Abstract

Despite the notable roles that the liberal arts and ethics have played in business education, both domains are regarded as educational burdens rather than opportunities for business to improve its role in society. This paper seeks to change the discourse by reconstituting the mostly adversarial relationship between business and the liberal arts. Undertaking this requires the liberal arts to embrace practical education and business to rediscover its foundation in the liberal arts. The improved dialogue between these domains enhances the internal dimension of student learning which refers to delivered content. However, sustaining the degree of interaction necessary to create high quality content greatly depends on external enabling conditions which include faculty attitudes on collaboration and the level of institutional support for initiatives that promote interdisciplinarity. The outcome of this reconceptualization is a relevant, holistic and strongly grounded student educational experience. It also provides the groundwork for an Integrated Business Ethics Education framework that properly reflects the integration of the internal and external aspects of student education.