Catholic Social Thought at Catholic Business Schools: Current State of Training for Students and Faculty (Initial Report Findings)

This is a follow-up research project following the 2015 article below.  In this project, 6 colleagues of the institute (Gustafson, Knight, Lux, McArville, Schick, and Mueller-Fichepaine) did quantitative and qualitative research to discover the ways in which Catholic Business Schools are training their faculty to incorporate faith and mission concerns into their business curriculum and research.  The research was done with assistance of a grant from the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and the final report can be seen here.

Faith Values in the Business Curricula of Catholic Colleges and Universities  

(see the ppt by clicking here

Or the full published article by clicking here

During August and September of 2014, we sent an online survey to 95 Catholic Universities and Colleges in the US (see appendix A).   The survey was sent to one faculty member in each school, identified either as teaching business ethics or catholic social thought, and if no such person could be identified, then the survey was sent to the dean, who in some cases sent it to a chosen faculty member.  43 surveys were completed, giving us a 45% response-rate.  This is remarkable, given that the typical online survey response rate is typically around 10%.  30 questions were asked, attempting to find out:  1. If and how Catholic business schools incorporate faith values and concerns or Social Catholic Thought into the curriculum.  2. If and how Catholic business schools are addressing questions of how business affects prosperity and poverty in business.  3. What sorts of methods may be being used (service learning, etc) to try affect student’s social affections and sentiments and habits, rather than to simply provide information regarding codes of ethics, etc.  4.  What ethical theories are considered most ‘in line’ or supplemental to CST by most teachers.  The findings were presented in Manilla, Phillipines in late February, 2015 at the 9th international conference on Catholic Social thought and Business Education.  The full findings were published in the Journal of Religion and Business Ethics in 2015 by Gustafson and McArville.

Principal researchers: Andy Gustafson, Lead Colleague and McArville

Proposed project: The Impact of Koch Brothers’ Money at Catholic Universities and Colleges: A study of the actual programs being developed with money from Charles Koch and David Koch.  Exp: There has been a lot of controversy about recent Koch Brother donations to Catholic University business school and other Catholic econ departments, including Creighton’s Institute for Economic Inquiry.  In this study, we examine exactly what the money is producing at Catholic Universities and Colleges.

Principal researchers: Andy Gustafson, Lead Colleague; Joe Tenaka, Junior Colleague

A Critique of Michael Jensen’s “Firm Value Maximization” Theory.  Exp: Michael Jensen has developed a “Firm Value Maximization” theory which is a development of stockholder theory of management.  In this essay, his view is criticized as being without ethical concern.

Principal researcher: Andy Gustafson