Developing Practical Wisdom in Ethical Decision Making: A Flight Simulator Program for 21st Century Business Students

Dennis Wittmer

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Developing Practical Wisdom in Ethical Decision Making: A Flight Simulator Program for 21st Century Business Students

Dennis Wittmer

University of Denver, USA

Volume 10: 2012, pp. 169-184: ABSTRACT

I began teaching business ethics over 20 years ago in the hope that I would be out of business in 10 years. Scandals and poor decision making have only continued, most recently with the financial crisis of 2008. The context for ethics and morality is decision making. Those who teach business ethics in this challenging century will be well served to consider the purpose and pedagogy of ethics in a business curriculum. I assess and discuss the purpose of business ethics in a business curriculum. I argue that business ethics education can be conceived as strengthening skills for making good decisions. I relate this to the Greek conception of practical wisdom (“phronesis”). I propose a method for achieving this purpose, based on a flight simulation model, a method that has significantly reduced pilot error caused accidents. The characteristics of this program are decision making practice, exhaustive debriefing, and creating an environment for engaging diverse perspectives on problems and solutions.