Corporate misconduct and unethical practices leave doubt about the kind of principles and management practices the country’s business schools are teaching. File
When key figures in some of Kenya’s most infamous cases of corporate fraud and corruption are professionals and local business schools’ alumni, it is not surprising that people question their training.
Corporate misconduct and unethical practices leave doubt about the kind of principles and management practices the country’s business schools are teaching.
But to what extent can this education ensure the highest standards of ethics?
First, business education is essentially specialised training, both in technical aspects such as accounting or marketing, and to the management of people who work in those enterprises.
Training should therefore blend a good deal of craft (experience) with a certain amount of art (insight) and some science (analysis).
The end product should be balanced and dedicated individuals who believe in creating and leaving behind positive legacies whether as employees, co-workers, entrepreneurs, managers or business owners.
Are business schools to blame? In the past few years, a number of business gurus and commentators have publicly condemned business schools in general, and MBA programmes in particular for their lack of attention to ethics in the curriculum.
For example, Henry Mintzberg, the Canadian management expert has famously condemned conventional MBA programmes, suggesting that they “train the wrong people in the wrong ways with the wrong consequences.”
After all, people like Andrew Fastow, the convicted chief financial officer at Enron, or his boss Jeffrey Skilling both got MBAs from two of America’s premier business schools—Northwestern Business School and Harvard Business School respectively.
But in all fairness, there are plenty of examples of corporate crooks who have not attended business schools, so there are many different aspects to consider.
I want to touch on just one: the contribution of courses on ethics and social responsibility to the curricula offered by business schools in Kenya.
Curricula offered by Kenyan business schools: This article is not about whether business schools should introduce more ethics courses It is about the way business ethics should be integrated into the curriculum.
On one hand, students often grumble that ethics classes tend to be either too “preachy” or too abstract/philosophical, and other times little more than attempts at indoctrination from self-righteous ideologues.
The extent to which some of these accusations are true vary from course to course, depending on its objectives, and from one faculty member to another. Course instructors also hold diverse opinions.
Some believe that focus must be on practical management —for example managing the corporate reputation or preventing accounting fraud.
Others believe it is important to understand business ethics within wider social, political and economic structures. Yet others prefer the established practice of teaching moral philosophies.
It is unfortunate that some Kenyan institutions appear to have taken the view that the syllabus is already jam-packed with mainstream subjects such as strategy, accounting, marketing and finance, and that ethics courses—if at all any—should be optional.
The result is that many students could easily complete a degree without exposure to business ethics, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. The graduates cannot tackle moral dilemmas at the workplace.
While the jury is still out on just how much business ethics education or lack of it is likely to impact individual students, the teaching methods come under greater scrutiny.
Evidence suggests that learning is most effective through courses that enhance students’ recognition of ethical issues, stimulating their moral imagination and developing their analytical skills, rather than attempting to “improve” morality or changing their values. And this is where several “game changers”’ come into play
The first two concern “institutional mission” and “curriculum design”. Many accrediting bodies globally, such as the California-based Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), to which USIU is accredited, supports the integration of ethics courses in order to deliver quality educational programmes. One of USIU’s six university-wide mission-learning outcomes is “leadership and ethics” which dictates the design of the curriculum. USIU further follows up with institutional surveys to evaluate its alumni’s performance. Regional networks such as the Association of African Business Schools (AABS) of which USIU is a member, have sought to promote excellence in business and management education by providing a forum for information, research, networking and debate regarding the latest issues in management.
Game-changers Two other game-changers concern “individual faculty initiative” and institutional support. Experience in teaching business ethics at USIU suggests that students respond best when its faculty poses engaging and challenging questions about the world we live in. These questions present students with opportunities to make their own moral choices about the law ; choices about intangible social and economic issues beyond the law (such as the grey areas’ concerning how to treat others); and choices about one’s self-interest—namely the degree to which one’s own well-being comes before the company’s interests, or other stakeholders beyond the company.
To support faculty who are engaged in business ethics’ expanding conceptual territory, USIU’s inter-disciplinary Research, Grants and graduate Studies (REGGS) office boasts an active agenda of research, engaged with community links and partnerships with local and international organisations.
To support the individual interests of each of its faculty members, USIU allocates faculty support research grants and recognises outstanding contributions through an Excellence in Research Award. Finally, one widely held observation at USIU is that since many of its students, especially the younger ones, appear to email, blog, tweet, and text as if by instinct, it is necessary to engage with them creating exciting visual and auditory experiences, including film, music, and graphics.
Dr Kimani is an Assistant Professor, Business Ethic & Legal Studies, Chandaria Business School, USIU Email: [email protected]
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