A Wall Street Journal article (April 15, 2010) reports that many business schools are giving ethics more classroom time, in response to critics who have suggested that B-schools bear some responsibility for the “culture of excess risk-taking” that contributed to the financial crisis.

Faculty are recognizing that … “a company has responsibilities beyond its shareholders’ wallets – to employees, community, customers and the environment.”

Huw Morris, chairman of the Association of Business Schools in London, commented: “Many B-schools boosted their offerings on ethics and responsible business practice several years before the financial crisis, after the scandals at companies like Enron and Worldcom.”

Morris also noted that teachings on ethics often become fashionable during economic downturns and after financial scandals that occurred in the 1980’s with junk bonds. He comments that we will have to “wait and see how long our collective and corporate memories will be” this time.