Student attitudes to socially responsible business: a case study of mine workers in Chile

Purpose – Given the proliferation of United Kingdom (UK) media headlines around the recent financial meltdown and the subsequent allocation of blame to government, bankers, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority, it is clear that there is disquiet amongst the public as to how the crisis has been handled. Business schools, both in the UK and worldwide, have been accused of failing to address issues of governance in their curricula. Can the assumption be made that current curricula will have prepared students to evaluate this key concept critically? This paper seeks to address these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Taking a case study approach, this work sets out to explore the attitudes of a cohort of 43 final-year undergraduate students studying in a UK business school. It focuses on an analysis of their written work on the sourcing of copper from Chile and its procurement by the UK Royal Mint for coinage. Findings – The findings indicate that students valued the inclusion of corporate social responsibility in its widest context, and would welcome earlier inclusion within their curricula. Originality/value – This is a timely point in their academic studies, as the students are preparing for study at Master's level or for the job market. The coursework required research into the production process of raw material at the copper mines in Chile, as well as the ethical decision-making process of a UK governmental agency. Although this is a small-scale study, it does offer some interesting insights into student perspectives. The paper concludes with recommendations for future curriculum development.