Educating Ethical Leaders for the Information Society: Adopting Babies from Business
Current Issues in Libraries, Information Science and Related Fields
ISBN: 978-1-78441-638-6, eISBN: 978-1-78441-637-9
Publication date: 12 June 2015
Abstract
The boundaries between the for-profit sector and traditional nonprofit library focused information professions are blurring. As these information professions grow, more of their future leaders will be graduates from business management programs as opposed to library and information programs. There is a general perception that for-profit employers demand leaders who are analytical and achievement oriented. As a result, business schools have been criticized for focusing their curricula on transaction-based economics with less focus on preparing leaders to do what is right. So, how do we better prepare business graduates to face ethical dilemmas as they move forward to build and support information organizations of the future? This chapter reports the results of a study which explored the viewpoints of American thought leaders about ethics in the context of business programs. A total of 32 subjects from the corporate and higher education settings were interviewed. Results of the study revealed five major themes related to how educators can better prepare our next generation of leaders. Those themes were: (1) insights related to the student; (2) insights pertaining to the goal of business ethics education and curricula; (3) specific cases and experiences to include in ethics course(s); (4) explicit student learning outcomes; and (5) the specific role, skill, and ability of professors teaching ethics courses. While this chapter deals primarily with the academic scope of ethics, the study also explored personal views about ethics by the interviewees. Understanding how foundational ethical beliefs and awareness develop then informs the broader discussion of ethics.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
Dr. Veronica Feeg needs to be recognized for providing direction on how to approach the data analysis process. I also wish to acknowledge members of the Community Research Institute at Molloy College, without which, I would have never have met Dr. Feeg.
The funding for this research was provided in part by the Molloy College’s Faculty Scholarship and Development Committee. Special thanks go to Dr. Carole Gutterman and her review committee for supporting this research without which, this research would not have been possible. Lastly I acknowledge the subjects who generously and transparently shared their views and experiences.
Citation
Mackenzie, M.L. (2015), "Educating Ethical Leaders for the Information Society: Adopting Babies from Business", Current Issues in Libraries, Information Science and Related Fields (Advances in Librarianship, Vol. 39), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 47-79. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0065-283020150000039010
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015 Emerald Group Publishing Limited