Chapter 13: Morality in Context: Reflections on Voice and Exclusion

It would be a mistake to attribute the recent wealth of attention given to the business of ethics to the novelty of the field. Dressed up and given differing titles such as business environment, social issues in management, or business ethics (Paul, 1987), issues of social responsibility and the implications for organizations have been the subject of much waxing and waning since the mid-1950s (Paul, 1987). Indeed, sections on business ethics were regularly included in U.S. management textbooks (see, e.g., Jamison, 1956).¹ Guided largely by concerns external to academia (Paul, 1987), the level of recent concern with ethical issues and the various implications for organizations has been attributed to the rise of unethical behavior in practice and the social awareness of these “business scandals” (Grey, 2003; Paul, 1987). Perception of a dramatic rise in unethical business practice (e.g., Enron, Worldcom, etc.) has been the subject of many scholarly articles and books within the last 15 years (Jackall, 1988), and has instilled a sense of expediency in the need for incorporating courses of business ethics in the business school curriculum (Bremer, Logan, & Wokutch, 1987). This has been further encouraged through the standards requirements of AASCB International—the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.²