The status of business ethics: Past and future

Business ethics, which grew out of religion's interest in ethics in business and management education's concern with social issues, has become an interdisciplinary academic field. Thus far it has centered on teaching undergraduates. The easy work has now been done and the field has reached a plateau. To develop further it requires development on the MBA level, high quality research on new questions, positive models, better interdisciplinary integration, and attention to international business. Ultimately the field will stand or fall on the quality of research those in it produce.Richard T. De George, University Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kansas is the author or editor of fifteen books, including Ethics, Free Enterprise and Public Policy; Business Ethics, 2nd ed.; and The Nature and Limits of Authority.