Moral formation at Jesuit business schools

“What does the hoped-for moral education look like?” William Byron, S.J., explains in his book about business ethics, "The Power of Principles", “The necessary ethical principles cannot be learned without first observing them in the lives of others. Improvement in the ethical environment of corporate America will happen if newcomers and tested veterans get close enough together for the values of the elders to be caught by those who are inexperienced but willing to learn.” Fr. Byron’s book contains many real stories of ethical behavior in business, even in large corporations, and many business professors point to examples from their own experience or research. At many universities, business and economics majors also complete courses in history, theology and other humanistic subjects. And many liberal arts grads get jobs in the business and financial sectors with little or no business education. Those humanities courses can contribute to the student’s formation as an ethical businessperson, if professors in these disciplines provide positive examples of the role that businesses have played in raising the condition of workers, or reducing poverty around the world. Do their lectures build on the words of Pope Francis, “Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving our world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity…” (Laudato Si, 129)? Or is it possible that these courses, for lack of the ‘values of the elders’ content that Fr. Byron suggests, leave students thinking that “unethical and even illegal behavior is a passport to climbing the corporate ladder” and acquiescing to a “culture of fear that intimidates into silence those who witness corporate malfeasance,” as the researchers in Dr. Hidy’s article found, before they even have their first job? What’s in your lesson plan?