Date:12/04/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/12/stories/2005041200100801.htm

Back Globalisation and business

The forces of globalisation are creating enormous discontinuities in the business environment which can lead to an ``ethical disconnect'' (Business Line, April 03). Business schools, which are supposed to teach people how to deal with such problems, are hardly the bastions of ethics. Modern business education often encourages an excessive respect for anything that can be considered a result of `free markets'.

`Business ethics', as part of the curriculum, can well turn out to be an arcane speciality. This could be the reason why big business, whether in the US or India, has pretty much destroyed the culture of trust. Today, consumers are generally wary of large corporations. They are not overawed any more.

A disturbing question is: Can business schools really teach what, in the first instance, should have been learnt at home, the school and the playground?

Kangayam R. Rangaswamy

Madison (US)

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