Be attentive. Be reflective. Be loving.
Those words of advice are not what you鈥檇 expect to hear in a typical management class, but they sum up the aims of the Carroll School鈥檚 signature Portico course, according to听. Authored by five Portico faculty members, the article describes a unique approach to business ethics embodied in the required course taken by every first-year undergraduate student.
Amy La Combe in the Portico offices in Fulton Hall.
鈥淧ortico attempts to develop students鈥� moral imaginations by encouraging them to consider multiple, often contradictory views and to examine their own most deeply held beliefs,鈥� write Sarah Cabral, Joseph Cioni, Jeremy Evans, Amy LaCombe, and Michael Smith, referring in part to the emphasis on self-reflection.听The course was piloted in the fall of 2008 and became official听one year later.
As the name suggests,听Portico is the port of entry听into management education for all Carroll School undergraduates. With 35 sections taught by seven faculty members, the three-credit course looks at business from a global, multidisciplinary as well as ethical and social perspective. It has several components including academic advising, small class sizes, and evening events that feature outside speakers and bring together larger groups of Portico students, among other features.
The article recounts decisions made in forging the Portico model. For example, the designers of Portico chose to not only make philosophical reflection a key thrust of the class but also to have this component taught by business school faculty rather than by philosophy professors outside the School. The idea behind this move was to dispel the notion that such reflection is somehow external to good management thinking, 鈥渉opelessly idealistic and inapplicable鈥� to real-world situations, the authors explain. Indeed, Portico is 鈥渘ot so much a business ethics class as it is a philosophically reflective introduction to business,鈥� they write.
In light of its relentlessly multidisciplinary approach, the Carroll School also decided to house the course in a new department connected to the dean鈥檚 office and the School鈥檚 Honors Program (which is why there鈥檚 a Portico faculty).
Most of the article elaborates on learning objectives encapsulated in the themes cited above鈥攖he need to be attentive, reflective, and loving. 鈥淭hese objectives are not static but rather a continual, lifelong process,鈥� the authors say.
Under the subheading of attentiveness, the article discusses how Portico students are introduced to the global context of today鈥檚 capitalism, including market successes and failures as well as the ethics of supply chains.
翱苍听the theme of reflection, the authors underscore the importance of helping students gain greater insight into their experiences and choices both in and apart from the course.听In that connection, Portico students engage in听a version听of听the Examen, a centuries-old Jesuit meditation in which they reflect on what they鈥檙e grateful for and what went right or wrong during the week.
The authors note that 鈥淏e Loving鈥� might seem 鈥渁n unusual theme for a business school course,鈥� but it鈥檚 central to the Portico design. It raises the ethical bar by calling on business people to demonstrate a loving concern not just for the interests of shareholders but for all stakeholders, including employees, communities, and the environment.
The theme is also a challenge to think about much more than financial returns or self-interest. In this way, 鈥渂e loving鈥� is modeled by faculty members who, ideally, 鈥渨ill genuinely care about our students and want the best for them with nothing in return other than to see them blossom as they strive to be the people they desire to be,鈥� the article says.
The Portico experiment continues.
Its faculty and the Carroll School administration 鈥渟till wrestle with how all students can best revisit the themes of Portico in the sophomore, junior, and senior years to ensure that our students graduate as more attentive, reflective, and loving students,鈥� the authors say at the end of the article. 鈥淚t is a continual, evolving process for us, as it should be for our students.鈥�
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