New, soon-to-be-required courses in business ethics at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business are setting a national precedent by inspiring students to create socially responsible business solutions.
A prime example of the school's "Business and Society" initiative is the new "Marketing's Role in the Socially Responsible Firm" course. Though the class has a primary goal of motivating students to consider ethical, social and environmental factors when developing and implementing marketing strategies, senior instructor Steve Engel doesn't preach or try to teach students to be ethical.
"Instead, I try to raise the awareness of students so that they more readily recognize ethical dilemmas in marketing," Engel said. "If they recognize a dilemma that never occurred to them before, then there is a good chance they will resolve it using their own ethical frameworks. If they don't even recognize dilemmas, then there is less of a chance the dilemmas will be resolved ethically."
Â鶹ÒùÔº in the class worked on a semester-long project to address a social issue.
Kevin Richey and Alan Stratton teamed up to develop a book collection plan in support of the World Bank. That organization collects used books and distributes them to developing areas of the world where costs limit access to reading and learning materials. The students are working to set up a collection system at CU-Boulder that can be carried on by others after they have graduated.
"They have collected 40 boxes of textbooks, and are working with the UMC bookstore to pack and ship them to the World Bank warehouse in Washington, D.C.," Engel said. "In order to generate cash to pay shipping costs, they are reselling some of the books to the UMC bookstore, and then shipping the rest."
Business Beyond Profits is a new campus club born from the efforts of five students in Engel's class. At meetings every month, the club presents speakers who discuss business ethics and their connection to consumers, corporations and the environment. Sue Morse, vice president of Horizon Organic Holding, was a guest speaker at a meeting this semester. Morse's company was recently listed as one of the 100 best corporations in America by Business Ethics magazine.
Organizers said the discussions are sparking increased interest in ethics among business students, as well as a number of nonbusiness majors who have attended.
"The student organizers of this club decided that it should be open to any student on the campus who is interested in improving the world by holding business more accountable," Engel said. "The organizers have begun to publicize the club events campuswide, and we continue to invite all interested students to attend, regardless of their major."
Another student group in Engel's class has compiled a list of products that meet certain ethical, social or environmental standards, and will begin working with the CU Book Store in the University Memorial Center to sell the items in the fall. "I will use the group's list of products to work with the UMC bookstore over the summer to create a selling space," Engel said. "The bookstore will order and stock the items, and my students will be responsible for merchandising them."
One of Engel's students was fascinated by the concept of pollution credits for businesses, and has contracted to buy hundreds of tree seedlings to plant this spring near Colorado Springs. "He will calculate how much of a credit could be generated, given the average lifespan of the species of tree he is planting, how many he plants and the CO2 conversion rate for each tree," Engel said.
CU-Boulder's business curriculum is continuing to stress ethics and social perspectives to business problems, a unique trait among American universities. In fall 2003, "Business and Society" courses will become requirements for graduation from the Leeds School at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
The requirements are an indication that the Leeds School of Business is making a serious commitment to its initiative, Engel said.
"I believe the initiative accomplishes two important goals: first, encourage our students to use their business skills to improve the standard of living worldwide; second, this approach positively differentiates our Leeds Business School graduates from the many other business school graduates across the country," he said.