ABSTRACT

Values and ethics provide the foundation to sustainability in all areas of human endeavor, be it economic, social or technological development. Ethics play an important role in management education, which churns out graduates for different organizational functions such as production, distribution, exchange and consumption of products, all of which have sustainability-related impacts. Values in society have been undergoing change over the years due to increasing globalization, misuse of technology and social media, exposure to a variety of unethical practices, cyber-crimes and increasing consumerism (Sutherland, 1961, p. 9). Consequently, anxiety, depression, aggression and delinquency are on the rise (Sharma & Cooper, 2017, pp. 4–5; Sharma & Madan, 2017, pp. 237–258). Management scholars (Courtice & Van Der Kamp, 2013, p. 10; Stibbe, 2009, pp. 5–7) have posited that subject-specific knowledge is not enough for managers to deal with sustainability challenges. They need values, eudaimonic (human flourishing) dispositions, skills and attitudes to slow down or contain the declining situation. The National Business Ethics Survey (2014) in the US revealed that effective ethics and compliance programs reduced employee misconduct and improved every key measure of workplace behavior. This chapter focuses on values and virtues and provides a paradigm for sustainable organizations and society, leveraging traditional Western and Indian wisdom, and offers cases for exploring these concepts in depth with management students.