Business Ethics as a Required Course: Investigating the Factors Impacting the Decision to Require Ethics in the Undergraduate Business Core Curriculum

Abstract

This study contributes to the growing literature examining the role that business ethics courses play in business schools' curricula. We assess internal as well as external factors that may influence whether AACSB-accredited business schools choose to require a business ethics course in their undergraduate core curricula. Using data from 382 universities, we find evidence of a relationship between the characteristics of a business school's leadership and the college's decision to require an ethics course. Specifically, colleges of business whose deans are female or have a background in management are more likely to require their undergraduates to take a business ethics course. In addition, we find that a school's affiliation has a direct influence on this decision. Private schools, as well as universities with religious affiliations, are more likely to require a business ethics course. Also of interest, we find a negative relationship between the resources schools possess and the presence of a required ethics course. These findings suggest that the values of a school and its leadership are the main factors influencing the role of business ethics in a school's curriculum.