Abstract
The idea underlying this article was that the humanities in general and business ethics in particular should be more firmly embedded in business management programs. A number of areas have been identified for students to use as topics for research projects in management ethics. These ranged from Biblical and classical times to the present day. Some were drawn from sources that were less well known e.g. the De consolatione philosphiae ‘The Consolation of Philosophy’ by Boethius 524 AD. This was chosen partly for its ethical content, but also because Boethius was magister officiorum i.e. head of the civil service. Aelfred the Great (849–899) King of Wessex (he who burnt those cakes) was chosen because he promoted the intellectual, moral and spiritual qualities that were to serve as guidelines for his executives. Nineteenth century literature (Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope and Galsworthy) was also chosen as a source of topics for research projects in business ethics. The writer acknowledges the work of earlier writers in the fields of management, organisation theory, and business ethics.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
J. K. Alexander (2003) ArticleTitle‘Pragmatic Decision Making: A Manager’s Epistemic Defence’ Philosophy of Management 3 IssueID3 67–76
N. E. Bowie P. H. Werhane (2005) Management Ethics Blackwell Oxford
H. S. Broudy (1982) ArticleTitle‘What Knowledge is of Most Worth?’ Educational Leadership 39 IssueID8 574–578
Caesar: 1986, The Gallic War, Loeb Classical Library, (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA) (trans. H.J. Edwards)
B G. Charlton P. Andras (2003) ArticleTitle‘What is Management and What do Managers Do?’ Philosophy of Management 3 IssueID3 3–14
S. R. Clegg C. Hardy (Eds) (1999) Studying Organisation Theory and Method Sage London 257
A. Botton ParticleDe (2000) The Consolations of Philosophy Penguin Books Australia
W. J. Dohar (1995) Black Death and Pastoral Leadership. The Diocese of Hereford in the Fourteenth Century University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia 38
D. Dyer et al. (2004) Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Brand Building at Procter & Gamble Harvard Business School Press Harvard
Kolb, R. W. (ed.): forthcoming, Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society, Sage forthcoming (late 2006)
London Business School: 2004, ‘MBAs and Post Graduate Education’, Executive Education, The Australian, Wednesday January 19, p. 28
M. Macaulay A. Lawton (2003) ArticleTitle‘Misunderstanding Machiavelli in Management: Metaphor, Analogy and Historical Method’’ Philosophy of Management 3 IssueID3 17–28
McGrath, P.: 1999, Premodern Organisational Theory. The Case of Early Irish Monasticism. Paper presented at the Second Annual Conference of the Irish Academy of Management, University of Limerick, 9–10 September
Macqueen, A.: 2004, The King of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned Up the World, Bantam Press
Mintzberg, H.: 2005, ‘MBAs and Post Graduate Education’, Executive Education, The Australian, Wednesday January 19, p. 28
M. W. Moss (2003) ArticleTitle‘Practically Useless? Why Management Theory Needs Popper’’ Philosophy of Management 3 IssueID3 31–42
G. Robertson (2005) The Tyrannicide Brief-The Story of the Man Who Sent Charles I to the Scaffold Chatto and Windus London
Rev. I. Smith (Eds) (1925) Diary of Samuel Pepys, FRS, Secretary to the Admiralty in the Reigns of Charles II & James II 1 JM Dent & Sons London
H. Spencer (1949) Part I-On Education ‘What Knowledge is of Most Worth?’ Essays on Education, Everyman’s library J.M. Dent and Sons London 6–9
Steiner, R.: 2005 ‘Learning is the Ropes’, Executive Education, The Australian, Wednesday January 19, p. 28
F. Stenton (1943/1987) Anglo-Saxon England The Oxford History of England 3 The Clarendon Press Oxford 680
The Morning Chronicle and London Advertiser. Numb. 4309 Monday, March 1783
Tsoukas, H. and C. Knudsen: 2003, The Oxford Handbook of Organization Theory Meta-Theoretical Perspectives (OUP, Oxford) pp. 526ff, 558ff
T. G. Warner (1945) Landmarks in English Industrial History Blackie & Son London
Werhane, P. H. and R. Edward Freeman (eds.): 2005, Business Ethics, Volume II, The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management, (Blackwell Publishing) 2nd edition, pp. 215–217
Yardley, J.: 2005, ‘Plague Proportions on the Lessons of the Black Death,’ The Australian Financial Review, 25 February, p. 12
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Small, M.W. ‘A Case for Including Business Ethics and the Humanities in Management Programs’. J Bus Ethics 64, 195–211 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-5070-8
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-5070-8