Los profesores de IESE Business School, Joan Fontrodona, Antonio Argandoña y Domènec Melé argumentamos en este video por qué la ética debe estar presente en la formación de directivos de empresa.
Se sostiene que:
– La toma de decisiones es central en la actividad directiva, y por tanto en su formación. La decisiones directivas afectan a personas y, en primer lugar, a quien decide. Estas decisiones más que técnicas son prudenciales y en ellas esta presente un componente ético.
– La ética empresarial ha de tener un lugar propio en la formación de directivos como una materia específica, pero no es suficiente. Ha de estar también presente en las diversas disciplinas (marketing, finanzas, dirección de personas, etc.) y programas para formación de directivos. Esto último requiere que todos los profesores tengan una adecuada formación ética.
Esta entrada también está disponible en: Catalán
The short video provides a lucid explanation of the necessity for a business ethics course in tandem with relevant values shining through in other courses.
On the one hand, a «stand-alone» course in business ethics that is not supported in spirit by and further integrated in other teaching is unlikely to achieve its objectives.
On the other hand, the skeptic view that ethics could entirely be integrated in non-specialised courses could indeed equally be raised for, say, marketing or finance. Likewise, business ethics does have a thoroughly developed core, however.
The most compelling argument in favour of the need or «justification» of a designated course I find the remark that ethics is naturally involved in business/decision-making as this tends to involve people; and as soon as people are involved, ethical considerations become relevant and appropriate. Being relevant in any human action is a feature hardly shared by any other subject matter taught at business schools.
I’d go even further by adding that the involvement of (other) people may not even be a necessary requirement for (business) ethics to be at play. For one, involvement of the natural environment and ecological considerations may demand ethical considerations as well. Second, even in the absence of affecting others, a given decision may well transform a decision-maker – for better or worse. Thus, even in the absence of external consequences for (other) people, ethics can still be at issue.