Chapter 4: Architectures of Excellence: Building Business School Reputation by Meeting the Ethics Challenge¹

In this chapter, I examine how business schools can strengthen their reputations by taking the lead in efforts to emphasize ethics education. The importance of professional responsibility in today’s business climate and the business school’s critical role in contributing to this climate are reviewed. The relationship between ethics and excellence is discussed and an agenda is proposed for ways business school deans can build a school’s reputation by communicating a strong ethics message to both internal and external constituents. I conclude with suggestions for how business schools can generate visibility for these efforts and make ethics come alive through a process of constituent engagement.