2-La embajada en Inglaterra a través de sus cuentas (1603-1625).
2.1. La sangre del rey: el dinero, nervio de la paz.
2.1.2. Dinero y diplomacia en Inglaterra: la guerra de los ricos.
Introduction
Sabanci University (SU) and its School of Business were established in 1999 in Istanbul, the School of Business is accredited by the ACSSB. It offers MBA, EMBA, PhD in management and MSc in finance programmes. The University leadership, Business School faculty and students strive to be closely connected to all our stakeholders and to be engaged with the critical issues facing Turkey and the world.
As a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and in compliance with our University’s mission, our Business School is committed to embedding sustainability and corporate responsi- bility into our education. We have identified three means to accomplish this endeavour:
1. A mandatory course on ethics in business.
2. Incorporation of ethical issues and sustainability concerns relevant to each discipline into all of our core courses.
3. Practical learning through Company Action Projects (CAP)[1] during which students are required to analyse ethical dimensions and the social and environmental impacts of real life projects, and report to the company management.
1 The emphasis of the second year of the Sabanci MBA is the Company Action Projects
(CAP). CAP’s distinctive feature is that these are real projects companies undertake. Our “client” companies participate in CAP not only to contribute to our educational mission, but also because they see real value in the work of our students.
Challenges
The Business and Ethics course is given during the last semester of the MBA programme, however, we wanted our students to have a gen- eral awareness of the ethical issues from the very beginning and be able to assess ethical issues related with their CAP projects before they took the Business and Ethics course. Action taken
We have included an “Ethics and Sustainability Day” in our MBA orienta- tion programme. The purpose of the Ethics and Sustainability Day is to create an awareness of the importance of ethics and sustainability in the practice of management and provide a framework to the students for assessing ethical and sustainability dimensions of business decisions and projects. By doing so the programme aims to:
. Help course instructors and students to focus on field/discipline specific aspects of ethics and sustainability in their coursework during the programme based on a common framework the students are familiar with.
. Provide students with basic knowledge and tools to identify ethical issues and assess environmental and social impacts of real life projects. Preparation
. Students are required to read one or two articles reflecting on ethics and sustainability issues in business before the orientation week. . The dean informs the students about SU’s position as a signatory of
Global Compact and PRME during the first day of the orientation. Copies of both the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact and theSix Principlesof PRME are distributed.
. Students watch two documentaries during the orientation week (Darwin’s NightmareandInsider Jobwere screened in the 2011-2012 fall semester).
Programme
Orientation is planned as full five days of lectures. Ethics and Sustainability Day is scheduled at the end of the programme, however the documentaries are screened in the evenings during the week. The objective of spreading the documentaries during the week is to “disrupt” the students’ learning of classical tools and techniques, and prepare them for a reflective day on ethics and the role of business in society by encouraging critical thinking as “business as usual”.
The six-hour lecture on the last day covers the following topics: . PRME and Sabanci University’s mission statement.
. Why ethics and sustainability have become key concerns for managers: A critical perspective of “business-” and “market-based” economic systems.
. Ethical theories and a framework for ethical analysis from a pluralist perspective.
. Importance of social and environmental impact analysis, tools and resources.
Simulation
Students play a simulation game to experience the ethical dilemmas faced by managers in the course of day-to-day decision making (Turning Gears from Darden was used in the 2011-2012 fall semester).
My advice is not to be too concerned about appearing anti-“business as usual”. Students receive critical perspectives positively and make sense of them as an exciting challenge that they have to deal with as future managers with creativity and intellect, and of course with responsibility. . .
Melsa Ararat, PRME Coordinator and Instructor for the MBA orientation programme, “Ethics and Sustainability Day”
Results
Ethics and Sustainability Day was included in our MBA orientation programme for the first time in the fall semester of the 2011-2012 academic year. Students were very enthusiastic and participative in discussions on critical perspectives. As we move forward in the MBA programme, we expect our students to be more effective in recognising and addressing ethical issues in their CAP projects and other coursework. We also expect them to be vocal, with confidence in communicating their ethical concerns to the management of CAP project companies.
Why PRME is/was important
. PRME provided a solid framework to link SU’s mission with the learning outcomes of our MBA programme as “our mission is to develop internationally competent and confident individuals, enriched with the ability to reflect critically and independently, combined with a strong sense of social responsibility; and, to contribute to the development of science and technology on a global level, as well as disseminating the knowledge created to the benefit of the community”.
. In the process of reaching a consensus among the faculty on the importance of ethics and sustainability as essential themes that underpin our MBA programme, the Principles served as an invaluable instrument.