Importance Of Ethical Behavior Research Articles

Ethical leadership and workplace behavior in the education sector: The implications of employees' ethical work behavior.

The study aimed to examine the effect of ethical leadership on employees' ethical work behavior. Furthermore, this study examined the mediating role of organizational commitment in the relationship between ethical leadership and employees' ethical work behavior. This study was conducted in a public-sector educational organization, and 500 questionnaires were distributed among targeted employees. Out of these, 400 valid responses were received from individuals working in the education sector in China. The findings showed a positive and significant impact of ethical leadership on employees' ethical work behavior. We found that organizational commitment also significantly mediates the relationship between ethical leadership and employees' ethical work behavior. The practical implications of the current study are useful for all organizations in the public sector. As ethical leadership is positively related to employees' work behavior, we recommend that organizations should develop and conduct such training programs to promote ethical work behavior. Leaders with a strong sense of ethics should be hired to encourage ethical work behavior within the organization. Furthermore, organizations can conduct management training programs, seminars, and workshops to encourage such behavior. Ethical behavior can be encouraged among employees by making it a clear requirement of their jobs. To achieve positive results, top management and leadership must educate employees on the value and importance of ethical behavior in the workplace.

Beliefs affecting concussion reporting among military cadets: advanced observations through machine learning

ABSTRACT Background: Untreated concussions are an important health concern. The number of concussions sustained each year is difficult to pinpoint due to diverse reporting routes and many people not reporting. A growing body of literature investigates the motivations for concussion under-reporting, proposing ties with knowledge of concussion outcomes and concussion culture. The present work employs machine learning to identify trends in knowledge and willingness to self-report concussions. Methods: 2,204 cadets completed a survey addressing athletic and pilot status, concussion symptoms and outcome beliefs, ethical beliefs, demographics, and reporting willingness. Results: Clustering and non-negative matrix analysis identified connections to self-report willingness within: knowledge of symptoms, ethical beliefs, reporting requirements, and belief of long-term concussion outcomes. Support vector machine classification of cadet reporting likelihood reveals symptom and outcome knowledge may be inversely related to reporting among those rating ethics considerations as low, while heightened ethics may predict higher reporting likeliness overall. Conclusions: Machine-learning analysis bolsters prior theories on the importance of concussion culture in reporting and indicate more symptom knowledge may decrease willingness to report. Uniquely, our analysis indicated importance of ethical behavior may be associated with general concussion reporting willingness, inviting further consideration from healthcare practitioners seeking increased reporting.

Sosyo-Demografik Değişkenlerin Harita Mühendisliği Öğrencilerinin Etik Tutum Düzeyine Etkilerinin Araştırılması

The importance of ethical behaviour has increased gradually in today's business life, and people who are unaware of ethical rules and requirements are not preferred by employers, customers and employees has been observed. For this purpose, the course of engineering ethics (professional ethics) was put into the syllabus as compulsory for geomatics engineering students undergraduate and graduate education programs in Turkey by Higher Education Council in order to teach ethic principals and professional responsibility and to gain the ability to query professional dilemmas. This study was planned to examine the engineering ethics attitude levels of geomatics engineering students taking the professional ethics course, and to determine the effect of socio-demographic variables on the attitude levels of engineering ethics. The sample of the study consisted of 224 students who voluntarily participated in the survey. In the research, Engineering Ethics Scale and Socio-Demographic Data Collection Form consisting of 21 items were used. In the analysis of the data, number / percentage analysis, Shapiro Wilk, Mann Whitney U, Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney U tests with Bonferroni correction were used. Significance level was accepted as 0.05 in statistical analysis. In the study, it was determined that the students who took the professional ethics course had high engineering ethics attitude levels, and there was a statistically significant relationship between the variables of gender, age and socio-economic status and engineering ethics attitude levels.

Does sustainable consumption make consumers happy?

The importance of ethical behavior in consumers has never been so evident, and in recent years, researchers have generated a great deal of knowledge about ethical consumption. The search for happiness in consumption has been a recurrent line of research by academics of the management and, mainly, the marketing fields. Our study analyses the relationship between ethical and sustainable behavior in consumption and the achievement of consumer happiness. Employing structural equations, the findings of the study suggest that there is a positive relationship between consumers’ predisposition toward sustainable behavior and happiness. In addition, the findings indicate that, when there are reasons to justify unethical behavior in consumption, the consumer also manages to be happier. Important implications for theory and practice are derived from the results. Emphasizing the benefits of sustainable consumption for enhancing happiness might instigate sustainable consumption, especially in the case of those consumers who do not have a positive attitude toward sustainable consumption.

Tools and Incentives for Implementing Codes of Ethics to Help Prevent the Reemergence of Chemical Weapons

Since 1997, when the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) entered into force and the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was established, >97% of the world’s declared stockpile, comprising 70,372 t of chemical warfare agents, has been destroyed. Despite this notable progress, advances in chemical synthesis bring new challenges to preventing chemical weapons production. The development of ethical codes or guidelines such as The Hague Ethical Guidelines and the Global Chemists’ Code of Ethics (GCCE) and their voluntary adoption by chemical practitioners worldwide are important steps in strengthening international nonproliferation efforts through their potential to impact the intent of the individual by normalizing ethical behavior. However, the simple act of adopting a code or implementing Responsible Care initiatives does not guarantee ethical behavior. Individuals’ decisions often contribute to the seriousness of chemical incidents and accidents, even if the root causes are shortfalls in safety and/or security. History is replete with accounts of chemical incidents that were made worse due to ethics failures at the individual and/or corporate level. The cost associated with response and root cause investigations for such incidents can be massive, but knee-jerk reactions to push for more regulation or to establish more oversight mechanisms following the immediate impact and initial cleanup may require significantly more resources to execute. At their core, ethics failures often arise, at least partially, due to a lack of shared investment in the company’s mission. When people are guided by a shared mission, they are more likely to bring a sense of professionalism to their work and to hold each other accountable for ethical behavior. Scenario-based training can provide new employees opportunities to practice acting ethically, but it takes time and money to organize in-person training events. Careful implementation of scenario-based e-learning to teach behavioral expectations that compel trainees to practice and discuss ethics, however, can provide a meaningful way to ensure employees are provided the necessary opportunities to rehearse ethical behavior, regardless of where they are physically located. As individuals become comfortable identifying and standing up for what is right, they strengthen their resolve to act when issues arise in the future. Company managers and university professors alike have a duty to educate others on the importance of ethical behavior, capitalize on teachable moments to help others understand the principles behind the desired behaviors, encourage others to speak up and act when they see something wrong, and model the behaviors they seek. In so doing, they may actively participate in making the world a better place and minimize the potential for the reemergence of chemical weapons.

Assessing IT Students’ Intentions to Commit Unethical Actions

ABSTRACT With the increased volume of and access to electronically held assets, ethical behavior of information technology (IT) professionals is critical. The importance of ethical behavior in the workplace has emphasized the need for coverage of ethics in IT-related academic programs. To better understand how academic IT programs support the teaching of ethics, this study examines people’s desires and intentions to act ethically within specific IT-related contexts by developing a survey. These contexts, derived from industry codes of conduct, include intellectual property rights (IPR), software piracy (SWP), and privacy (PR). Hypotheses are developed and tested based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and dual process cognitive models. The results show that people’s intent to behave ethically with IT decreases their intentions to behave unethically with IPR and SWP and that people’s desire to behave ethically with IT decreases their intentions to behave unethically with IPR and PR.

The Ethical Content of the Control System and the Importance of Peer Managers Being Good Apples

The importance of ethical behavior in organizations is undeniable. This study examines how management control systems can facilitate ethical behaviors and an ethical work climate. We examine the intensity of use of an ethical control system and, hence, our focus is on the system’s content. We conceptualize an ethical control system as one that communicates ethical values and motivates employees to act accordingly. Using data from a sample of German managers the results show that the intensity of use of an ethical control system imposed on department managers decreases their engagement in counterproductive behaviors, which in turn, enhances the ethical work climate of the department. These results are consistent with social learning theory. We also examine a contextual factor, peer manager behavior, and find that this effect is amplified when peers are “good apples,” that is, when they act in ways that exhibit less focus on themselves (i.e., less self-interested behavior). In addition, when peers are “good apples,” a more self-focused ethical work climate results in decreased relative performance. Thus, this study demonstrates that including ethical content in the management control system matters, but so does the existence of “good apple” peer managers.

Fraud Prevention in Health Sector: Proposals of Solution

One of the most important problems in the business world is unethical behaviors by workers. Businesses lose 6% of their income with fraud and the health sector is the 5th sector among the affected sectors by fraud activities. To prevent fraud in the health sector, implementation of corporate governance principles, internal control procedures comply with international anti-fraud legislation, the disclosure of annual anti-fraud report are recommended. In this study, after a literature review, the importance of ethical behavior and institutionalization in the health sector in Turkey have been discussed and the measures which should be taken to prevent corruption in the health sector are listed.

Ensuring ethical competency measures in organizations: An exploratory study

Competency models provide a description of desired behaviors, skills and attributes that are intended to facilitate the achievement of organizational goals. In spite of the importance of ethical behavior towards sustainability of business, there is a conspicuous absence of ethical competency in the competency dictionary of organizations. Based on in-depth interviews of 21 heads of HR in Indian organizations, the present study proposed three core reasons for the absence of ethical competency measures in organizations. In addition the study explored the mechanisms followed by the organizations to reinforce and foster ethical behavior in their workforce. The study concludes by proposing a framework through which organizations ensure ethical behavior in their workforce. Implications of the study for both research and practice are discussed.

Analysis of professional ethics in Engineering Degrees

The role of engineering is closely related to its role in society. An engineer may be involved in supervising the work of a team;in negotiations; and always may have special responsibilities to ensure that work is safe, and to ensure it is not damaging the environment. We have analyzed the specific case of ethics in some engineering degrees. In our country, in recent years, the White Books of qualifications for Bachelor’s Degrees of the industrial branches, possesses a mention to delivery an optional subject related to ethics and the acquisition of the competence of an ethical and moral responsibility. In the case of the School of Industrial Engineering at the University of Salamanca (Spain), this competence is not included as a subject in the definition of the degrees. Ethical responsibility is included in the same group of transversal competences as teamwork or critical reasoning. We have conducted a survey about ethics to different engineering students to get their feedback about the importance of ethical behavior, the ethics and professional responsibility, or the necessity of the associations of engineers(after they finish their studies).Keywords: Engineering education, ethics, competences.

PSYCHO-PEDAGOGICAL TECHNOLOGY OF MORAL EDUCATION OF PRESCHOOLERS: AN INNOVATIVE OPINION

Moral upbringing of preschoolers is a complex process, because the children often violate the rules and regulations though knowing them. The reasons for such behavior are based on the age-related peculiarities, influence of the environment and the individual development traits. When there is a lack of adult control, the junior preschooler will not “see” his own violations, although admitting his peers to have them. This is because he is not yet aware of the necessity and importance of ethical behavior for himself. For successful implementation of the moral education tasks, the psycho-pedagogical support of this process should be provided. In the course of development, a child works out the moral behavior skills, getting into different situations. These game-like situations are used as educational, and promote the improvement of the child’s moral development level.

Improving Moral Behaviour in the Business Use of ICT

The 21st century has seen a much-increased focus on the importance of ethical behaviour in business, driven by major scandals, calls for stricter regulation and increased demands for improved governance and reporting. In parallel, there are calls for the incorporation of moral and ethical elements in business education and university accreditation bodies and schools are responding. In particular, the explosion of technology change, particularly Internet, social media and beyond have raised many challenges for individuals, organizations and legislators. However, educational responses are varied and little has been done to determine the effectiveness of what has been done. Most responses to this need to provide ethical education follow a cognitive, rule-based approach, often using case-based techniques. This can improve knowledge and understanding of ethical issues, but it may have limited influence on actual behaviour. A relatively new field – Positive Psychology -- provides an alternate perspective, focusing on what is good rather than what is poor behaviour. One Positive Psychology approach, that of Appreciative Inquiry, which has not previously been used in ICT ethics education, offers a promising technique to develop improved moral attitudes and behaviour. This paper reports on a large-scale pedagogical research project that: (1) examines ethical perspectives from philosophy, psychology and pedagogy in the context of ICT professional education; (2) describes the development and multistage implementation of an ethics course in an undergraduate business ICT program delivered to more than 1,200 students; (3) discusses the formal evaluation of changes in moral attitude following a Positive Psychology intervention in the education of some 300 Business ICT students using the Defining Issues Test, Version 2 (DIT2) and the IMIS Survey developed at the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility. The project results demonstrate that a well-designed applied ICT ethics course produces measureable positive changes in the ethical stances of participants and that the use of Appreciative Inquiry increases the impact of these changes. In addition to the relevance of the findings for educators they can provide guidance to those in organisations responsible for the ethical behaviour of their ICT employees.

The Use of a Non-Fiction Fraud-Related Book as a Method for Teaching Accounting Ethics

The non-fiction book, “Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower,” by Cynthia Cooper is employed in an upper-level undergraduate auditing class at a Canadian University to teach accounting students about the importance of ethical behavior and to improve students’ ethical decision-making skills. The use of this non-fiction book as a tool to teach ethics is an example of the “deep” approach to learning. Students’ assessment consisted of a quiz and a group special assignment. Overall, accounting students were satisfied with this method of learning about business ethics.

Medical bribery and the ethics of trust: the Romanian case.

Medical bribery seems to be a global problem from Eastern Europe and the Balkans to China, a diffuse phenomenon, starting with morally acceptable gratitude and ending with institutional bribery. I focus my attention on Romania and analyze similar cases in Eastern European and postcommunist countries. Medical bribery can be regarded as a particular form of human transaction, a kind of primitive contract that occurs when people do not trust institutions or other forms of social contract that are meant to guarantee their rights and protect their interests. Concluding with strategies to fight medical bribery, I will underline better public policies for financing health and social care, and an ethic of trust that may help to restore trustworthiness of institutions and to rebuild interpersonal trust. This should be complemented by an educational program dedicated to understanding the negative consequences and mechanisms of corruption and the importance of ethical behavior.

Vedic learning and management education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss how management education in India can benefit from applying a Vedic Learning style. It argues that transformational learning, a key to transforming mindset, also increases the importance of ethical behavior in management education. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a literature review of Vedic education principles and transformational learning. It focusses on how to apply it in the management education. Findings – It presents an analysis of Vedic Learning, the Indian mindset and the role of transformational learning in Indian management education. While there is a decline in practicing Vedic Learning in India, in fact, it carries a huge potential for all-round development which would transform management education. The paper proposes ingredients for management education following Vedic Learning in terms of philosophy, designing programs, teacher's role, teaching environment and by integrating different types of skills for management. Practical implications – It implies that management education can be designed in a Vedic Learning style for revitalizing practical wisdom for facing the challenges of modern society, both in India and other parts of the world. Originality/value – It strengthens the relevance of the concept of Vedic Learning and shows its similarities with transformational learning.

Discussion of “Ethical Climate, Social Responsibility and Earnings Management”

In this discussion of Shafer’s (J Bus Ethics, 2013, doi: 10.1007/s10551-013-1989-3 ) empirical research published in this issue, I raise several issues for future research. For example, I encourage ethics research to more carefully consider their use of climate versus culture, and call for an elucidation of the different characteristics of the two constructs. Additionally, the relationship between corporate ethical climate and employees’ perceptions of the importance of ethical behavior is complex. Because research commonly calls for organizations to improve their climate in order to improve ethical behavior, an exploration of the exit, voice, loyalty, or neglect options of employees in light of varying organizational ethical climates should be further explored.

Debt financing to new small ventures in South Africa: The impact of collateral, ethics and the legal system

The purpose of the study on which this article is based was to ascertain to what extent collateral, ethics and the legal system impact on the availability of bank and trade credit to new SMEs in South Africa. Focusing on both commercial banks (using collateral) and trade creditors (unsecured), this study created a unique opportunity to assess the impact of collateral on the importance of ethical behavior and the efficiency of the legal system as prerequisites for the availability of external debt to new SMEs. The legal systems of countries are also not equally efficient, and could even differ in terms of secured and unsecured debt, which, in turn, could influence the ethical behavior of the entrepreneur. The complex relationship between collateral, ethics and the legal system and how it influences the availability of external debt are accentuated. The article also gives insight to entrepreneurs and government regarding potential reasons for the non-availability of credit from trade creditors and commercial banks to new SMEs. Key words: Debt finance, SMEs, collateral, legal system, ethics.

Do As We Say, Not As We Do: Teaching Ethics In The Modern College Classroom

In the past decade, there has been an increasing level of distress over the perceived lack of ethics exhibited by members of the accounting profession. This distress has resulted in a call for a greater emphasis on ethics coverage as part of a college-level accounting education. However, one could argue that the various organizations that are leading these calls, and the academic institutions which are charged with implementing this enhanced ethical education, often suffer from ethical failings of their own. The purpose of this paper is to examine the degree to which these organizations “practice what they preach.” Recent history is rife with examples of ethical shortcomings on the part of accounting professionals; Enron, Worldcom, and Tyco come to mind as examples which have received extensive media coverage. The resultant public concern over ethics in accounting has led several governmental and professional bodies to mandate or promote codes of ethical conduct. The Congress of the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and other bodies have all made public pronouncements which explicitly insist upon the importance of ethical behavior. Similarly, many education-related organizations (i.e., universities and accrediting bodies) have taken the position that education in ethics is an essential part of any college-level education. Finally, although the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), which formulates generally accepted accounting practices for commercial firms in the United States, has not made an explicit statement regarding the importance of ethics, the standards which they promulgate are the measure of what is and is not adequate financial disclosure. Since a failure to follow generally accepted accounting principles is usually thought of as misleading and hence, an ethical violation, it could be argued that the FASB is, in fact, charged with “codifying” ethical behavior as far as financial disclosure is concerned. All of the organizations mentioned above can be criticized, to some extent, for ethical failings of their own. Political bodies, such as the Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission, can often be accused of bowing to special interests and entities which enforce codes of ethics (whether the AICPA in accounting or the American Bar Association in the legal profession or the AMA in the medical profession) are often justly accused of turning a blind eye to all but the most egregious behavior of their members. The FASB, while ostensibly independent, is also subject to pressures in its standard setting process. Finally, the educational establishment has exhibited ethical shortcomings of its own. These problems run from well-publicized institution-wide problems in discrimination and college athletics down to the individual class and faculty member who engages in less-than-ethical behaviors. The paper will examine the recent ethical failings in business and the resultant calls for greater ethical behavior on the part of the accounting profession. A brief summary of some of the literature related to ethical education and development will then be presented. After this, the behaviors of the various regulatory, standard setting and educational institutions will be examined to determine the extent to which their individual behaviors coincide with their stated positions on ethical behavior and the degree to which these behaviors match the standards that we are encouraged to teach to our students.

Ethics Content In Strategic Management Textbooks: A Longitudinal Examination

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of ethics content in strategic management textbooks. The importance of ethical behavior within organizations has been highlighted in the past by organizations, such as Enron and WorldCom, and more recently by British Petroleum and Toyota. The data collected from two different editions of five strategic management texts suggest that ethical content coverage has improved greatly over the past eight years. Implications for both authors and instructors are discussed.

A simulation of moral behavior within marketing exchange relationships

This investigation uses a simulated business-to-business sales context to examine five individual moral philosophies (true altruists, true egoists, realistic altruists, tit-for-tats, and realistic egoists). The simulation is based on the Iterative Prisoner’s Dilemma and its associated payoffs, employing computer-generated sales agents that represent different companies and industries. The agents were selected randomly across 1,000 rounds, and interacted with exchange partners according to the moral philosophies noted. In some cases, various corporate cultures were added to determine their impact on the evolution and final mix of philosophical orientations of agents within firms. Simulation results indicate the importance of ethical behavior on the long-term financial success of companies as well as the larger industries in which they participate.