Ethics and Social Responsibility in Business School Education

Transcription

1 CASE STUDY Ethics and Social Responsibility in Business School Education Antonis Simintiras & Yogesh Dwivedi 1 School of Management Swansea University First electronic edition printed 2014 in the United Kingdom ISBN Published by Business School, Swansea University Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this publication, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. 1

2 The brief Assume that you are a group of education consultants hired by one globally-renowned UK University to offer advice on the development of new business programmes that will redefine business education. Your task is to review the suggested changes by The University s panel of experts and to evaluate and report on the ethical and social responsibility issues of its recommendations. Your analysis should be based on a critical evaluation of the suggested changes, and your justified views pertaining to ethical and social responsibility issues of The University s Business School if it embraces the recommended changes. You are expected to advance an impartial interpretation of the socially responsible role of business education in contributing to a fairer and more balanced provision of business education. The changing landscape in the UK Higher Education sector Higher education in the United Kingdom is undergoing a period of significant change. The change is driven by a number of factors economic, technological, political and cultural in nature. The trends are global in their scope, and far reaching in their impact. They affect every aspect of university provision, the environment in which universities operate, what they will be required to deliver in future, and how they will be structured and funded. In periods of rapid change such as this, senior managers by necessity focus on short-term strategies and transition planning. However, the forces in play now are also likely to have long-term consequences, potentially altering the shape and nature of the higher education system globally and in the UK. In order to take stock of these factors, Universities UK (UUK) s Longer Term Strategy Network initiated a scenario development exercise in October 2010, which ran through to July This provided an opportunity for university leaders to identify the factors that were most likely to be significant in shaping the future agenda for the Higher Education sector, and to think through their impact and implications, over a 15 to 20 year period. The exercise was not an attempt to predict the future or to make forecasts which would almost certainly prove to be inaccurate. Rather, it aimed to gain a better understanding of the drivers and forces that have the greatest potential to shape the future, to consider how these might be anticipated or influenced to ensure that universities can continue to deliver highly valued outcomes in a future environment, and to gain greater insight and understanding into the present context. One of the main challenges facing HEIs is to understand the significance of the changes, identify emerging trends and adapt accordingly. With 163 higher education institutions in the UK almost all of which receive public funding from funding councils the Government's vision (as detailed in The Higher Education White Paper) is to maintain a diverse sector of autonomous providers that are more responsive to the needs of students. The reforms aim to put higher education on a sustainable financial footing; to deliver a better student experience; and to increase social mobility, so that anyone with the potential to benefit from successful participation in higher education will have the opportunity to do so. 1 Antonis Simintiras is Professor of Marketing and Yogesh Dwivedi is Professor of Digital and Social Media. Both are at the School of Management, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK. 2

3 The Higher Education White Paper emphasized the need to encourage greater diversity of higher education provision and a level playing field for all providers and to build on the international reputation of British higher education for excellence in learning and teaching, research, and knowledge exchange. Above all, to ensure that universities, colleges and other higher education providers have the freedom and incentives they need to deliver a highquality student experience and that they become more accountable to students, employers and to the public. The University The University 2 is an old and internationally renowned Institution. It is a comprehensive university established in Today The University consists of two campuses and it boasts advanced research and teaching in several cognate areas. The University community thrives on exploration and discovery, and offers the right balance of excellent teaching and research, matched by an enviable quality of life. With more than 23,000 students and 3,000 staff, The University s dual multicultural campus communities provide its students with opportunities to gain skills and competencies that last a lifetime. The University delivers outstanding student experience, with research-led and practice-driven teaching of the highest quality that equips its graduates for distinguished personal and professional achievements. Furthermore, it provides an environment of research excellence, with research that is world-leading, globally collaborative and internationally recognised. The University comprises the following Colleges: College of Arts and Humanities, College of Business, College of Education, College of Engineering, College of Law, College of Medicine, and College of Science. As an innovative and forward looking institution, The University is dedicated to achieving the maxim of intellectual, moral and physical refinement of its students and staff through scholarship, research and sports. The interface between teaching, research and physical activities, prevails in its mission and philosophical orientation. This unparalleled mind-set of The University has, over the years, revolutionized higher education with the introduction of new and innovative programmes that have set the trends in the higher education sector. The University, carrying on its long standing traditions, aims at excellence and innovativeness, and it is headed for maintaining its fame as a world-class comprehensive research university with a global vision that plays a prominent role and set new trends in Higher Education in the 21 st century. The AGORA School of Management The College of Business with its AGORA School of Management is one of the largest Colleges in The University. With approximately 2,500 undergraduate, 600 postgraduate taught and 120 postgraduate research (PhD) students the School offers programmes in Accounting, Finance, Economics, International Management, Entrepreneurship, Supply Chain Management, Marketing, Human Resource Management and Management Information Systems. These programmes are offered both at undergraduate and postgraduate taught (master s) levels. The College has 160 academic staff at all levels (Full, Associate, Assistant professors and lecturers) and 45 support / administrative staff. 2 The University is a fictitious Institution for the purpose of the case study. 3

4 Recently, academic staff have been openly debating the causes of economic instability worldwide. These debates bring challenges and inevitably highlight issues such as what, if anything, the Business School(s) can do to help alleviate these trends, or even, what are the things that Business Schools should, but do not, do. Given that both the AGORA School of Management and The University aim to be at the forefront of innovation in higher education, the School has established a working group of eminent professors and education experts to assess any needed transformation in business education (in general) but with an emphasis on its curricula. The working group has recently completed its report and presented the findings to the senior management of AGORA and The University. A summary section in the report reads as follows: The findings in this report cover, and are relevant only to, business education. Although it is axiomatic that in Higher Education a) Helping students to acquire theoretical and applied knowledge e.g. the essential foundation that can inform professional experience and enrich professional judgment; b) Imparting a variety of intellectual skills e.g. they serve students well in their careers and offer lasting value in a changing world, and c) Encouraging certain attitudes e.g. an appreciation of form as well as substance; respect for evidence and willingness to evaluate and interpret facts and events objectively; intellectual tolerance and open-mindedness; sensitivity to the evaluative and ethical dimensions of problems and issues; and a sensitivity to broadly humane values (Clifton, 1987). are of utmost importance, knowledge creation and dissemination, along with the attitudes of both staff and students are constantly changing and, from time to time, are in need of adjustment. Business education as it currently stands reflects knowledge, skills and attitudes that emphasise almost exclusively the supply side (i.e. the management, production, manufacturing, and marketing functions of companies) in economic systems. Very rarely the demand side (i.e. consumers / buyers) is analysed beyond the point in which it can be influenced to benefit the supply side. The prevailing axiom is that economic systems are determined by the effectiveness and efficiency of their supply side. However, the demand side, in terms of its ability to channel their disposable income / resources to the most effective and efficient units in the supply side, is not addressed. Business Schools educate future managers who are needed (employed) by the supply side but do not educate consumers who comprise the demand side. The supply side creates jobs; the demand side pays for those jobs, which raise a number of issues such as: Should those who pay have a say in those who are given the opportunity to create jobs? If the demand side is as important to the supply side in order for an economic system to operate effectively and efficiently, what should the role of the demand side be? Is there room for educating consumers in the same way we educate managers? Could educated consumers be provided with job opportunities similar to those of educated managers? From a business education perspective, should the supply and demand sides be given equal education opportunities? 4

5 These issues are now emerging and Business Schools will have to analyse and, if appropriate, embrace and act upon them. The College of Business, in an attempt to fulfil its social responsibility, should not only offer knowledge and skill-based competencies needed by its students to succeed in their careers but also benefit the society at large and, subsequently, the entire economic system. Business education has geared toward the production (supply) side with little interest, if any at all, for the consumption (demand) side. If those who consume are not given the opportunity to be properly educated their spending could be sub-optimal and have a negative impact both on need satisfaction and on channelling their disposable incomes to ethically and socially responsible companies. The Issues In the report, the working group has recommended several initiatives for consideration to AGORA School of Management. Three of their recommendations are described below: A) The AGORA School of Management will benefit from the establishment of the AGORA Institute of Consumer Empowerment with the responsibility to conduct research focusing on various initiatives that can address the current power imbalance between the supply and demand sides. Indicative in this section is whether or not producers / manufacturers (i.e. supply side) should provide consumers with unit cost information of their products / services in addition to prices. Unit cost (i.e. cost transparency) is defined as 'the cost incurred by a company to produce, store and sell on a unit of a particular product. Unit cost includes all fixed costs (i.e. plant and equipment) and all variable costs (i.e. labour, materials) involved in production (Aspromourgos, 2007). Unit cost comprises all elements involved in bringing a product to market. Availability of unit cost information, it is argued in the report, will allow consumers to make more justified buying-decisions as far as price (and price fairness) is concerned. After all, any judgement on price fairness requires knowledge of its associated unit cost; otherwise, price fairness cannot be established. The critical issues, however, are: Is it ethical to request companies (i.e. supply side) to provide unit cost information? Would companies that decide not to make available this information be considered socially irresponsible? Will availability of unit cost information expose companies profit margins causing consumers to react in a manner that is not linked to the offerings but to the magnitude of profit margins of companies will this be fair to the supply side? B) The report also suggests that AGORA Business School should introduce new programmes aimed at educating the demand side of the market. For example, it has been suggested that degree programmes in areas such as Consumer Empowerment ; Demand Analytics and Communications, Customer Spending Control Management and Consumption Culture and Consumer Power are worth considering. The aim of these programmes will be to allow the demand side to be represented in the business education curriculum. In addition to the introduction of the above new schemes, the report urges the inclusion of courses in the above areas on all supply side degree 5

6 programmes that are currently offered by the School. The report also mentions that the supply side is organised in business units (groups of individuals) with common goals and objectives; hence the need of management education. Contrariwise, in the consumer side such form of organisation in non-existent as consumers pursue personal goals and objectives and education on rational preferences and spending at personal level might be over-stretched and of limited appeal as such degree schemes will not offer many employment opportunities to students. Hence, the critical questions are: Is it ethically correct for Business Schools to offer programmes for the purpose of adjusting the power equilibrium between the demand and supply sides? Is it socially responsible for Business Schools to offer degrees in business related subjects that are not linked to as many job opportunities as in the supply side? Would it be socially responsible for Business Schools to maintain such programmes at any cost (offer them in any case and despite their popularity)? C) The report also states that the study of programmes aimed at the demand side will require a different pedagogical approach. In so far as students are qualified consumers they should be able to draw from their own experiences and co-produce the contents in certain courses. An indicative example is a module on Critical Analysis and Influences of Preference Formation. In this module, it has been suggested, students may be asked to identify their preferences for certain products and services and then critically analyse factors that have influenced those preferences. This introspectionbased analysis will offer them a realization and an understanding of the affecting factors and the way in which they influence them. Furthermore, students will be asked to assess the extent to which identified preferences are formed through their own deliberations or else. Compiling the reports of all students in the class a taxonomy of all identified factors and influences can be assembled and form the contents and subsequent learning outcomes of the module. The experts have also argued that the new pedagogical approach should cultivate students by giving them an active stake in education that will help them develop higher, socially more responsible, attitudes that would allow them to exercise greater care about the well-being of both consumers and producers. The new approach will cause the role of the instructor to change to that of a facilitator. Furthermore, as the new pedagogical method will be appropriate for several modules in the programmes, further scrutiny of this recommendation is suggested as questions such as: Is it ethical to ask students to learn only from their own experiences and that of others in a class setting? Does the concept of the 'expert learner' defy both what is to be a-priori learned (leading to incremental knowledge) and the entire notion of traditional forms of learning? Will a Business School fulfil its role of being socially responsible by advancing knowledge primarily through student experience? 6

7 The University and the AGORA School of Management is currently evaluating ethical and social responsibility issues stemming from the suggested (i.e., A, B and C) initiatives. Your role is to assist the University and the School s decision makers on this evaluation. Specifically your team is expected to provide a report addressing the identified issues (questions) in each of the three initiatives. Your answers, based on a comprehensive analysis, should be fully justified and clearly presented. References Aspromourgos, A. (2007), Adam Smith s Treatment of Market Prices and their Relation to Supply and Demand, History of Economic Ideas, 15(3), Conrad, Clifton C. F., (1987), "Teaching Intellectual Skills and Attitudes-of-Mind Reflections on a Course on College and University Curriculum," Teaching Education, 1 (February), pp Technical Consultation Report, (2011), A New Fit-For-Purpose Regulatory Framework for the Higher Education Sector, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, (August), Crown Universities UK, (2012), Higher Education: Analysing Trends and Meeting the Challenges of the 21 st century, Futures for Higher Education, Universities UK 7