Doing right in business: can action learning develop moral sensitivity and promote ethical behaviour?

Abstract

The question addressed in this paper is whether action learning as a management development technique can be more effective in promoting ethical decision-making than more traditional approaches. Recent examples of moral failures which have emerged in both corporate and public sector organisations in the UK during recent years have prompted a review of some of the literature about the teaching of business ethics in and by business schools. While the use of theoretical approaches to ethical analysis (such as consequentialist and deontological approaches), coupled with the discussion of scenarios or cases is a common way of structuring the teaching of business and organisational ethics, it may be limited as an approach insofar as it does not necessarily address the affective aspects of the learning process which contribute to the development of moral sensitivity and moral character. It is suggested that an action learning approach may help fill this gap, particularly if coupled with an Aristotelian focus on the development of moral character. Action learning as a technique seeks to replace instruction with facilitation, and to enable individual personal growth rather than the acquisition of knowledge. It emphasises practical action in the workplace and working with peers as part of an action learning set. The action learning method may be more suitable to fostering both technical/scientific wisdom (poeisis) and practical or prudential wisdom (phronesis) and could be adapted for use with both business students and practising managers.

Keywords:

• business ethics
• action learning
• Revans
• Aristotle
• virtue ethics

Notes on contributors

Cheryl Brook is a senior lecturer at Portsmouth Business School and teaches on a range of human resource development and management programmes. She holds a PhD in Management Learning from Lancaster University. Her research interests include work-based learning, HRD and action learning.

Gill Christy is a Visiting Fellow at Portsmouth Business School, where she was a principal lecturer in Organisational Behaviour and HRM for 21 years, before retiring in September 2013. She has taught business ethics and published on the subject.