CHAPTER 4: Assessing Business Ethics Education: Assessment From Where and For What?

Now more than ever—in the midst of a worldwide economic crisis and with the public’s trust in business at an historic low—the spotlight is focused on the responsibility of MBA programs to equip students with core business ethics knowledge and the courage to be leaders in building and maintaining ethical cultures at their companies even when this may go against the grain. A recent New York Times article, “Is it time to retrain B-Schools?” (Holland, 2009) explored questions of the responsibility of business schools in relation to their graduates’ future endeavors. We believe that before releasing newly minted MBA students into the business world, business educators must take responsibility for equipping these new business leaders with necessary tools to navigate an increasingly complex business environment.