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- ItemA Humanistic perspective in teaching business ethics to accountancy studentsCatacutan, Maria Rosario GRecent corporate scandals brought to light the role of the academic community in strengthening the ethical values of accounting students as future leaders of the profession. Some members, however, remain skeptical, thus leading to debates about the effectiveness of the ethics programmes currently being taught in business schools. From a humanistic perspective, the teaching of business ethics in accountancy continues to be relevant because it can contribute to effect moral change in the life of students. The possibility of a moral change is within the reach of every individual through the configuring power of his actions. This change, however, entails a complex process because it involves a deliberate and free decision on the part of the person. Every individual is capable of becoming a better person and it is the task of teachers of ethics to motivate and guide their students as future accountants to become good and honest professionals.
- ItemAltruism and human flourishing in shareholder value and the common good(Strathmore University Press, ) Gichure, Christine Prof.Book Chapter in book titled Shareholder value and the common good.
- ItemAn examination into the ethical acceptability of genetically modified foods in Kenya principled on Aristotelian EthicsGichuru, Virginia GathoniEthics is a branch of Philosophy which studies free human acts from the point of view of their moral value (goodness or badness) in relation with the last end of man( Debeljuh,2006). Ethics is able to ascertain what man‘s final goal is and to determine the type of behaviour that will lead him to that final goal which ultimately should give him happiness. In th is paper I would like to examine the ethical acceptability of GM foods in Kenya using the Aristotelian understanding of e thics. For Aristotle , e thics is based on achieving the chief good for man which he called eudaimonia ( ̳happiness‘). He said that eudaim onia is something that is ―final and self sufficient and is the end that our human action tends toward. Aristotle discovered that this happiness if found by man exercising his rational nature which gives him the capacity to direct himself to the good in ev ery action. Looking at the GM foods from this point of view, the paper will try to examine if GM foods enhance the nature of man by taking into consideration his rational nature as well as promoting the common good of man. Anything that goes against his na ture would be considered morally unacceptable. Aristotle defines the common good as the perfect goal of the state which requires an admission of the indiv idual's basic right in society. This basic right means the right of everyone to the opportunity to fre ely shape his life by responsible action, in pursuit of virtue and in accordance with the natural moral law.
- ItemAnthropological foundation of the levels of happiness : Robert Spitzer, Abraham Maslow and Leonardo Polo(Miscelanea Poliana, ) Branya, JohnThe purpose of this paper is to see how Leonardo Polo’s Transcendental Anthropology can give a foundation to the levels of happiness of Robert Spitzer, in his work: Healing the Culture and the hierarchy of basic needs of Abraham Maslow. Spitzer distinguishes four levels of happiness according to the inner tendencies of the human being, which he names in Latin as “laetus, felix, beatitudo and gaudio”. Maslow orders the basic human needs from physiological to safety, love, esteem, and finally self actualization. This paper observes that a) both Spitzer and Polo are in agreement with the perennial philosophy views about happiness and b) that Polo gives a trans-metaphysical (transcendental) grounding to a personal consideration of the last two levels analysed by Spitzer and c) that Maslow bases his analysis in dynamic psychology, and tends to mix Spitzers’ last three levels in his three last levels of needs.
- ItemBridge over troubled water phenomenologizing Filipino College deans’ ethical dilemmas in academic administration(Sage Journals, 2013-03) Catacutan, Maria Rosario G.; de Guzman, Allan B.This phenomenological study intends to capture and describe Filipino college deans’ lived experiences of ethical dilemmas as they carry out their work as administrators. Using semi-structured in-depth interviews and following Collaizzi’s method, data was collected and subjected to cool and warm analyses yielding a set of themes and sub-themes that typify what these deans consider to be ethical dilemmas. The resulting ‘Wheel’ of School Leaders’ Ethical Dilemmas depicts the nature of the dilemmas faced by these deans, the critical incidents which trigger the onset of the dilemmas, and the value conflicts that are embedded in them. This article intends to add to the growing body of research on ethical decision making in educational management, particularly on the ethical dilemmas faced by Filipino college deans. At a practical level, the findings of this study provide valuable resource to assist practicing and aspiring deans to be more adept in identifying the moral and ethical dimensions of their work as academic administrators. Finally the findings of this study could serve as a knowledge base for curriculum planners in designing ethics courses offered in educational leadership programs in the Philippines to develop academic leaders’ competencies and skills in ethical decision making.
- ItemBusiness ethics and wealth creation: a response to Georges EnderleGichure, Christine Prof.The paper of Profess or Enderle regarding Business Ethics and wealth creation, after discussing the various meanings of wealth and creation, goes on to highlight the author's personal experience of the poverty condition of the marginalized persons in South America, a subcontinent with a predominant Catholic population.
- ItemBusiness Ethics in Africa(Blackwell Publishing Co, ) Gichure, Christine Prof.; Freeman , Edward; Werhane , PatriciaEntry for Wiley Encyclopaedia of Business Ethics 3rd Ed.
- ItemCommunity capacity development in universities : empowering communities through education management programmes in Strathmore University (a pilot study)(Contemporary Issues in Education Research, ) Kitawi, Alfred; Kitawi, Alfred KirighaThis research examined the issue of community capacity development in a university. The main way communities were empowered was through the education management programmes offered at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya. The research is among the first to examine the issue of community capacity development through university programmes. The research used Chaskin's (2001) framework to examine which issues of community capacity development emerged through the different action research projects students implemented within their communities. Content and map analysis was the analytical technique which was adopted. The outcome of the research was that there were some categories and relations similar to Chaskin's framework and others were different given the nature of students' action research projects. The study provides insights into how universities in developing countries can develop communities' capacities through higher education. A framework for community capacity development in the field of higher education management is proposed. The main categories were: fundamental characteristics of community capacity, social agencies, functions of community capacity, enablers, challenges, strategies, and outcomes.
- ItemDeveloping a web explicit research strategy theory in African universities : a cross-comparison of specific regional efforts through an analysis of research web-pages(Academic and Business Research Institute, 2010-10) Kitawi, Alfred Kirigha; Neema-Abooki, PeterThe research is an analysis of Web explicit research strategies of specific African universities. The sampling was purposive. The African continent was sub-divided into four distinct cardinal regions in order to get a general overview of the whole continent. A further selective sampling was done according to international rankings, as a method for deciding which universities will be mapped. The rankings identified were: Webometrics, Academic Rankings of World Universities and Times Higher Education. Much contemporary analytical work is based on the examination of Internet data, like Google analytics. Premised on this assumption, the research resorted to analyze information available on different research Web-pages. The aim was to conceptualize research strategies currently in place (in the Internet), the respective internal and external factors which influence such strategies, and the corresponding issues that result from it. The model developed can be used by African universities in the development of their own context specific research strategies.
- ItemDigital Skills and the Use of Digital Platforms in the Informal Sector: A Case Study Among Jua Kali Artisans in Nairobi in Kenya(Research and Scientific Innovation Society, 2024) Momanyi, Christopher; Riechi, Andrew Rasugu; Khatete, IbrahimContext: For many businesses, one of the key indicators in their management is the adaptation of Information Technology in their operations. In Kenya, there has been a phenomenal growth in access to mobile phones, by June 2023, over 66 million mobile phones were connected to various telecommunication operators of which 58.3% were smart phones constituting 67.1% of internet connections. There are many digital technologies which can be adapted to facilitate the processing, dissemination, and access of information. The modern world has become competitive due to the uptake of Information Technology as one of the main business management skill, with the availability of smart phones and many applications that are easily available and easy to use. One of the main beneficiaries of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) is the Jua Kali artisans who are a key player in the Kenyan economy. Entrepreneurial competencies help the growth of businesses along the dimension of innovation. Kenya intends to entrench the use of Information Technology for public service delivery, business, skills, and innovation. The Jua Kali sector cannot be ignored, it contributes more than 80% of the total employment in Kenya. Approach: This research was carried out in the Eastlands of Nairobi, Kenya. Data were collected using a questionnaire, an interview and observation schedule. The study used an interview schedule to collect data from Jua Kali artisans carrying out their artisan businesses in the Eastlands of Nairobi and a questionnaire survey to collect data from a sample of identified Nairobi residents who had engaged an artisan to work for them six months prior to the research. Findings: The research established that most Jua Kali artisans acquired their skills in the Jua Kali sector by apprenticeship (86.3%) while a small percentage (12.7%) trained in Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions while a further one percent were trained by their former employers. Most of the artisans had attained the basic formal education qualifications i.e. primary education (27.9%) and secondary education (47.6%). The Chi-square (χ²) test was used to test the relationship between use of the basic social media digital platforms in business management and the formal education attained by artisans owning artisan businesses. Conclusion: At 0.05 level of significance (α) the research established that there is a significant relationship between the adaptation of digital platforms in business management and the formal education attained by the artisans.
- ItemDoing good for its own sake : recasting CSR in the light of Catholic Social Teaching(2015-02) Catacutan, Maria Rosario G.This paper argues that the view of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as advanced in management theory and practice is flawed due to its theoretical underpinnings in individualism, a position which upholds the primacy of the individual and provides legitimacy to individuals’ active pursuit of self-interest to the detriment of society. This view, however, significantly diverges from CSR perspectives which prescribe the duty and obligation inherent in every member of society to contribute to the promotion of the common good. This paper therefore suggests the need for an alternative model and presents the view of CSR advanced by Catholic social teaching (CST) as a more comprehensive and coherent framework to correctly articulate the relations between business and society, and the consequent duty of business to contribute toward promotion of the common good. The paper also offers a critique of some CSR practices which it considers unacceptable from the perspective of CST.
- ItemEducation and the problem of moral values: the case of Kenya(Strathmore University Press, ) Gichure, Christine Prof.At the beginning of 2008, Kenya was rocked by a deadly wave of sectarian violence that was sparked off by a dispute over results of December 2007's general elections. During these weeks of anarchy , we saw people who had lived peaceably together for many years take up crude weapons against their neighbours, hacking some to death, injuring scores of others, rendering hundreds of thousands homeless and destroying property worth millions of shillings. The most horrendous incident is a case where elderly men, women and children died after a church they had sought sanctuary in was set ablaze by marauding gangs. This was proof that the worst of human passions had taken over; where hatred, vengeance; murderous instincts and sadism reigned supreme. But whereas it may have been only a fraction of Kenyan society th at engaged in this mayhem, it is safe to say that the actions of that fraction reflect the overall moral bankruptcy of our society today . This view is corroborated by what followed on the heels of the post-election violence , where a new wave of mayhem erupted in our schools in the form of student unrest that also caused its fair share of destruction through arson and murder. These events lead us to ask at least two pertinent questions, namely ; were the people behind these depraved activities , be they leaders or followers, acting as free men? Free, not in the sense of physical bondage to someone else but rather free in the sense of having a mental capacity to understand the import of their actions on the basic principles of human good? And in their actions, were these people really being guided by their conscience as human beings? By conscience we mean the human faculty that appeals to reason, and which is capable of guiding human beings in pursuing the good and eschewing evil. If these actors can give affirmative answers to these questions, then we can only conclude they acted out of sheer malice . But if, on the other hand, doubt can be cast on how free they were in their actions, then we can assume their actions were not executed with malice aforethought, but probably out of ignorance.
- ItemEducation in virtues as goal of business ethics instruction(African Journals of Business Ethics, ) Catacutan, Maria Rosario GThe moral development paradigm underlying a particular business ethics curriculum design plays a significant role in determining the goals of business ethics instruction. Concretely, the view of moral development advanced by cognitive developmental psychology that dominates business ethics literature identifies moral development with cognitive processes, but disregards educating students in virtues. The aim of the present paper is to propose an alternative paradigm of moral development to that of cognitive developmental psychology and presents Aquinas’ view of moral development as a suitable framework for a curriculum design that focuses on virtues as a possible goal of business ethics instruction.
- ItemEffort & achievement of two decades of business ethics teaching and research in Africa with a special reference to Kenya(Springer Science, ) Gichure, Christine Prof.This paper makes an overview of the efforts and achievements gained in ethics research and teaching in the last two decades by different stakeholders. These include some philosophical inquiries regarding the existence of and the concept of ethics and the moral character in Africa, the debate regarding the opinion that a viable business ethics for Africa would have to take into consideration the general African cultures and practices, and the efforts gained so far in the ethics and corporate governance. The paper also looks at the efforts and gains made towards entrenching a value system in Kenya by a broad array of stakeholders, from government, private sector, civil society and academia. In conclusion, the paper proposes that in order to imbue a more rationalized understanding of why it makes good sense to observe ethics in business and public life, there is need for education based on the idea of general human good and universal human dignity.
- Itemel docente universitario ante los bienes de su práctica(Universidad Industrial de Santander, ) Gichure, Christine Prof.We can recognize the teacher and his profession as the attempt to research or to discover, recognize, promote and teach the truth to others. The scope of a teacher’s quality is a topic still debated by those who tackle the issue in its objective and modern significance on the one hand, and those who consider it in its vocational meaning, on the other hand. This article puts forward the notion that it is possible to synthesize these two ways of tackling the meaning of a profession. It also puts forward the idea that efficacy of teaching is defined first by its own objectives—it is not the professional that creates those objectives— and by the availability of the professional. Therefore, a professional teacher is that who can teach his pupils in the best way so that they grasp the objectives and particularities of university education
- ItemEthical decision-making in academic administration : a qualitative study of college deans’ ethical frameworks(Springer International Publishing AG, 2015-07-22) Catacutan, Maria Rosario G.; de Guzman, Allan B.Ethical decision-making in school administration has received considerable attention in educational leadership literature. However, most research has focused on principals working in secondary school settings while studies that explore ethical reasoning processes of academic deans have been significantly few. This qualitative study aims to describe the ethical decision-making processes employed by a select group of Filipino college deans in solving ethical dilemmas using the ethical paradigms proposed in the works of Starratt (Educ Adm Q 27:185–202, 1991) and Shapiro and Stefkovich (Ethical leadership and decision-making in education: applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas, 2005) as frameworks for the analysis. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews and field text was analyzed using deductive thematic analysis. Findings of this study show that majority of the deans chose to share ethical dilemmas involving students and teachers. The findings also show the ethical frameworks of care, justice, and profession as the dominant paradigms utilized by Filipino deans and their preference for adopting multiple ethical frameworks when making their decisions. Most of the ethical dilemmas which the deans narrated relate to their tasks of academic administration such as monitoring student performance, faculty evaluation and maintaining school discipline. Interestingly, only a few dilemmas involving university administrators were expressed, and dilemmas that refer to broader societal issues usually associated with school administrators’ utilization of the ethic of critique were also significantly left out in the narratives of this study. This paper intends to contribute to current literature by expanding research to administrators working in the context of higher education in the Philippine setting. The findings of this study could serve as knowledge base in designing ethics courses to enhance educational leaders’ ethical decision-making skills. The study also provides useful insights of ethical decisions and reasoning processes employed by academic administrators in resolving real life ethical dilemmas that could be useful at the practical level for aspiring and practicing deans.
- ItemEthical decision-making in academic administration: a qualitative study of college deans’ ethical frameworks(Springer Netherlands, 2015-09) Catacutan, Maria Rosario G.; de Guzman, Allan B.Ethical decision-making in school administration has received considerable attention in educational leadership literature. However, most research has focused on principals working in secondary school settings while studies that explore ethical reasoning processes of academic deans have been significantly few. This qualitative study aims to describe the ethical decision-making processes employed by a select group of Filipino college deans in solving ethical dilemmas using the ethical paradigms proposed in the works of Starratt (Educ Adm Q 27:185–202, 1991) and Shapiro and Stefkovich (Ethical leadership and decision-making in education: applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas, 2005) as frameworks for the analysis. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews and field text was analyzed using deductive thematic analysis. Findings of this study show that majority of the deans chose to share ethical dilemmas involving students and teachers. The findings also show the ethical frameworks of care, justice, and profession as the dominant paradigms utilized by Filipino deans and their preference for adopting multiple ethical frameworks when making their decisions. Most of the ethical dilemmas which the deans narrated relate to their tasks of academic administration such as monitoring student performance, faculty evaluation and maintaining school discipline. Interestingly, only a few dilemmas involving university administrators were expressed, and dilemmas that refer to broader societal issues usually associated with school administrators’ utilization of the ethic of critique were also significantly left out in the narratives of this study. This paper intends to contribute to current literature by expanding research to administrators working in the context of higher education in the Philippine setting. The findings of this study could serve as knowledge base in designing ethics courses to enhance educational leaders’ ethical decision-making skills. The study also provides useful insights of ethical decisions and reasoning processes employed by academic administrators in resolving real life ethical dilemmas that could be useful at the practical level for aspiring and practicing deans.
- ItemEthics as a solution to Corruption : a case study of the construction industry in Kenya(SOBE Publications, 2018-12) Dindi, Adeline M.; Munala, Gerryshom; Alkizim, Ahamad; Kivaa, Titus; Gichure, Christine Prof.The construction industry endures a poor reputation and continues to experience ethical problems manifested in collapsed buildings, corrupt deals and a general lack of honesty. In this paper, the authors present results of an investigation into the prevalent ethical problems in the construction industry in Kenya and their impact on projects. A review of literature on corruption shows that emphasis is placed upon putting in place systems and policies for fighting corruption, yet this has not achieved much results. Literature in construction ethics shows that professional codes and ethics are only effective as far as the people are personally ethical. The method of conducting this study was through in-depth interviews of stakeholders to establish prevalent unethical practices in the industry. The authors present the results from a thematic analysis of perceptions of information-rich subjects from different sectors of the industry. The results show that unethical practices such as collusion, kickbacks and supplanting are mostly due to lack of honesty, greed and the desire to get rich quickly. The study concludes that most unethical practices are due to corrupt individual practices and recommends ways of incorporating ethics both at individual and institutional level.
- ItemLa ética de la profesión docente : estudio introductorio a la Deontología de la educación.(EUNSA, ) Gichure, Christine (Prof.)Este libro introduce un campo de gran importancia pero aun poco explorado.La ética de la profesión docente es un tema del máximo interés teórico y practico, muy particularmente en nuestros días. ?Es docencia una vocación, una profesión, o simplemente un empleo? Que códigos éticos --de deontología profesional--se le deben aplicar al profesor? ?Basta con ellos para comprender plenamente la ética del educador? un mundo como el nuestro, en el que el numero de instituciones educativas es muy elevado y creciente, no puede desatender estas cuestiones. La ética de la profesión docente se ha elaborado desde claves hondas de filosofía de la educación.
- ItemGikuyu Ethnophilosophy from the perspective of Leonardo Polo’s transcendental anthropologyNjuguna, CarolineThe purpose of this paper is to see how the Transcendental Anthropology of Leonardo Polo can shed light on the ethnophilosophy of the Gikuyu people. I will highlight the similarity between the view of the human person according to L. Polo’s triadic structure of the human person and that of one of the conceptions of African philosophy called ethnophilosophy, based on Gikuyu proverbs using the work of Dr. G. Wanjohi: The Wisdom and Philosophy of the Gikuyu Proverbs. According to L. Polo’s Transcendental Anthropology the human person is composed of a triadic structure with the lowest level being the natural level. This is the level where we find man’s passions and desires what man has in common with animals. It is also the level of the external and internal senses. The next level is the essential level; this is the level where man is distinguished from animals because we find here intellect and will both of which are spiritual capacities. At the highest level we have the personal level which is composed of the 4 radicals: personal co-existence, personal love, personal knowledge and personal freedom. Academic African Philosophy is relatively recent especially in comparison to Western Philosophy yet it has already been classified into a number of different conceptions, the four main conceptions being ethnophilosophy; philosophic sagacity; nationalist-ideological philosophy and; professional philosophy (Oruka 1981, pp 1-7). Ochieng-Odhiambo says that ethnnophilosophy is called thus because it uses a method that resembles that which is ordinarily used in cultural anthropology (ethnology) to get the basic underlying principles of the reality and behavior of the African and then describes it in philosophical language (Ochieng-Odiambo 2009, pp 73). Dr. Wanjohi adds that ‘… (it) is a philosophy which, in a non-literary society, expresses a people’s world-view and culture…’ (Wanjohi 1997, pp 76) Dr. Wanjohi claims that the Gikuyu proverbs demonstrate philosophy in two ways: Firstly, that they are reflective and critical which are characteristics of philosophy in the second order sense as opposed to philosophy in the first order sense which is considered to be more descriptive and relative. Secondly, that the proverbs refer to both basic and applied philosophy. In the Gikuyu proverbs one can discover a distinction similar to that found in the triadic structure where at the highest level the proverbs refer to a level similar to the personal level with great importance given to the good relation to God who is known as Ngai and with man in relation to others. Further there is a clear distinction given to the level of the intellect and will which is lower than the level of relation to Ngai but higher than the level of passions and desires which we can compare to the natural level as defined in Transcendental Anthropology.
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