Abstract:

Documentaries are enjoying popularity and prestige like never before. Stone (1) highlights 2019 as a turning point for documentary film where multiple news outlets announced “a new golden age of documentary” following considerable public appeal and investment. In particular, the journalistic investigation documentary, which includes the business ethics documentary, has seen significant growth due its relatively inexpensive format, the growth in Video On Demand (VOD) on platforms like Netflix, and isolation during the COVID19 lockdown.

Documentaries such as Fyre (2019), The Social Dilemma (2020), Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022), White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie and Fitch (2022) and the Obama-produced American Factory (2019) and Working: What We Do All Day (2023) can all be mined for discussion in the online business ethics classroom to better prepare graduates for workplace challenges around being ethical, transparent, inclusive and sustainable. At the same time, these documentaries appeal to the visual learning style of undergraduate/Generation Z learners, as well as aligning with their values of social justice, inclusivity and environmental conservation.

An under-explored area within business school education and technology and enhanced learning is the importance of helping learners to become more media-literate, and preliminary findings from this research suggest that lifting the lid on how documentaries are made, particularly the distinct Netflix style replete with dramatic music, cinematic film-making techniques and skilful editing, may be an effective way to teach critical thinking and media literacy while engaging students on the importance of business ethics. This research will (1) raise awareness of Gen Z attitudes towards business documentaries as a tool for teaching media literacy (2) introduce a toolkit for using business documentaries in the classroom to teach media literacy.

Keywords:

Documentaries, business, online, Zoom, Articulate, Netflix, media literacy, critical thinking, Generation Z, visual learning style, engagement, active learning.