Is it Unethical to not Teach Ethics?

Is it Unethical to not Teach Ethics?

We Live In an Unscrupulous Society • Financial Scandals • Callous CEOs • Scandalous Mayors • Disreputable Congressmen • Deceitful Researchers • Dishonest Authors

Turning a Blind Eye • More than half of all business students admit to unethical behavior • Only 5% of business school deans think dishonesty is a problem • AACSB does not require business schools to teach Ethics • Less than one third of accredited schools require stand-alone Ethics class

AACSB International • Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business • International organization that establishes “accreditation for undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs in business and accounting”

AACSB • Does not require stand-alone Ethics class • Specifies avoidance of independent classes • Prefers ethics distribution across the program of study via: • Codes of conduct • Value statements • Honor codes • Schools are responsible for integrating Ethics classes into their curriculum

Opposition to AACSB’s Decision • CEOs, deans, faculty, practicing managers • Ethics Resource Officers (D.C.) • Academy of Management

Ethics Education Issues • Faculty, in general, lacks expertise to teach complex ethical issues • Faculty often resistant to adding ethics to their curriculum • Some institutions have reduced or eliminated ethics courses

Academy of Management • Tasked with improving ethical standards • Opted to concentrate mostly on clarifying academic publication rules

Ethics Survey • Conducted to determine importance of ethics • Survey outcomes identify major areas of ethical concern • Respondents: • Business students • Business school deans • Business ethics experts

Survey Outcomes • Foundations of decision making • Clarifying rules for academic publication • Motivating others to understand values • Examining the pressures of the current business environment • Identifying consequences of unethical behavior

Survey Outcomes • Establishing a culture that reinforces integrity • Creating better monitoring systems • Identifying the benefits of virtuous conduct • Fostering dialogue about ethics and values • Increasing communication between academics and practitioners

Foundations of Decision Making • Students need to understand basic ethics concepts and foundations • Some ethical models produce conflicting conclusions that are not easily understood • Replacing stand-alone ethics course with cross-curriculum teaching does not provide enough information for students to make accurate ethical decisions

Clarifying Rules for Academic Publications • Plagiarism and fabrication is rampant among scholars • Publishing of academic research despite inaccuracies • “Publish or Perish” • Institutions can be discredited based on unscrupulous actions • Unethical actions are a bad role model for students

Examining the Pressures of Current Business Environment • Business today are under increased pressure to perform and produce • Increased competition • Worldwide economic woes • Uncertain future • Actions influence its employees’ actions

Identifying Consequences of Unethical Behavior • Unethical behavior is on the rise in business schools • Faculty largely ignore dishonesty and do not report it • Results in appearance that schools do not consider integrity important • “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Identifying Consequences of Unethical Behavior • Enron • Unethical behavior was well-known and encouraged • “We won’t get caught” attitude • Impact on investors was of little importance

Establishing a Culture that Reinforces Integrity • Some schools embrace ethics • University-established Ethics Centers • Ethics-oriented studies often a focus after occurrence of violations • Ethical values must be implemented from the top down to reinforce employee awareness

Creating Better Monitoring Systems • Establishing and maintaining honesty monitoring systems is imperative within business schools and the workplace • Faculty and students need to jointly enforce ethical monitoring to combat dishonesty epidemic • Businesses must be accountable for unethical practices and prevent their reoccurrence • Monitoring systems should be established BEFORE incidents occur

Identify the Benefits of Virtuous Conduct • Schools that identify and promote ethical behavior are recognized and applauded for their efforts • Increased recognition and credibility • Promotes an ethically aware student body and work environment • Fosters high level of trust and commitment

Foster Dialogue About Ethics and Values • Ethics education supports comprehension of ethical dilemmas, value system, and business decision consequences • Students and employees are aware of their ethical obligations and their responsibility to act accordingly in a timely manner • Encourages open dialogue and effective leadership

Increasing Communication Between Academics and Practitioners • Academics is not the same as “Real Life” • Academic studies present ethical theories and models • Guest speakers add value to the lessons with experiences and opinions • Business schools often hesitant to implement out-of-classroom instruction • Businesses often questions academic applications

Improving Ethics in Business Schools and the Workplace • Make Business Ethics education a priority • Mandatory course(s) early in the academic schedule to apply values to other courses • Reverse AACSB policy regarding Ethics curriculum to ensure schools teach the classes • Fewer than 1/3 of all business schools currently offer Ethics classes

Improving Ethics in Business Schools and the Workplace • Academy of Management should expand the Ethics Education Committee’s responsibilities • Focus should be on ethical academic publication standards AND ethical issues identified by deans, students, and ethics experts • Business Ethics education should be a priority for business schools, colleges, and universities

Improving Ethics in Business Schools and the Workplace • Business schools must recognize the lack of ethical practices that currently exist • Deans should nurture a culture of academic integrity on their campuses • Student and faculty involvement with ethics monitoring process should be implemented • Faculty must be required to support the effort

Improving Ethics in Business Schools and the Workplace • In addition to lectures, students should experience ethics in action • Public service projects • Community involvement • Enhances ethical awareness and moral reasoning capabilities

Improving Ethics in Business Schools and the Workplace • Faculty should educate themselves about the importance of ethics • Faculty should lead by example by practicing ethical behavior and encouraging their students to do the same

Conclusions • Growing evidence supports the theory that student ethical behavior would be positively influenced by positive conduct and education by faculty • Support from college and university deans would enhance faculty’s efforts • Ethical conduct is not only important for educational facilities and businesses, but for all of society

Conclusions • Ethical standards need to be diligently applied to current applications in the academic world and workplace • Students and employees must understand the importance of conducting business in an ethical manner

Is it Unethical to not Teach Ethics?