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Business Schools at the Crossroads? A Trip Back from Sparta to Athens

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  • Maria Jose Murcia

    (IAE Business School, Austral University and University of British Columbia)

  • Hector O. Rocha

    (IAE Business School, Austral University)

  • Julian Birkinshaw

    (University of London)

Abstract

Some business schools have come under considerable criticism for what observers see as their complicit involvement in the corporate scandals and financial crises of the last 15 years. Much of the discussion about changes that schools might undertake has been focused on curriculum issues. However, revisiting the curriculum does not get at the root cause of the problem. Instead, it might create a new challenge: the risk of decoupling the discussion of the curriculum from broader issues of institutional purpose. In this article, we argue that the most pressing need facing business schools is not to teach new courses to be responsive to social demands and stay relevant. Instead, it is to revisit their basic mission—the principles and beliefs on which they were founded—and then to re-evaluate their curriculum design choices in this light. We contrast the Spartan and Athenian educational paradigms as a way of shedding light on the nature of a coherent response.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Jose Murcia & Hector O. Rocha & Julian Birkinshaw, 2018. "Business Schools at the Crossroads? A Trip Back from Sparta to Athens," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 579-591, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:150:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-016-3129-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-016-3129-3
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    2. Poulis, Konstantinos & Kastanakis, Minas, 2020. "On theorizing and methodological fetishism," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 676-683.
    3. Kathleen A. Tomlin & Matthew L. Metzger & Jill Bradley-Geist, 2021. "Removing the Blinders: Increasing Students’ Awareness of Self-Perception Biases and Real-World Ethical Challenges Through an Educational Intervention," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(4), pages 731-746, April.
    4. Maria Jose Murcia & Pilar Acosta, 2023. "Accounting for Plural Cognitive Framings of Growth and Sustainability: Rethinking Management Education in Latin America," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(2), pages 299-313, June.
    5. Roth, Steffen & Schwede, Peter & Valentinov, Vladislav & Pérez-Valls, Miguel & Kaivo-oja, Jari, 2020. "Harnessing big data for a multifunctional theory of the firm," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 54-61.

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