No longer are schools, religious institutions and families the only sources of moral formation. Now businesses are getting involved as well. In this recent article, author Michael Schrage comments on a growing trend among businesses that are seeking to educate their customers on better behaviour. The article highlights the recent efforts by JetBlue to inform customers about what appropriate behaviour entails. The company believes that these shifts in attitudes will in turn result in far better experience for everyone involved, customer and employee alike.
While efforts like these certainly have some merit in terms of logic, the bigger question that remains is why is it that businesses now see the need to take on this role. Is it because of a failure in other areas of society? Is it the result of a shift in society's values that has made this problem more prominent? While many people will argue that there is always some form of education happening in a business setting, whether formally recognized or not, the fact that companies are now being explicit about how this happens should cause other institutions to be mindful of how they would like to form people as well.
What do you think has led to the need for businesses to take on the role of customer etiquette education?
What role should Christian institutions play in etiquette education going forward?