Thesis (Ed.D.)--Liberty University, 2000.

Thesis (M.A.I.S.)--Oregon State University, 2005. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 145-149). Also available on the World Wide Web.

For the global business school community, the twenty-first century inaugurated a season of introspection. As global sustainability concerns grew in prominence, critical debate about the purpose of business and its role in society could not be left without an educational response. At the same time, however, it raised the question of whether business schools were at all ready to equip their students for leadership in a world faced by crucial economic, social, and environmental challenges. The answer is not self-evidently positive. Various authors grapple with questions on the purpose of business schools and their relationship with business and society. This empirical study examines the influence of EQUIS accreditation standards on business school practices in the areas of institutional strategies, programmes, faculty, research, and development, as well as in responsible management education at large. Although accreditation is not the only factor that determines what business schools believe, do, and become, it is an important shaper of the direction in which they will find their way forward in the face of twenty-first–century management education imperatives. This has especially become the case since the inclusion of ethics, responsibility, and sustainability (ERS) in the revised EQUIS standards. The analysis is drawn from a qualitative multi-case study where the author outlined a theoretical framework by developing an understanding of the organisational responses to EQUIS standards, using interviews and document review as the primary source of information. The case study included private, public, stand-alone, and university-embedded business schools. The findings show that business schools engage in a variety of ERS activities in their research and education portfolio. However, different stakeholder expectations pressure business schools to become more ethical, responsible, and sustainable, which leads to a decoupling of the schools’ “ERS talk” from their “ERS actions”. The decoupling can be seen as the consequence of a school’s translation, editing, and imitation activities in order to appear committed to society’s demands. Despite budget constraints and limited autonomy, public business schools seem to be more engaged in ERS education and research as compared to private institutions. Also, a multidisciplinary environment further supports ERS development as compared to stand-alone business schools. The research proposes core changes and developments that business schools may take into consideration to provide a systematic response to EQUIS ERS standards and criteria.

No description available.

Professionalism represents a fundamental characteristic of physicians. Professional organizations have developed professionalism competencies for physicians and medical students. The aim of teaching medical professionalism is to ensure the development of a professional identity in medical students. Professional identity formation is a process developed through teaching principles and appropriate behavioral responses to the stresses of being a physician. Addressing lapses and critical reflection is an important part of the educational process. The “hidden curriculum” within an institution plays an important role in professional identity formation. Assessment of professionalism involves multiple mechanisms. Steps in remediating professionalism lapses include (1) initial assessment, (2) diagnosis of problems and development of an individualized learning plan, (3) instruction encompassing practice, feedback and reflection and (4) reassessment and certification of competence. No reliable outcomes data exist regarding the effectiveness of different remediation strategies.

Helping professionals help people to achieve optimal functionality and fulfillment in the physical, psychological, emotional and intellectual domains. Well-defined ethical standards for practitioners are crucial to such a vital endeavor. This study analyzes the official codes of ethics produced by the professional organizations of five of the helping professions: librarianship, psychology, social work, nursing, and education. In the ethics codes is sought interpretation of four moral principles—respect for autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence—and four professional responsibilities—fidelity, veracity, privacy, and confidentiality. These are grounded, respectively, in the “common morality” or the core norms exercised by all morally serious people, and the “professional morality,” or the core norms exercised by all moral professionals. How do the professions define, interpret, and express the principles and responsibilities? This interdisciplinary study clarifies and allows comparison of the expressed values of each profession. It is a critical examination of professional codes of ethics, and an argument for their explicit grounding in a larger morality. / text

No description available.