Skip to main content
Log in

Increasing Effectiveness in Teaching Ethics to Undergraduate Business Students

  • Published:
Teaching Business Ethics

Abstract

Undergraduate business students present special needs and challenges in respect to the teaching of ethics. Traditional methods of teaching this topic are the subject of criticism in the literature. This paper considers the nature of the target audience while advancing the complementary goals of convincing undergraduate business students that ethical behavior in business is important and increasing the likelihood that these students will make ethical choices in the future. Shortcomings of approaches commonly used to teach this topic are discussed. Specific instructional techniques to supplement or replace traditional pedagogy are suggested.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Arlow, P. and T. A. Ulrich: 1988, 'A Longitudinal Survey of Business School Graduates' Assessments of Business Ethics', Journal of Business Ethics 7, 295–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berton, L.: 1995, 'Business Students Hope to Cheat and Prosper, A New Study Shows', Wall Street Journal April 25, B1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biddle, B. J. et al.: 1990, 'Modality of Thought, Campus Experiences and the Development of Values', Journal of Educational Psychology 82(4), 671–682.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, T. R.: 1992, 'Integrating Business Ethics into an Undergraduate Curriculum', Journal of Business Ethics 11, 291–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blatt M. M. and L. Kohlberg: 1975, 'The Effects of Classroom Moral Education Upon Childrens' Moral Judgement', Journal of Moral Education 4(2), 129–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bok, D.: 1988, 'Can Higher Education Foster Higher Morals?', Business and Society Review 66, 4–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brackner, J. W.: 1992, 'Consensus Values Should Be Taught', Management Accounting 74(2), 19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brady, F. N. and J. M. Logsdon: 1988, 'Zimbardo's “Stanford Prison Experiment” and the Relevance of Social Psychology for Teaching Business Ethics', Journal of Business Ethics 7, 703–710.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, B. D. and P. J. McCarthy: 1989, 'Teaching the Two R's: Right and 'Rong'', Business and Society Review 68, 52–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burton, S. et al.: 1991, 'An Experimental Assessment of Alternative Teaching Approaches for Introducing Business Ethics to Undergraduate Business Students', Journal of Business Ethics 10, 507–517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, D.: 1996, 'Closing the Gap between Business Students and the Poor: An Introduction to the Volume', Journal of Business Ethics 15(1), 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, D. and T. O'Rourke: 1994, Ethical Dilemmas in Business, South-Western Publishing Co., Cincinnati, OH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conry, E. J. and D. R. Nelson: 1989, 'Business Law and Moral Growth', American Business Law Journal 27, 1–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenton, E.: 1976, 'Moral Education: The Research Findings', Social Education 40(4), 188–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. E. and D. R. Gilbert, Jr.: 1988, Corporate Strategy and the Search for Ethics, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • French, W. A. and J. Granrose: 1995, Practical Business Ethics, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furman, F. K.: 1990, 'Teaching Business Ethics: Questioning the Assumptions, Seeking New Directions', Journal of Business Ethics 9, 31–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glenn, J. R., Jr.: 1992, 'Can a Business and Society Course Affect the Ethical Judgment of Future Managers?', Journal of Business Ethics 11, 217–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halfond, J.: 1990, 'Should Business Schools Be Sunday Schools?', Business and Society Review 72, 54–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosmer, L. T.: 1988, 'Adding Ethics to the Business Curriculum', Business Horizons 31(4), 9–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosmer, L. T. and N. H. Steneck: 1989, 'Teaching Business Ethics: The Use of Films and Videotapes', Journal of Business Ethics 8, 929–936.

    Google Scholar 

  • Josephson, M.: 1990, Ethical Obligations and Opportunities in Business: Ethical Decision Making in the Trenches, The Josephson Institute of Ethics, Marina del Rey, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Josephson, M.: 1993, Making Ethical Decisions (2nd ed.), The Josephson Institute of Ethics, Marina del Rey, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, M.: 1989, 'Revolution in the Marketplace', Utne Reader 31, 54–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, S.: 1985, 'Two Views of Business Ethics: A Popular Philosophical Approach and a Value Based Interdisciplinary One', Journal of Business Ethics 4, 71–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L.: 1969, 'Stage and Sequence: The Cognitive-Developmental Approach to Socialization', in D. Goslin (ed.), Handbook of Socialization Theory and Research, Rand McNally, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L. and R. Kramer: 1969, 'Continuities and Discontinuities in Childhood and Adult Moral Development', Human Development 12, 93–120.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lane, M. S. and D. Schaupp: 1989, 'Ethics in Education: A Comparative Study', Journal of Business Ethics 8, 943–949.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, D. R. and R. B. McKenzie: 1995, 'How the Marketplace Fosters Business Honesty', Business and Society Review 92, 5–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, M.: 1989, 'Ethics Courses: Useless', New York Times, Nov. 25, 23.

  • Lickona, T.: 1980, 'What Does Moral Psychology Have to Say to the Teacher of Ethics', in Daniel Callahan and Sissela Bok (eds.), Ethics Teaching in Higher Education, Plenum Press, New York, NY, pp. 103–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Long, J. D.: 1984, 'The Responsibility of Schools of Business to Teach Ethics', Business Horizons 27(2), 2–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathison, D. L.: 1988, 'Business Ethics Cases and Decision Models: A Call for Relevancy in the Classroom', Journal of Business Ethics 7, 777–782.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, D. L. et al.: 1991, 'Context, Values and Moral Dilemmas: Comparing the Choices of Business and Law School Students', Journal of Business Ethics 10, 951–960.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, D. and L. K. Trevino: 1995, 'Cheating Among Business Students: A Challenge for Business Leaders and Educators', Journal of Management Education 19(2), 205–218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, D. R. and T. E. Obremski: 1990, 'Promoting Moral Growth Through Intra-Group Participation', Journal of Business Ethics 9, 731–739.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Clock, P. and M. Okleshen: 1993, 'A Comparison of Ethical Perceptions of Business and Engineering Majors', Journal of Business Ethics 12, 677–687.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paine, L. S.: 1994, 'Managing for Organizational Integrity', Harvard Business Review 72(2), 106–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pamental, G. L.: 1988, Ethics in the Business Curriculum: A Preliminary Survey of Undergraduate Business Programs, University Press of America, Inc., Lanham, MD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pamental, G. L.: 1989, 'The Course in Business Ethics: Can it Work?', Journal of Business Ethics 8, 547–551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne, S. L. and B. F. Pettingill, Jr.: 1986–87, 'Management and Values/Ethics Education', Organizational Behavior Teaching Review 11(1), 18–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piper, T. R. et al.: 1993, Can Ethics Be Taught?, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rest, J. et al.: 1974, 'Judging the Important Issues in Moral Dilemmas – An Objective Measure of Development', Developmental Psychology 10(4), 491–501.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rest, J. R.: 1988, 'Can Ethics Be Taught in Professional Schools? The Psychological Research', Easier Said Than Done 1(1), 22–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rokeach, M.: 1973, The Nature of Human Values, The Free Press, New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruegger, D. and E.W. King: 1992, 'A Study of the Effect of Age and Gender upon Student Business Ethics', Journal of Business Ethics 11, 179–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoenfeldt, L. F. et al.: 1991, 'The Teaching of Business Ethics: A Survey of AACSB Member Schools', Journal of Business Ethics 10, 237–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. H. and N. Inbar-Saban: 1988, 'Value Self-Confrontation as a Method to Aid in Weight Loss', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54(3), 396–404.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sims, R. R. and S. J. Sims: 1991, 'Increasing Applied Business Ethics Courses in Business School Curricula', Journal of Business Ethics 10, 211–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Solberg, J. et al.: 1995, 'Living (Not Learning) Ethics', Journal of Business Ethics 14, 71–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stieber, J. and P. Primeaux: 1991, 'Economic Efficiency: A Paradigm for Business Ethics', Journal of Business Ethics 10, 335–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L. K.: 1986, 'Ethical Decision Making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model', Academy of Management Review 11, 601–617.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L. K. and D. McCabe: 1994, 'Meta-learning About Business Ethics: Building Honorable Business School Communities', Journal of Business Ethics 13, 405–416.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trevino, L. K. and K. A. Nelson: 1995, Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk About How to Do It Right, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, J.: 1990, 'Measuring the Impact of Teaching Ethics to Future Managers: A Review, Assessment, and Recommendations', Journal of Business Ethics 9, 183–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. A. et al.: 1988, 'Ethical Attitudes of Students and Business Professionals: A Study of Moral Reasoning', Journal of Business Ethics 7, 249–257.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lampe, M. Increasing Effectiveness in Teaching Ethics to Undergraduate Business Students. Teaching Business Ethics 1, 3–19 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009732419522

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009732419522

Navigation