Business ethics and responsible practice: A profession-based learning approach in tertiary education

Abstract

Abstract: Purpose – This paper relates the lived experiences of a learning community involved in embedding business ethics and responsible practice in an undergraduate business (tourism) degree course as a means to develop future business professionals with knowledge, values and skills related to practising ethical business principles and achieving sustainable businesses. Design/methodology/approach – An action research cycle informed the embedding process while profession-based learning, seven conditions for learning, andragogy, ethnogogy, experiential learning, reflexivity and communities of practice informed learning engagements. Findings – The reflection phase of the action research cycle identified seven recommendations that organisations and groups involved in developing and embedding sustainable and ethical business principles and practices might consider with regard to the preparation of learning engagements associated with a similar aim. These are associated with (1) the use of communities of practice for socialising and professionalising learning engagements; (2) the facilitative capacity of action research for collaborative future oriented issues resolution; (3) the immediacy of action research processes with regard to monitoring and evaluating learning engagements; (4) the effectiveness of profession-based learning, the seven conditions and communities of practice as learning-teaching embedding mechanisms; (5) use of diverse learning teaching resources to match different learning styles; (6) the role of student reflexivity in learning engagements; (7) dialogue regarding differing ethical viewpoints and institutionalised expectations. Originality/value – The paper demonstrates a transferable process-based model associated with use of action research and complementary profession-based learning as well as related teaching learning approaches suitable for embedding business ethics and responsible practice, which are predicated on communities of practice principles. Keywords: Profession-based learning, action research, business ethics, responsible practice, tertiary education Article type: Research paper 37 References