Ethical decision making in transnational business networks: making a case for the role-play teaching method

The use of the role-play teaching method can help to overcome some of the limitations of the problem-solving approach to delivering the business and management curriculum, particularly in the field of international business ethics. Increasingly it is seen as an effective means of incorporating ethical reasoning in transnational business decision making related to a range of ethical issues such as child labour, bonded labour, slavery, and fair wages. Many of these issues induce ethical dilemmas that stimulate emotionality, ambiguity, and radical disagreement. It is this aspect of ethical decision making which learners can enact through a role-play educational method. In this chapter, I reflect on the design and organisation of a role-play ethical decision making scenario. In doing so, I present an impressionist sketch of what I call a reflexive-narrative approach to designing role-play scenarios.