Ethical Orientations and Attitudes of Hispanic Business Students

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the attitudes and orientations of Hispanic business students regarding ethical and unethical actions as well as what rewards or punishments are considered appropriate for specific scenarios. A survey was developed using a 2 × 2 randomized experimental design to measure students’ ethical orientations and 38 items were developed to measure students’ attitudes regarding factors that can influence the decision to cheat or not to cheat. The results suggest that Hispanic business students are predominantly concerned with the ethical dimension of an act relative to the outcome of the act. Also, contrary to previous studies findings, some Hispanic business students are likely to cheat on any type of graded work based on the reason for cheating rather than the type of graded work. The paper utilizes an established framework for measuring ethical attitudes and orientations. The study offers a preliminary inductive path towards a more in depth understanding of Hispanic business students which is a rapidly growing population segment whose influence will become more widespread in the coming decades. Some of the findings are not consistent with previous research that examined student bodies as a whole. This might suggest that student ethics researchers may be missing valuable information regarding differences between student body segments that can further inform our understanding of students’ ethical views. Further, this insight may provide an avenue for a more effective approach to guiding the ethical development of students.     

Does Education Influence Ethical Decisions? An International Study

This study examined whether having attended a public, private or religious affiliated grade and/or high school influenced a college student’s ethical decision making process. We also examined whether having taken an ethics course in college influences a student’s ethical decision making process. Our sample included 508 accounting students (237 men and 271 women) from Albania, Ecuador, Ireland and the United States. Our analyses indicated no differences in ethical decision making that associated with either grade-or-high-school education. While our data showed no difference in the reported attitudes between students from Ecuador and the United States after controlling for social desirability response bias, we found significant differences between the attitudes students from the United States and students from both Albania and Ireland. While gender was also significant for six of our seven scenarios, social desirability response bias was significant in all of our scenarios.     

More than Lip Service: The Development and Implementation Plan of an Ethics Decision-Making Framework for an Integrated Undergraduate Business Curriculum

In the face of the business community’s widening concern about corporate ethical behavior, business schools are reexamining how they ensure that students appreciate the ethical implications of managerial decision making and have the analytical tools necessary to confront ethical dilemmas. The current approaches adopted by colleges vary from mere ‘lip service’ to embedding ethics at the core of the curriculum. This paper examines the experience of several US universities that have incorporated business ethics into their curricula. In particular, the paper describes the issues facing Central Washington University as it seeks to integrate ethical decision making into its core undergraduate business curriculum. Issues addressed include the technical challenges of establishing a common element of curriculum across the various business disciplines, determining the major conceptual foundations of ‘ethical thinking’ while recognizing students’ existing value systems, and how to obtain ‘buy in’ by faculty to the initiative.     

Practicing What We Teach – Ethical Considerations for Business Schools

The raging cynicism felt toward businesses and business leaders is a by-product of perceived violations in the social contracts owed to the public. Business schools have a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on present and future business leaders, but ‘practicing what we teach’ is a critical condition precedent. This paper presents frameworks for ethical practices for assessing the social contracts owed by business schools in their role as citizens in the larger community. We identify the ethical implications of business school practices to guide the development of tools for self-assessment and to focus on delivering the implied duties owed to the stakeholders of business schools.     

Teaching ethics and technology with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Agora</Emphasis>, an electronic tool

Courses on ethics and technology have become compulsory for many students at the three Dutch technical universities during the past few years. During this time, teachers have faced a number of didactic problems, which are partly due to a growing number of students. In order to deal with these challenges, teachers in ethics at the three technical universities in the Netherlands — in Delft, Eindhoven and Twente — have developed a web-based computer program called Agora (see www.ethicsandtechnology.com). This program enables students to exercise their ethical understanding and skills extensively. The program makes it possible for students to participate actively in moral reflection and reasoning, and to develop the moral competencies that are needed in their later professional practice. The developers of the program have tried to avoid two traps. Firstly, they rejected, from the outset, a cookbook style of dealing with ethical problems that applied ethics is often taken to be and, secondly, they wanted to design a flexible program that respects the student’s as well as the teacher’s creativity, and that tries to engage students in moral reflection. Agora meets these requirements. The program offers possibilities that extend beyond the requirements that are usually accepted for case-exercises in applied ethics, and that have been realised in several other computer models for teaching ethics. In this article, we describe the main considerations in the development of Agora and the features of the resulting program.     

The challenge of raising ethical awareness: A case-based aiding system for use by computing and ICT students

Students, the future Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals, are often perceived to have little understanding of the ethical issues associated with the use of ICTs. There is a growing recognition that the moral issues associated with the use of the new technologies should be brought to the attention of students. Furthermore, they should be encouraged to explore and think more deeply about the social and legal consequences of the use of ICTs. This paper describes the development of a tool designed to raise students’ awareness of the social impact of ICTs. The tool offers guidance to students undertaking computing and computer-related courses when considering the social, legal and professional implications of the actions of participants in situations of ethical conflict. However, unlike previous work in this field, this tool is not based on an artificial intelligence paradigm. Aspects of the theoretical basis for the design of the tool and the tool’s practical development are discussed. Preliminary results from the testing of the tool are also discussed. An earlier version of this paper was presented by one of the authors at the First International Conference on Teaching Applied and Professional Ethics in Higher Education, Federal University of Surrey Centre for Applied Ethics, Southlands College, Roehampton, London, 2–4 September, 2003.     

Rights, Responsibilities, and Respect: A Balanced Citizenship Model for Schools of Business

In a world increasingly described as turbulent and chaotic, management scholars have acknowledged the importance of a virtue-based set of criteria to serve as a moral rubric for the stakeholders that an organization serves. Business schools play a unique role in helping their students to understand the ethical issues facing business. Business schools can also model the way for creating a clear statement of values and principles, by creating a bill of rights for business schools that recognizes the importance of rights and responsibilities and articulates the important ethical issues that apply not only to business but to the business school context. Four models for creating a bill of rights in schools of business are presented and a framework of a bill of rights is provided. The advantages of a virtue ethics model for a bill of rights are explained as the most practical approach for business faculty to consider.     

Ethical and legal aspects in teaching students of medicine

Due to the rapid advances in medical technology, medical students are now being faced with increasingly complex and unparalleled ethical and practical dilemmas during their training. The new and future challenges of high-tech medicine demand improvements in current medical education, not only by meeting the needs of students through humanized training programs, but also by involving them in finding solutions to the ethical and legal quandaries they encounter. Today’s students of medical universities must acquire knowledge and understanding of the ethical and legal issues relevant to the practice of medicine, and we have to do everything possible to introduce these students to the current discussions on more or less controversial ethical and legal topics. Although final answers may not be found, the very discussion, argumentation, and awakening of students’ interest should become an essential part of the core curriculum of every doctor. An earlier version of this paper was presented at an international conference, “The Ethics of Intellectual Property Rights and Patents,” held in Warsaw, Poland on 23–24 April, 2004. The author is a student and member of the Senate Committee on Teaching.     

The Case for Creating a DBA Program – A Virtue-based Opportunity for Universities

Although efforts have been made to increase the opportunities for American-born minorities to obtain doctoral degrees in business, the actual number of business students who are American-born minorities has been extremely low. At the same time more than half of all PhD candidates in business schools are foreign-born. We suggest that business schools owe an ethical duty to provide role models for minority business students, and that this duty can be achieved by initiating Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) programs that can enable working professionals who are American-born minorities to obtain terminal degrees in business. We outline eight steps that can be taken to implement a viable and cost effective DBA program.     

Superaddressee or Who Will Succeed a Mentor?

This philosophical essay is inspired by a four-year pedagogical relationship that continues in its altered form today. The main focus of this piece is the transformation of a mentor as an immediate addressee into mentor as a superaddressee, an influential third listener who oversees observable dialogues. I explore the mutual responsibilities of a student and a mentor in order to uncover the elements in the pedagogical chemistry responsible for the transformation of an addressee into a superaddressee. Confirmation (a perfect form of understanding) of a student’s intellectual and moral uniqueness, incarnation of a particular value deemed desirable by a student, and education of a student into the dialogic ways of being on his or her own are the necessary ingredients of the process of becoming a superaddressee. Initially a mentor engages in the pedagogy of understanding whose ideal outcome is confirmation of a student’s intellectual and moral makeup. After the dialogue is over, a mentor often moves into the domain of inner speech from where he or she continues to offer perfect understanding, especially in the absence of such understanding from an immediate addressee. Two types of superaddressees are identified and their relationship with the invoking consciousness is explored. I conclude that becoming a superaddressee is the most generous pedagogical contribution to a student’s future: a mentor thus makes his or her voice available to a student’s inner dialogue, often without receiving anything in return. Mikhail Bakhtin is highly influential in my writing. “Superaddressee” or “a third listener” is one of his coinages. The term is treated in “The Problem of the Text” as part of the collection “Speech genres and other late essays” (1986), alluded to in Voloshinov’s (1976) “Discourse in Life and Discourse in Art” and expanded upon in Frank Farmer’s (2001) “Saying and Silence.”     

Values Congruence and Organisational Commitment: P—O Fit in Higher Education Institutions

This study examines business students’ individual values and their perception of their university’s values and the relationship between these values and affective organisational commitment. Findings indicate that both groups of business students rated their personal values as consistent with the rankings of the major pan—cultural values with strong ethical orientation and self—development and learning values. In both educational institutions organisational vision values and individual conservatism values predicted affective commitment. Findings also indicate statistically significant differences between the students’ personal values and their perception of their university’s values, suggesting a degree of lack of P—O fit between the students’ values and their university’s values.     

Duties Owed in Serving Students: The Importance of Teaching Moral Reasoning and Theories of Ethical Leadership in Educating Business Students

This article concerns the importance of teaching moral reasoning and ethical leadership to all undergraduate students and in particular makes the case that students in business especially need familiarity with these capacities and theories given the complex world in which they will find themselves. The corollary to this analysis is the claim that content on moral reasoning and ethical leadership be mandatory for all business majors and that all degrees require course material on these subjects.

Effects of a Classwide Interdependent Group Contingency Designed to Improve the Behavior of an At-Risk Student

When students display disruptive behaviors, it interferes with their own, and other students’ learning and with the teacher’s ability to instruct during academic activities. This study investigated the effects of a classwide interdependent group contingency on the on/off-task behaviors of an at-risk student in a first-grade classroom in a private Midwestern school. The student was referred for intervention due to his high rates of off-task behavior and low levels of academic engagement. An ABAB withdrawal design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention to improve the target student’s behavior as well as that of his classroom peers. Results suggested that the intervention decreased the individual student’s off-task behavior and increased academic engagement while also having positive effects on overall behavior in the classroom.     

Developing spirituality through the use of literature in history education

This paper demonstrates the significant potential for history teachers to contribute to the development of children’s spirituality through the use of literature within the history curriculum. Using four case studies of history teaching in English comprehensive schools, the paper outlines a holistic approach to the subject – drawing upon art and music as well as literature – to foster children’s capacity for meaning‐making from historical interpretations. The paper argues that history education prepares children for the spiritual by virtue of three elements unique to the subject: First, the subject matter and conceptual content of history provide the context for students to engage with the complexity of questions at the essence of the human condition, establishing a cognitive conflict through which spiritual development is fostered. Second, the subjectivity of historical knowledge allows for the development of a community of ethical enquiry within the classroom through which individuals can explore their own ideas and beliefs as well as those of others. Such enquiry fosters the development of reflexive empathy – the capacity to reflect on one’s own life in the light of understanding the lives of others. Third, the subject provides children with a language through which they can articulate their thoughts, beliefs and feelings. The paper argues that these unique elements are significantly strengthened through the complementary use of literature within history lessons, providing a powerful methodology which fosters children’s spirituality.     

Ethics Education in our Colleges and Universities: A Positive Role for Accounting Practitioners

In this research, we review the current level of ethics education prior to college and the emphasis of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) on business ethics education in college using an ‘across the curriculum’ approach. We suggest that business schools and accounting practitioners can forge a more meaningful partnership than what currently exists through the traditional business advisory council prevalent at most schools of business. Ethical conduct is inherent in the practice of public accounting and a hallmark of the accounting profession. Accounting practitioners can play a significant and positive role in helping business schools to reexamine their obligations to society and their students by actively engaging in the exchange of views by academics on the necessity for ethics education as well as those of professional accounting bodies.¹

Survival skills and ethics training for graduate students: A graduate student perspective

Graduate students in the sciences must develop practical skills geared toward scientific survival and success. This is particularly true now, given the paucity of research funds and jobs. Along with more elementary skills, research ethics should be an integral part of students’ scientific training. Survival skills include research skills, communication skills, general efficiency, and preparation for post-graduate work. Ethics training covers guidelines for use of animal and human subjects, data treatment, disclosure, credit issues, conflicts of interest, and response to misconduct. The objective of this paper is to describe, from a graduate student’s perspective, the need for survival and ethics training in graduate programs and to raise both faculty and student awareness of the possibilities for explicit instruction of these skills. Many survival skills and ethical practices will be learned without explicit direction and some are already part of standard training; but, this is not the case for all students or for all skills, so specific instruction is a necessity. Research faculty can use their own experience to help students to develop the proficiencies they will need to succeed.     

Academia, Aristotle, and the Public Sphere – Stewardship Challenges to Schools of Business

In this paper we suggest that the ethical duties of business schools can be understood as representing stewardship in the Aristotelian tradition. In Introduction section we briefly explain the nature of ethical stewardship as a moral guideline for organizations in examining their duties to society. Ethical Stewardship section presents six ethical duties of business schools that are owed to four distinct stakeholders, and includes examples of each of those duties. Utilizing this Framework section identifies how this framework of duties can be used in the process of self-examination and transformation within business schools. Why It Matters section concludes by explaining why the process of examining ethical duties at business schools is vitally important for both business schools and the larger communities that they serve.

Design, Development, and Evaluation of an Interactive Simulator for Engineering Ethics Education (SEEE)

Societal pressures, accreditation organizations, and licensing agencies are emphasizing the importance of ethics in the engineering curriculum. Traditionally, this subject has been taught using dogma, heuristics, and case study approaches. Most recently a number of organizations have sought to increase the utility of these approaches by utilizing the Internet. Resources from these organizations include on-line courses and tests, videos, and DVDs. While these individual approaches provide a foundation on which to base engineering ethics, they may be limited in developing a student’s ability to identify, analyze, and respond to engineering ethics situations outside of the classroom environment. More effective approaches utilize a combination of these types of approaches. This paper describes the design and development of an internet based interactive Simulator for Engineering Ethics Education. The simulator places students in first person perspective scenarios involving different types of ethical situations. Students must gather data, assess the situation, and make decisions. This requires students to develop their own ability to identify and respond to ethical engineering situations. A limited comparison between the internet based interactive simulator and conventional internet web based instruction indicates a statistically significant improvement of 32% in instructional effectiveness. The simulator is currently being used at the University of Houston to help fulfill ABET requirements.     

A management skills audit for future managers

This paper reports on the development of an Inventory of Managing Skills designed to provide working MBA students with a current assessment of their managing skills. A canonical correlation matrix reporting interrelationships between the 20 scale dimensions in a pilot sample of 378 respondents is reported. The Inventory can be used for self-assessment by students and for other-assessment by the student’s superiors and peers. Portions of this paper were presented at the annual conference of the Midwest Academy of Management, Cincinnati, on April 12, 1991.