Business Ethics Course Research Articles

Flying Beavers: An Innovative Approach to Wildlife Conservation

Based on actual historical events, this case describes how the Idaho Fish and Game Department decided to transplant beavers from a rapidly growing area of human habitation by catching them in live traps, flying them to a more hospitable environment via airplane, and parachuting the caged beavers to their new location. Students are asked to evaluate the wisdom of this plan from ecological, economic, and ethical perspectives. This case is intended for an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in sustainable business practices, environmental management, business ethics, and/or wildlife conservation. Excerpt UVA-E-0403 Rev. Jan. 25, 2016 Flying Beavers: An Innovative Approach to Wildlife Conservation It was a crisp morning in the fall of 1948, and Conservation Officer Scotty Heter was walking back from the airfield where he had been field-testing aspects of a new method for controlling beaver populations. A few months earlier, authorities at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game had determined that beavers (Castor canadensis) currently inhabiting the area around McCall, Idaho, and Payette Lake were creating a nuisance for the rapidly expanding human population and that the best course of action would be to move them from their current residence to a more remote area in Idaho's Chamberlain Basin. The most expeditious way to accomplish this, it was believed, was to catch the beavers in live traps, transport them via airplane to their new home, and drop them to the ground via parachute. Natural History Beavers are North America's largest rodents, measuring 24 to 26 inches in length and weighing between 30 and 65 pounds. They are found in every state except Hawaii, living in colonies along rivers, streams, lakes, and other wetland areas. Renowned for their industrious behavior in building dams and modifying habitat to meet their own needs for shelter and food, beavers have earned the title of “nature's engineers.” . . .

Learning from Greek Philosophers: The Foundations and Structural Conditions of Ethical Training in Business Schools

There is an extensive body of work that has previously examined the teaching of ethics in business schools whereby it is hoped that the values and behaviours of students might be provoked to show positive and enduring change. Rather than dealing with the content issues of particular business ethics courses per se, this article explores the philosophical foundations and the structural conditions for developing ethical training programs in business schools. It is informed by historical analysis, specifically, an examination of Platonic and Aristotelian philosophies that inspires virtue ethics, and together provides four conditions for consideration: respect for law, dialectics, imitation and deliberation. We outline the necessary structural conditions for implementing these requirements as well as suggesting the necessary pedagogical protocol applicable to all courses. It is argued that reference to our two ancient Greek philosophers provide many valuable and insightful lessons for the implementation of ethical training today including choice of theoretical content and the approach towards learning. Further, the enactment of a pedagogical protocol requires a policy of recruiting and managing business school teachers-instructors that takes into account, and consciously encourages, intellectual, relational and spiritual pedagogical qualities.

Shifting dimensions of autonomy in students’ research and employment

ABSTRACTThis study considers the conceptual space, or extent of autonomy, given to coursework Masters students before, during and after a Business Ethics course that explicitly developed and assessed their research skills. This vocationally oriented and academically challenging course used the Research Skill Development framework as its conceptual model to reshape the learning and assessment environment, articulating to students not only the research skills required, but also clarifying the resulting autonomy in their research-orientated learning. In the study, seven students attended semi-structured interviews and transcript analysis of interviews revealed the level of student-declared autonomy before commencing coursework Masters, while completing the Business Ethics course, and near the end of their Masters degree. All of the students interviewed were studying part-time and working part-time, and so the applicability of the research skills to students’ work environment emerged as a major issue of interest. This paper richly represents the students’ perceptions, and is the first paper to directly address coursework Masters student autonomy in research in a longitudinal manner; as such it provides a deep and nuanced understanding of the conceptual space that students need for success in study and as preparation for employment.

The Big Event

The Big Event is a nationally recognized, student-run day of service where students, faculty, and staff give back to their university’s surrounding community by performing volunteer work. The Big Event can also be used as a resource to teach and reinforce corporate social responsibility (CSR) theories to management students. Students participating in the Big Event see firsthand application of the many CSR concepts they learn in the classroom. By utilizing the Big Event as a service project, students also gain a better appreciation of the real-world issues and problems that modern organizations often encounter. The service project can be used in a business law or ethics course, in an introductory management course, or in an organizational behavior course, among others. The Big Event is therefore an excellent resource for management educators to use when teaching CSR theories, and it is a wonderful way for students, faculty, and staff to give back to the community.

Teaching business ethics to Chinese undergraduate students: using the Hunt-Vitell experiential learning model

Whereas Western literature on the teaching of business ethics is extensively developed, research of the subject in a non-Western setting is somewhat limited. This study investigated the possible impact of the teaching of business ethics on the cognitive competence and decision-making processes of Chinese business undergraduate students by using the Hunt-Vitell experiential learning model. A university in the northern region of the China was selected and a qualitative study, comprising both observation and in-depth, semi-structured interviews, was undertaken. The findings revealed that taking a business ethics course could have a significant effect on students' cognitive development, but little impact on their ethical decision-making process. The study identified an inconsistency between the students' comprehension of ethical principles and their application. Their behaviour when confronted with an ethical dilemma or situation was not consistent with the ethical theories they indicated could apply. The theoretical and the practical implications and the limitations of the study are noted. Directions for future study in this area are suggested.

Highlighting Moral Courage in the Business Ethics Course

At the end of their article in the September 2014 issue of the Journal of Business Ethics, Douglas R. May, Matthew T. Luth, and Catherine E. Schwoerer state that they are “hopeful in outlook” about the “evidence that business ethics instructors are….able to encourage students…to develop the courage to come forward even when pressures in organizations dictate otherwise” (p. 78). We agree with May et al. (2014) that it is essential to augment students’ moral courage. However, it seems overly optimistic to believe that this improvement will result from any course in business ethics. Indeed, we question the appropriateness of their measure of moral courage and assert that business ethics educators must purposely design their courses to develop students’ moral courage. In particular, we advocate introducing business ethics students to works of literature featuring protagonists who exercise moral courage in organizations. Fiction provides rich accessible narratives that show students worlds beyond their experience, awaken their imaginations, and evoke their emotions. Further, we highlight morally courageous exemplars because they inspire the cultivation of character. Joining those who underscore the role of virtue in business ethics education, we argue that exposure to moral exemplars in fiction will help students to build the moral courage they need to carry out ethical decisions in the workplace. Results from 46 students at the end of an MBA ethics course featuring moral courage provide preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of our approach.

Ethical Frameworks (Lecture Slides)

These slides cover the three primary ethical frameworks of Utilitarianism, Deontology & Virtue Ethics. They are designed for a business law & ethics course but are applicable to other disciplines and situations.

Are the “Customers” of Business Ethics Courses Satisfied? An Examination of One Source of Business Ethics Education Legitimacy

Though there are many factors that contribute to the perceived legitimacy of business ethics education, this research focuses on one factor that is given great attention both formally and informally in many business schools: student satisfaction with the course. To understand the nature of student satisfaction, the authors draw from multiple theories with central claims relating (met) expectations with satisfaction. The authors then compare student expectations of business ethics courses with instructor objectives and discover that business ethics courses are not necessarily designed to meet student expectations. The authors speculate that this general mismatch between student expectations and instructor objectives has material consequences. As one example, the authors analyze student evaluations from three business schools and identify a “business ethics course effect”: a negative association between business ethics courses and student evaluations. The authors discuss the implications for business ethics education of a situation where pedagogical objectives (“Educate!”) and market prescriptions (“Satisfy!”) point in different directions.

Predicting success in the undergraduate hybrid business ethics class

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use data available through the hybrid (blended online and face to face) learning environment to explore both a direct behavioral measure of conscientiousness and gender in predicting hybrid classroom performance. Design/methodology/approach – Variables measuring both student conscientious behavior, in the hybrid classroom, and gender were examined to determine their relationship to student final grades (i.e. success) in hybrid undergraduate business ethics courses. Findings – The author finds that: first, conscientiousness continues to be a solid predictor of academic success; second, gender continues to be an insignificant predictor of success in the online/hybrid environment; third, using direct behavioral measures of conscientiousness yields results consistent with prior research that linked inventory-based conscientiousness levels to academic performance; and finally, the archiving and data-collection functions of the hybrid classroom represent a rich trove of behavioral data that may be mined for clues to predict student academic success. Research limitations/implications – As the research is based on data from six hybrid business ethics classrooms at one institution, future research could be extended to different classrooms and different institutions compared across nations. Research implications include highlighting the potential value of using direct measures of conscientiousness to predict performance. Practical implications – The study sheds light on the tremendous possibilities for conducting applied research on educational performance outcomes using the rich data inherent in the hybrid learning environment. The author has suggested numerous ways to mine the data from the online portion of the hybrid classroom to explore antecedents of academic success. The author suggests that the hybrid classroom can provide data to act as an early warning system for educators to identify struggling students. Originality/value – The paper builds upon an exploratory study of the use of direct behavioral (rather than inventory self-report) measures of personality in research on educational outcomes as well as introducing avenues for original research on learning behavior based on data afforded by the hybrid educational environment.

Business students’ attitudes toward business ethics: an empirical investigation in Vietnam

Purpose– The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes toward business ethics of Vietnamese business students based on gender and the experience of having taken a business ethics course.Design/methodology/approach– A quantitative self-administered survey was conducted with a convenience sample of Vietnamese business students at a banking university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This study used the 30-item Attitudes Toward Business Ethics Questionnaire (ATBEQ) constructed by Neumann and Reichel (1987) based on the work of Stevens (1979). The Vietnamese version questionnaire was distributed, and 282 surveys were used for analysis. An item-by-item analysis was conducted based on gender and the experience of having taken a business ethics course.Findings– Significant differences were found on seven items based on gender and four items based on the experience of having taken a business ethics course. However, respondents appeared to have similar attitudes on the majority of the items.Research limitations/implications– Perhaps the greatest limitation of this study is the relatively uneven distribution of the respondents in the sample. The sample is skewed slightly toward women who are a bit older, fourth year or post-graduate and those who have not taken a business ethics course. In addition convenience sampling technique reduced its generalizability. This study is important because it supports the idea of ethics education to improve ethical decision-making of future business leaders and that education has an effect in Vietnam.Practical implications– As business students are the main subjects of this research, it can be useful for those involved in development of management and business education in Vietnam to have an overview on how gender impacts business students’ ethics perception. For the executives of multinational corporations, this study provides important information and adds support to a decision to do business in Vietnam.Social implications– Although there may be a perception of a less than ethical climate in Vietnam based on its Corruption Perception Index scores, it appears that Vietnamese business students in general express an ethical viewpoint. This study emphasizes the importance of ethics education that is culture-specific to build a strong ethical business environment that can help Vietnam prevent bribery and corruption and achieve sustainable growth and prosperity.Originality/value– This study contributes to the attitudes toward business ethics research and sheds light on the impact of gender and education (business ethics course) on Vietnamese business students’ ethical attitudes. There has been little research on business ethics in Vietnam. Academicians, managers, practitioners, policymakers, government leaders and the like can benefit from the findings of this paper.

Joseph Heath's Morality, competition, and the firm: the market failures approach to business ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, 424 pp.

Review of Joseph Heath's Morality, competition, and the firm: the failures approach to business ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, 424 pp.Anyone who has taught or taken a business ethics course will be familiar with the tired debate between shareholder theory and stakeholder theory. Shareholder (or stockholder) theory is almost always represented by a Milton Friedman opinion piece from a 1970 issue of New York Times Magazine that traditionally plays a role in the business ethics classroom comparable to that of the 'heel' in a professional wrestling match. It announces in its title the view it purports to defend: The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits (Friedman 1970). (Friedman's piece actually contains a variety of arguments that are difficult to reconcile with each other, which makes his ultimate views on the social responsibility of business both more nuanced and harder to pin down than the title suggests.) Swooping in to rescue business from Friedmanite moral laxity is usually an article expounding stakeholder theory by its founding father, R. Edward Freeman, who claims that the firm's managers should advance the interests of all of a firm's stakeholders, not merely those of shareholders, as an ultimate goal.Shareholder theory and stakeholder theory have both generated enormous literatures. When reading through the three decades' worth of contributions to this literature, one gets the sense that there is little left to say. shareholder-stakeholder debate has grown stale, but it never reached a particularly satisfying resolution. big questions that originally set off the debate remain open: What are the ethical responsibilities of the corporate manager? What factors must the corporate manager take into account, and how, in order to run the corporation ethically?Over the past decade, University of Toronto philosopher Joseph Heath has written a series of papers that put forward a new way of thinking about these central questions of business ethics. Heath's work features extensive use of economic theory. This is relatively common in business ethics. Indeed, as I have mentioned, one of the articles that gave rise to business ethics as an academic discipline was written by none other than Milton Friedman. But usually, economic approaches to business ethics are used to argue for extremely minimalist views about the ethical obligations that apply to corporate managers. What separates Heath's work from much of the previous business ethics literature is his extensive use of economic theory to justify a much more demanding set of ethical norms for business. Morality, competition, and the firm is a collection of essays on his novel alternative to stakeholder and shareholder theories, which he dubs the 'market failures' approach to business ethics. (Six of the chapters in the book develop and defend core elements of this approach, and the remaining eight chapters address related subjects relevant to the evaluation of markets, firms, and agents.)Heath's book is essential reading for scholars and students interested in new ways of thinking about the foundations of business ethics. But the themes in the book are also likely to be relevant to scholars working at the intersection between ethics, political philosophy, political economy, and economics more broadly. There is tension, to put it mildly, between mainstream views in political philosophy and mainstream views in economics. What is distinctive about Heath's work is that it links mainstream egalitarian views about justice in political philosophy to certain aspects of mainstream thinking about economics. Indeed, one of the most important chapters in the book, Efficiency as the implicit morality of the market (which I will briefly discuss later), gives an explicit and detailed account of how norms of economic efficiency are compatible with a commitment to a strict egalitarian theory of justice. …

STUDENT PERCEPTION ON BUSINESS ETHICS

Many research conducted on the behavior of business persons and their perception on businessethics. However, rarely similar study deals with the perception of students on businessethics. Indeed, students are our future generation who are going to have substantial role inIndonesian business and economy. Therefore this study focuses on students as a proxy for futurebusiness players in this country (Trawick and Draden, 1980). We compare among groups ofstudents based on their maturity, formal business ethic education, gender and specific professionalbackgrounds. The results of analysis show that in general students have good perceptionon business ethics. Further, there is a significant different perception on business ethics amongstudents with different academic maturity, professional background. Student with businessbackground are less ethical compare to those are with non-business background. This may consistentwith previous evidence found that ethical principles need to be introduced more tobusiness students. In contrast, there is no different perception on business ethics among studentwith different gender groups and formal business ethics course. This could be business ethicsformal education takes time to be internalized by participants or student with no formalbusiness ethics course also learn business ethics from other sources.Keywords: students, perceptions, business ethics

STUDENT PERCEPTION ON BUSINESS ETHICS

Many research conducted on the behavior of business persons and their perception on businessethics. However, rarely similar study deals with the perception of students on businessethics. Indeed, students are our future generation who are going to have substantial role inIndonesian business and economy. Therefore this study focuses on students as a proxy for futurebusiness players in this country (Trawick and Draden, 1980). We compare among groups ofstudents based on their maturity, formal business ethic education, gender and specific professionalbackgrounds. The results of analysis show that in general students have good perceptionon business ethics. Further, there is a significant different perception on business ethics amongstudents with different academic maturity, professional background. Student with businessbackground are less ethical compare to those are with non-business background. This may consistentwith previous evidence found that ethical principles need to be introduced more tobusiness students. In contrast, there is no different perception on business ethics among studentwith different gender groups and formal business ethics course. This could be business ethicsformal education takes time to be internalized by participants or student with no formalbusiness ethics course also learn business ethics from other sources.Keywords: students, perceptions, business ethics

The influence of a business ethics course on ethical judgments of Malaysian accountants

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of ethics instruction received during tertiary education on ethical judgments of Malaysian accountants. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained through questionnaire survey and analyzed using regression analysis. Findings – A total of 221 respondents representing a 88.4 per cent response rate completed the questionnaire. The regression results show that ethics instruction received during tertiary education have a significant impact on both legal and illegal business scenarios. Accountants also judged an illegal questionable scenario stricter than a legal questionable scenario. Research limitations/implications – The questionnaires were distributed to those firms which participated in the internship programme. Although the firms which participated were of varying sizes, care still needs to be taken in interpreting the results, as representativeness remains an issue in studies of small sample size. Practical implications – The findings appear to suggest that ethics is an important factor influencing ethical judgments. Hence, the subject should be taught at least at the tertiary level so as to inculcate ethical values early in younger generation. An ethically imbued workforce can be expected to make sound and equitable corporate decisions. Originality/value – The study offers preliminary insight into the benefit of introducing the business ethics course in the undergraduate accounting programme at public universities in Malaysia.

Voicing Moral Concerns: Yes, But How? The Use of Socratic Dialogue Methodology

After a selective review of relevant literature about teaching business ethics, this paper builds on a summary of Fred Bird’s thoughts about the voicing of moral concerns provided in his book about moral muteness (Bird in The muted conscience, 1996). Socratic dialogue methodology (in the tradition of L. Nelson and G. Heckmann) is then presented and the use of this methodology is examined, for business ethics teaching in general, and for addressing our paper topic in particular. Three short form Socratic dialogues about the paper topic are summarized for illustration, together with preparation and debriefing suggestions for a Socratic dialogue unit as part of a business ethics course. In conclusion, Socratic dialogue design is related to the experiential learning approach, and characterized by a few basic traits, which imply both risks and opportunities for business ethics teaching.

Epistemological and Pedagogical Challenges of Teaching International Business Ethics Courses

International business ethics courses imply four basic epistemological and pedagogical challenges: (a) understanding various perceptions of ethics and values/virtues; (b) identifying ethical maxims among religious/spiritual traditions; (c) designing international business ethics courses as dialogical experiences; and (d) deepening our personal contribution to others’ learning process. This article argues that those epistemological and pedagogical challenges could determine the design and the contents of international business ethics courses: facing up to compatible/incompatible ethical theories (philosophical questioning), identifying ethical maxims among religious/spiritual traditions (religious and spiritual questioning), and reading our actions/decisions as quasi-texts (literature-bound questioning). Business ethics teachers could take those challenges upon themselves and design their business ethics courses accordingly. For each of the four challenges, a specific ethical issue is described; advice for teachers as well as ethical questions for debate and personal development are provided.

Can the Service Learning Model Help Business Ethics Courses From Being an Oxymoron?

Colleges of Business face new challenges in teaching students about Business Ethics. Some laugh off the notion as an oxymoron; they assert that you cannot teach morality, ethics or values. Others look to our nation's universities as the place where ethical behavior should be defined, nurtured and encouraged. Unlike courses offered in religion or philosophy, students and employers want to know how to apply these models and concepts. Exhortations do not suffice. This article defines a successful class project that applies business ethics to organizational realities. Student teams work with a client system to develop a Code of Ethics for the firm. These projects incorporate the established benefits of service learning – students learn while doing, strongly reinforcing classroom lessons. Does this approach make a difference? Results from the accreditation processdocument that it contributes to an increase in student learning.

Background to the foundations of business ethics as a university course: A South African perspective

In this article on the background of business ethics and business ethics education, the following important questions, discussions and issues will be addressed: Firstly, a brief overview on the development of philosophy will be provided since business ethics can be viewed as a subdivision of philosophy. An exposition of how business ethics links with philosophy will (among others) be provided. Due to the fact that this article largely concentrates on the accountancy and auditing professions, referral will also briefly be made to how the so-called “professional ethics” of the concerned professions fit into the comprehensive discipline of philosophy. The second aspect to be addressed will be regarding one of the main challenges in presenting business ethics courses, namely to keep the subject pragmatic and practically applicable – which may be difficult, possibly due to the discipline’s development from philosophy. If the pragmatic and practical focus is not maintained, business ethics may result in a mere philosophical and theoretical course that has little to do with ethical challenges encountered in the real accountancy profession and business world. Reasons are mentioned that may result in business ethics courses being irrelevant and impractical and therefore possible solutions to this problem are also suggested. Other challenges that may prevent lecturers from presenting business ethics courses in an optimal manner are also briefly discussed in this section.

Topics to be included in a meaningful and informative undergraduate business ethics course for accountancy students: A South African perspective. Part 1

Unethical business practices in South Africa, as in many other countries, is at the order of the day. As a result there is increasing pressure on the auditing and accounting professions to devote sufficient attention to business education during the training of prospective auditors and accountants. This is the first in a series of two articles regarding topics that should be included in a meaningful and informative business ethics course for undergraduate students in the fields of accounting and auditing.

Topics to be included in a meaningful and informative undergraduate business ethics course for accountancy students: A South African perspective. Part 2.

Unethical business practices in South Africa, as in many other countries, is at the order of the day. As a result there is increasing pressure on the auditing and accounting professions to devote sufficient attention to business education during the training of prospective auditors and accountants. This is the second in a series of two articles regarding topics that should be included in a meaningful and informative business ethics course for undergraduate students in the fields of accounting and auditing.