TEACHING BUSINESS ETHICS FROM A CHRISTIAN SOCIAL ETHICS PERSPECTIVE - STUDENT PERCEPTIONS

The highly competitive global business environment is increasingly devoid of ethical behaviour and tends to focus mainly on shareholders rather than all stakeholders. Business schools should seek to maximize the impact of ethics education on modern businesses so as to allow them to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. The perceptions and consciousness of management students concerning business ethics are generally flawed, as is evidenced by the often highly questionable unethical behaviour of many current business leaders. Do students reflect adequately on values and modes of thinking and acting ethically? What are the main issues in Business Ethics education? Is the ethical gnosis of students at business schools enhanced for a better business world which impacts positively on society? The goal of this paper was to use an exploratory qualitative research study. It consisted of an interdisciplinary literature review and purposive sampling of fifty respondents who completed self-administered questionnaires on five point Likert Scales. These allowed the researcher to unpack perceptions as to the worth of Business Ethics education at a top African management school. This research will be used together with a survey of students currently engaged in a Business Ethics course in order to examine the likely impact of Business Ethics education on them personally and how likely ethics education is to influence their future business dealings. How credible is Business Ethics teaching perceived to be and is it valuable if at all? Are students as future managers and employees likely to be dependent and reliant on only material gains or will their Business Ethics education connect them to the world of business in a deeper sense?