A different look at texts

The course in business ethics is required by an increasing number of business programs. Accordingly, it seems appropriate to evaluate the text materials used from the perspective of the business student.Relative to early criticisms, recent texts represent considerable improvements in their use of case materials and in the manner by which they involve the student in decision-making situations. However, there are two distortions present in all of the texts examined. First, they concentrate too heavily on cases of a policy, or general management, nature. The result is an inadequate coverage of the functional areas of the firm in which graduates begin their employment. Second, they concentrate too heavily on manufacturing firms, and thus do not introduce students to the ethical problems found where they are most likely to work, in service firms.It is to be hoped that these imbalances can be easily corrected, thus providing students with a more realistic picture of where in the firm, and in which types of firms, ethical issues are likely to arise. Professor Pamental teaches Marketing and Management courses, including Business, Government & Society, at Rhode Island College. He is also a Research Fellow at the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College. His dissertation has been published by the University Press of America. The book is titled, Ethics in the Business Curriculum: A Preliminary Survey of Undergraduate Business Programs.