequence, fair trade activists have sought to expand the market by pressuring public institutions to adopt fair trade purchasing policies. In North America, the university has emerged as a central focus of fair trade coffee campaigns. Thus far, university administrators have been reluctant to support fair trade. This paper explores this reluctance and asserts that the university has a moral responsibility to support fair trade. However, it also argues that the potential exists for administrators to employ fair trade as an ‘ethical fig leaf’ to mask the growing corporatization of the university under the weight of neoliberal reforms. This has become a common strategy of many neoliberal institutions in the North. Contrary to the assumptions of much of the emerging literature, it cannot be assumed that the impact of fair trade will necessarily be beneficial in the North unless activists work to ensure fair trade does not become employed as an ethical fig leaf.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that ethical purchasing should not be seen as a full-blown alternative to the kind of progress that can be achieved through state-centred labour regulation.
Abstract: In recent years ethical purchasing policies have been promoted as potentially effective and promising ways of combatting global inequality and oppressive labour practices in developing countries. These initiatives have been launched on university campuses with the hope of opening a new front for improving labour rights under conditions of neo-liberal globalization. This paper is an attempt to respond to the critics of these policies, and especially their claims that ethical purchasing may have the perverse effect of increasing job losses and undercutting economic development in poorer countries. Although it can be shown that these criticisms are misguided, it is important to acknowledge that ethical purchasing should not be seen as a full-blown alternative to the kind of progress that can be achieved through state-centred labour regulation. Nevertheless, the new role of universities as monitors of corporate responsibility remains a promising one.
15 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors surveyed faculty members at Canadian business schools regarding their ethical perceptions of behaviours related to undergraduate instruction and found that Canadian professors viewed the behaviours in question as less ethical than did their American counterparts.
Abstract: Faculty members at Canadian business schools were surveyed regarding their ethical perceptions of behaviours related to undergraduate instruction. Fifty-five behavioural statements were listed and respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they felt each behaviour was ethical or unethical. The only item that respondents endorsed as unequivocally unethical (90% indicated it was “definitely unethical”) was “Becoming sexually involved with an undergraduate in one of your classes.” We also compared the results of our sample to those of an American sample. Overall, an interesting pattern of differences emerged between the responses obtained in Canada and the U.S. In general, the direction of the significant differences was such that Canadian professors viewed the behaviours in question as less ethical than did their American counterparts.
15 citations
TL;DR: Open access advocates argue that scholarly communities need to organize against the currently unworkable system whereby academics donate articles for free, yet have to buy them back at often exorbitant prices from journal publishers as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the ‘open access’ movement in scholarly publishing, a movement of research librarians, scholars, research funding bodies and other stakeholders of the scholarly research process Open access advocates argue that scholarly communities need to organize against the currently unworkable system whereby academics donate articles for free, yet have to buy them back at often exorbitant prices from journal publishers In particular, they seek to replace subscription-based funding of journals with a range of alternatives that includes self-archiving and publication fees by researchers and their sponsors The central claims of my study are twofold The first is that the open access movement has indeed highlighted the need for the reform of scholarly publishing markets and practices My second claim, however, is that certain proposals and models for reform are premised on over-optimistic views about disintermediation in scholarly communication as well as exaggerated assertions about the benefits of removing price barriers when larger issues about the system of ‘open science’ remain to be addressed
13 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address a small but important subset of the challenges to ethical behaviour that face senior university administrators in their daily work, namely, errors in moral judgment which arise from over-identification and loyalty to the institution.
Abstract: This paper addresses a small but important subset of the challenges to ethical behaviour that face senior university administrators in their daily work, namely, errors in moral judgment which arise from over-identification and loyalty to the institution. The domain and precipitating factors are not unique to universities but may be more intensely experienced due to two features of the traditional public and private not-for-profit university that are unique. These features include the historical nature and purpose of a university and the role of the university professor in the production and dissemination of knowledge.
13 citations
8 citations
TL;DR: This article modelled the situation using the well-known Prisoner's Dilemma game and found that in equilibrium, the teaching style will be examination-centric, while considerations of societal good would demand that teaching style be knowledge-centric.
Abstract: Most universities solicit feedback from students at the end of a course in order to assess student perceptions of the course. This feedback is used for various objectives, including for evaluating teaching by academic administrators. One would therefore expect faculty to rationally take this into account while formulating their teaching strategy. In certain cases, such strategic considerations can give rise to moral hazard. I have modelled the situation using the well-known Prisoner’s Dilemma game and found that in equilibrium, the teaching style will be examination-centric, while considerations of societal good would demand that the teaching style be knowledge-centric. I also discuss the policy implications for this finding.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define harm as the thwarting, invading, defeating or setting back of legitimate interests related to the achievement of the dual purposes of knowledge creation and dissemination.
Abstract: The two fundamental purposes of universities are to create and to disseminate knowledge. Knowledge is created through research and scholarship. Knowledge is disseminated through publication, teaching, conferences, public lectures, etc. Faculty members, administrative staff and physical infrastructure are justified by their respective roles in fulfilling these purposes. Any claim that universities have for public funding rests on the social benefit that realisation of these purposes brings. Against this backdrop, agreement to become an academic administrator entails accepting the responsibility for advancing these purposes within a specific domain. In practice, this means that academic administrators have a responsibility to maximise the achievement of these purposes. Failure to do so constitutes an instance of harm to the individuals and groups of individuals contributing to or depending on the fulfilment of the purposes. In some cases, the group harmed is the society of which the university is a part. Following Joel Feinberg (1977) harm in this context is the thwarting, invading, defeating or setting back of legitimate interests related to the achievement of the dual purposes. An academic administrator may be guilty of causing harm with intent or simply through a failure to discharge the positive responsibility of maximising the achievement of the creation and dissemination of knowledge. Determining culpability for causing harm and determining remedies is the crux of accountability. On the above definition of harm, the scope of harm that can flow from the actions or non-actions of an academic administrator is wide. It includes: embezzlement, failure to address problems or concerns effectively and in a timely way, failure to follow due process, and failure to allocate resources in ways that maximise the achievement of the purposes.
TL;DR: The Bayh-Dole Act allows universities to privatize federally funded research and development (R&D) which is in direct conflict with the public good argument as mentioned in this paper, and challenges to Bacon's linear model and the labor exploitation of young scientists by research universities suggest that policy makers may want to reconsider the system for allocating federal R&D to universities and colleges.
Abstract: Justification for public funding of academic research is based on the linear model of technological advance first proposed by Francis Bacon. The model hypothesizes that government subsidized science generates new technology which creates new wealth. Mainstream economics supports Bacon’s model by arguing that academic research is a “public good.” The Bayh–Dole Act allows universities to privatize federally funded research and development (R&D) which is in direct conflict with the public good argument. Diminishing returns to university R&D, challenges to Bacon’s linear model and the labor exploitation of young scientists by research universities suggest that policy makers may want to reconsider the system for allocating federal R&D to universities and colleges.
TL;DR: In fact, universal human rights, and the legal instruments in which they are embodied ought to inform the research endeavor at every stage; from problem selection to analysis and conclusions as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: What’s human rights got to do with it? That is, what’s human rights got to do with the June 2004 report of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Ethics Special Working Committee to the Inter-Agency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics. The disturbing answer is “not enough.” Certain key recommendations of the working committee, it is suggested, would unacceptably weaken the researcher’s legal and moral accountability to research participants. Those particular recommendations rely on misguided references to academic freedom and the nature of the non-medical research context. In fact, universal human rights, and the legal instruments in which they are embodied ought to inform the research endeavor at every stage; from problem selection to analysis and conclusions. This will lead us closer to shared truths rather than simply to the academic elite’s vision of truth. Without sufficient regard for the human rights of research participants academic freedom itself is not possible.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors suggest that leadership should be an expectation of professional academics in all the categories of their work, namely teaching, research and service, and the desirability of developing the leadership of service in particular is advanced as an appropriate expectation for faculty members' career progress.
Abstract: Using experiences at Memorial University of Newfoundland as a basis, this essay suggests that leadership should be an expectation of professional academics in all the categories of their work, namely teaching, research and service. The desirability of developing the leadership of service in particular is advanced as an appropriate expectation for faculty members’ career progress. Developing a general leadership ethos is both philosophically appropriate and practically advantageous in collegial organisations.