MBA Sweden – Bjorn Schantz
1. Can you briefly discuss the role of ethical decision-making in a business environment in your country?
· Same role as the United States, but the ethics themselves differ
· Sweden has not had the same kind of U.S. ethics scandals such as the case with Enron so cases are less explicit, but still there; fewer ethics scandals in Swedish businesses
· Swedes are more group oriented and more likely to ask “is this the right thing to do?” and are concerned with the group as a whole, rather than personal benefits
· The sense of ethics and business is more engrained in the culture and no courses or training occur in ethics
· No ethics courses occur in business schools (not 100% sure)
2. How has ethical decision-making been incorporated into your school’s curriculum?
· More part of his religion class (high school in Sweden)
· Topics on ethics and morality, but not similar to the MBA program here
· Light ethical discussion in Sweden vs. here
· Ethics in Sweden does not seem to be a topic that is stressed as much as in the United States
3. Can you describe an ethical challenge in your personal, professional or academic life?
· One parent of a swimmer on swim team keeps offering swim team coaches gifts – tickets to games, etc.
· Bjorn accepting the gifts is considered a conflict of interest in the way that Bjorn feels pressured into favoring the man’s daughter over the other swimmers
· She is a star swimmer, so she swims more than other teammates as is, but Bjorn noticed the ethical dilemma within the situation when accepting the gifts
· Same role as the United States, but the ethics themselves differ
· Sweden has not had the same kind of U.S. ethics scandals such as the case with Enron so cases are less explicit, but still there; fewer ethics scandals in Swedish businesses
· Swedes are more group oriented and more likely to ask “is this the right thing to do?” and are concerned with the group as a whole, rather than personal benefits
· The sense of ethics and business is more engrained in the culture and no courses or training occur in ethics
· No ethics courses occur in business schools (not 100% sure)
2. How has ethical decision-making been incorporated into your school’s curriculum?
· More part of his religion class (high school in Sweden)
· Topics on ethics and morality, but not similar to the MBA program here
· Light ethical discussion in Sweden vs. here
· Ethics in Sweden does not seem to be a topic that is stressed as much as in the United States
3. Can you describe an ethical challenge in your personal, professional or academic life?
· One parent of a swimmer on swim team keeps offering swim team coaches gifts – tickets to games, etc.
· Bjorn accepting the gifts is considered a conflict of interest in the way that Bjorn feels pressured into favoring the man’s daughter over the other swimmers
· She is a star swimmer, so she swims more than other teammates as is, but Bjorn noticed the ethical dilemma within the situation when accepting the gifts