The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Tales from the front-line: examining the potential of critical incident vignettes

Tales from the front-line: examining the potential of critical incident vignettes
Tales from the front-line: examining the potential of critical incident vignettes
In common with many areas of the business and management curriculum, the case study method plays a significant role in business ethics education. However, case study material in common use is dominated by well-publicised incidents of corporate misconduct often providing a limited insight into decision-making affecting front-line staff facing personal dilemmas in their working lives. This paper gives examples of, and examines how, critical incident vignettes (CIVs), derived from the personal reflections of students, can provide an alternative to traditional "disaster style" corporate cases. CIVs illustrate the real-life ethical dilemmas that confront front-line employees, often operating in an environment with low-levels of personal autonomy. They also highlight the factors that contribute to decision-making in such an environment, the transitory and transactional nature of many employment relationships and the evasion of moral responsibility to which this can give rise.
1382-6891
55-67
Macfarlane, Bruce
3e2b9eb0-1772-4642-bb51-ab49cc5b748c
Macfarlane, Bruce
3e2b9eb0-1772-4642-bb51-ab49cc5b748c

Macfarlane, Bruce (2003) Tales from the front-line: examining the potential of critical incident vignettes. Teaching Business Ethics, 7 (1), 55-67.

Record type: Article

Abstract

In common with many areas of the business and management curriculum, the case study method plays a significant role in business ethics education. However, case study material in common use is dominated by well-publicised incidents of corporate misconduct often providing a limited insight into decision-making affecting front-line staff facing personal dilemmas in their working lives. This paper gives examples of, and examines how, critical incident vignettes (CIVs), derived from the personal reflections of students, can provide an alternative to traditional "disaster style" corporate cases. CIVs illustrate the real-life ethical dilemmas that confront front-line employees, often operating in an environment with low-levels of personal autonomy. They also highlight the factors that contribute to decision-making in such an environment, the transitory and transactional nature of many employment relationships and the evasion of moral responsibility to which this can give rise.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: February 2003
Organisations: Southampton Education School

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 374028
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/374028
ISSN: 1382-6891
PURE UUID: ceeccae5-ae88-45aa-8e01-ca86118e0800

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 02 Feb 2015 11:35
Last modified: 11 Dec 2021 05:57

Export record

Contributors

Author: Bruce Macfarlane

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×