Teaching the Philosophy of Business in the Executive Business Curriculum

Abstract This paper illustrates how to include philosophy of business in the discussion of an introductory executive MBA course. The author argued that business students should be taught about the broad historical, social, economical and ecological environment where business activities derive. Current management theory and practice, with its narrow focus on the exchange values between an economic entity and its environment within a short-term horizon, is only a special case of the human problem. From a broader view of the philosophy of business, the author exposed many of the weakness and limitations of current management theory and practices. These weakness and limitations were emphasized in several relevant topical areas in an introductory executive MBA course. Introduction The philosophy of business deals with the role of business in the solutions to human problems. It explores the nature and the purpose of business. It deals with issues such as: Is a business a private property or a social institution? Are there moral obligations associated with a business? (Wikipedia, 2007). These issues are important to business education, because they are closely associated with business ethics and economic concepts underlying management theories and practices. When the modern philosophies of business and economics were developed in the 17th and 18th century, they were closely related to the science of moral philosophy (Alvey, 1999). Bishop Butler (one of the authors in the group often referred to as the enlightened self-interest school) proposed that pursuing the public good was the best way to advancing one's own good since the two were necessarily identical. Before Adam Smith wrote An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, he wrote that acting according to the dictates of our moral faculties, we necessarily pursue the most effective means for promoting the happiness of mankind in his The Theory of Moral Sentiments (Smith, 1976; orig. pub. 1759). Unfortunately, this convergence of public and private good was often turned around into psychological egoism by the false claim that acting in accordance with one's self interest will produce socially beneficial results (Mandeville, 1715; Friedman, 1962; Kalin, 1968). The fallacy of this claim is that the precondition and emphasis on morality and enlightenment was conveniently dropped and forgotten from the original theory of moral sciences. Gradually over the years, economics actually evolved from a moral science into an ethics-free discipline or an amoral science. The effect of promulgating self-interest based economic theories among generations of students is obvious-our modern world has become a society characterized by competition, selfish behavior, greed, and materialistic consumerism. Where do all the CEOs or CFOs in companies such as Enron or Worldcom get their education? One study revealed that first-year graduate economics students were less cooperative, contributed much less to group work, and found the concept of fairness alien (Marwell and Ames, 1981, p. 306). In another study, students of economics, compared to other students, tended to act according to the model of rational self-interest to which they are exposed (Frank, Gilovich, and Regan, 1993, 1996). Hausman and McPherson (1993, p. 674) commented that learning economics, it seems, may make people more selfish. Something has to be done, if we desire to stop this trend of producing amoral students. Based on the need to reintroduce moral philosophy as the foundation of economics and business education, I have been experimenting with ways to reformulate the business curriculum. In the Spring Quarter of 2007, the author took advantage of an opportunity to teach an introductory executive MBA course to fully revise its course design and course contents to address this need. In the revised course, the philosophies of business, knowledge, and moral science were first introduced at the beginning of the class and serve as the foundation for discussions throughout the entire course. …