University|06-23-2009

Business Administration and Business Ethics

In an increasing number of business administration programs, ethics-related content is being introduced. However, an unconnected coexistence of business administration and ethics is of little value. A meaningful integration of the two spheres in business studies can succeed if ethical issues are substantively compatible with business administration. In this context, Ingo Pies, Stefan Hielscher, and Markus Beckmann develop an ordonomic concept in ten theses for ethics education in management training. The concept is primarily oriented toward the satisfaction of stakeholder interests within strategic management. The article was published in DBW 3/2009.

A similar line of thought can be found in Brink/Tiberius (2005), where stakeholder interests and ethical value orientations are arranged in a matrix in order to derive a code of ethics for managers. In the introductory chapter—drawing on Kohlberg’s stages of moral development—the importance of education and socialization is emphasized (pp. 20 ff.), which constitute a prerequisite for the effectiveness of codes of conduct.