The teaching of ethics in management accounting: progress and prospects

Recent research has shown that, although still on a limited scale, the teaching of business ethics in UK higher education has been increasing in recent years. This paper reports on a postal questionnaire survey conducted to investigate the extent to which ethical issues are covered in the teaching of management accounting in higher education. The principal findings are that the majority of management accounting lecturers in the British Isles do not incorporate ethics. About a third of the respondents to the survey do address ethical issues, although about half of those say they do so only implicitly. Various factors underlying the findings and prospects for the future are discussed.     

Unpacking the Ethical Product

Acknowledging the increasing attention in the literature devoted to the incorporation of ethical considerations into consumers' purchase decisions, this paper explores the notion of an ethical product. It is argued that ethical issues have long been involved in consumers' product evaluations, but that there has been little academic investigation of ethics in terms of product concepts and theories. Ethics are thus examined in the context of the augmented product concept, and two dimensions of ethical augmentation are identified: direction and content. These dimensions are set out and discussed at some length, and then they are used to construct an ethical product matrix. It is shown how this could be used to provide structure and coherence to examinations of the perceived ethics of any given product offering. The implications of the analysis offered in the paper are discussed, and a number of limitations of the ethical product notion are identified. Finally some conclusions and directions for future research are suggested.     

Accounting Student Ethical Perceptions: An Analysis of Training and Gender Effects

This study examined accounting student responses to academic and accounting/business ethical vignettes and examined if gender or formal training in ethics affected their responses. The study also controlled for a student's tendency to respond in a socially desirable manner by including a social desirability response bias instrument as part of the research materials.The results indicate no general differences in responses between the students with and without formal ethical training, or between male and female students. However, comparisons between the academic and accounting/business vignettes revealed that although students perceived the unethical actions discussed in the cases similarly, they indicated they would be more likely to engage in the unethical actions in the accounting/business cases compared to the academic dilemmas.     

Do the Numbers Add Up to Different Views? Perceptions of Ethical Faculty Behavior Among Faculty in Quantitative Versus Qualitative Disciplines

Faculty across a wide range of academic disciplines at 89 AASCB-accredited U.S. business schools were surveyed regarding their perceptions of the ethical nature of faculty behaviors related to undergraduate course content, student evaluation, educational environment, research issues, financial and material transactions, and social and sexual relationships. We analyzed responses based on whether instruction in the academic discipline focused mainly on quantitative topics or largely on qualitative issues. Faculty who represented quantitative disciplines such as accounting and finance (n = 383) were more likely to view behaviors such as selling complimentary textbooks and grading on a strict curve as more ethical than faculty representing more qualitative disciplines such as management and marketing (n = 447). In contrast, faculty in quantitative disciplines were more likely to view behaviors such as showing controversial media and bringing up sexual or racial charged matters as less ethical than their counterparts. Whereas these differences may be attributed to the respondents’ academic backgrounds, the large level of agreement on ethical behaviors raises questions about the growing influence of business disciplines that operate within more unified research and teaching paradigms. Linda Kidwell (PhD, Louisiana State University) is an associate professor in the Accounting Department at the University of Wyoming where she teaches auditing as well as accounting ethics. Her research interests include academic ethics, auditing ethics, and governmental auditing. Her research has been published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Teaching Business Ethics, CPA Journal, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy and elsewhere. She has taught in the United States, Australia, and Canada. She has also been a frequent faculty mentor in the National Conference on Ethics in America held annually at the United States Military Academy (West Point). Roland Kidwell (PhD, Louisiana State University) is an associate professor in the Management and Marketing Department at the University of Wyoming where he teaches courses in new ventures, human resource management and general management. His current research interests include ethical issues involving family businesses and new ventures, social entrepreneurship, and workplace deviance such as withholding effort (free riding, shirking, social loafing) in organizational contexts. He is co-editor of a book of readings and cases, Managing Organizational Deviance (2005, Sage), and his research has appeared in Academy of Management Review, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Management, Journal of Business and Psychology and elsewhere.     

Business Ethics in the Greater China Region: Past,Present, and Future Research

While business ethics has generated a great deal of research internationally over the last few decades, academic reviews of the business ethics literature remain limited. Moreover, there has been little attempt to date to analyze this literature specifically in the Greater China region, which has been experiencing rapid socioeconomic growth and dynamic evolution of business ethics in recent decades. This paper addresses this research gap by undertaking a comprehensive and critical appraisal of the business ethics literature on Greater China. In particular, it maps out the existing research findings, identifies limitations in methodology, and suggests future directions for business ethics research in this region. The findings indicate that the scholarly interests cover 24 research themes, including corporate social responsibility and social performance; ethical beliefs, judgment, values, decision-making, and culture; workplace ethics and behavior; marketing ethics and consumer behavior; and sustainability. This review reveals a growing imbalance between empirical and conceptual/theoretical studies on business ethics. In addition, the published works covered in this review heavily rely on survey method and convenience sampling, with a predominant focus on a single individual level of analysis. Importantly, this study identifies four directions for future research: contextualized theoretical development, addressing multilevel research, developing research design tailored to the Chinese context, and ensuring more diversified and rigorous data collection.     

Empirical Business Ethics Research and Paradigm Analysis

Despite the so-called ‘paradigm wars’ in many social sciences disciplines in recent decades, debate as to the appropriate philosophical basis for research in business ethics has been comparatively non-existent. Any consideration of paradigm issues in the theoretical business ethics literature is rare and only very occasional references to relevant issues have been made in the empirical journal literature. This is very much the case in the growing fields of cross-cultural business ethics and undergraduate student attitudes, and examples from these fields are used in this article. No typology of the major paradigms available for, or relied upon in, business ethics has been undertaken in the wider journal literature, and this article addresses that gap. It contributes a synthesis of three models of paradigms and a tabulated comparison of ontological, epistemological and methodological assumptions in the context of empirical business ethics research. The author also suggests the likely (and usually unidentified) positivist paradigm assumptions underlying the vast majority of empirical business ethics research published in academic journals and also argues for an increased reliance on less positivist assumptions moving forward.     

In Search of Instruments. Business and Ethics Halfway

Business ethics has gradually acquired a stable status, both as an academic discipline and as a practice. Stakeholdership is recognised as a guiding concept, business has widely accepted that it has a license to operate to win from society at large, and operational instruments such as codes of ethics and forms of ethical auditing and accounting take shape more and more. Yet lacunae remain. Three are mentioned explicitly. Business ethics has to improve its relations with business law, the concept of competition deserves much more ethical attention than it has received up to now, and the shifting relations between the market, governmental agencies and civil society require the elaboration of an institutional business ethics.     

Professional ethics: Business students' perceptions

Professional ethics, a contemporary topic of conversation among business professionals, is discussed using the perceptions of college business students as the focal point. This research relates to the issues of college instruction in professional ethics, differences in perceptions of ethical behavior attributed to gender, and whether or not students' perceptions of ethical behavior can be modified. After presenting a review of the more important historical developments and research related to professional ethics, this paper focuses on the results of a study that compared a set of ethical responses of various groups of college students with each other. The results of hypotheses testing show an ethics maturation process from students' initial exposure to business courses through the graduate level. These tests also show that formal ethics training, i.e., a separate professional ethics course or unit is an existing course, is not a significant factor in this process. However, one may conclude that the students' perceptions of proper ethical behavior matures toward society's expectations during college life.James R. Davis is a Professor of Accountancy at Clemson University. He has published articles on professional ethics and made several presentations on the subject at professional meetings. Currently he is evaluating the different attitudes toward professional ethics of students in different international environments.Ralph E. Welton, Jr. is an Associate Professor of Accounting at Clemson University. He teaches a graduate course on the accounting environment which includes units on professional ethics and legal responsibilities of accounting professionals. His research interests include comparative international perceptions of business ethics and the individual's longitudinal ethics development.     

Exporting an Inherently Harmful Product: The Marketing of Virginia Slims Cigarettes in the United States,Japan, and Korea

In recent years, and in close connection with a number of well-known financial malpractice cases, public debate on business ethics has intensified worldwide, and particularly in ethics-unfriendly environments, such as Spain, with many recent fraud and corruption scandals. In the context of growing consensus on the need of balancing social prosperity and business profits, concern is increasing for introducing business (and particularly accounting) ethics in higher education curricula. The purpose is to improve ethical behaviour of future business people, and of accounting professionals in particular. In this study, from a sample of 551 business students at a Spanish university, the importance of accounting ethics is investigated. The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we attempt to examine students’ overall perceptions of business ethics in unfriendly environments and, specifically, their views on the importance and goals of accounting ethics education. Second, we intend to investigate whether potential differences in such perceptions depend on previous business ethics courses taken, gender, and age of students. Our results show that those students who have previously taken an ethics course are especially prone to considering that accounting education should include ethical considerations, and show greater interest in further introducing this subject in their curricula. These facts should encourage universities offering business degrees in ethics-unfriendly environments to extend the implementation of ethics courses in their curricula. Besides, significant differences in students’ perceptions on the importance of accounting ethics are found depending on their gender and age. In line with previous research findings, female and older students show more ethical inclinations than, respectively, male and younger students. Thus, ethics-unfriendly environments can be treated as contexts where general trends on students’ ethical attitudes are also clearly visible. This fact, together with the evidenced impact of ethics courses on students’ ethical inclinations, places ethics-unfriendly environments as crucial research settings for further inquiring into the nuances that help explain students’ attitudes towards accounting ethics and the role of ethics courses in business degree curricula.     

Modernism, Christianity, and Business Ethics: A Worldview Perspective

Despite growing interest in examining the role of religion in business ethics, there is little consensus concerning the basis or standards of “good” or ethical behavior and the reasons behind them. This limits our ability to enhance ethical behavior in the workplace. We address this issue by examining worldviews as it relates to ethics research and practice. Our worldview forms the context within which we organize and build our understanding of reality. Given that much of our academic work as well as business practice operate from a modern worldview, we examine how modernism shapes our beliefs and approaches to ethics in business and academia. We identify important limitations of modernism in addressing moral issues and religion. We then introduce the Christian worldview as an alternative approach to examining ethical issues in business     

Research on a Typology of Business Ethics Operation Across the Taiwan Strait

The practice of business ethics is a constant concern for both business and academics. Thus this study attempts both to explore the effective performance of business ethics and to provide a learned reference. The researcher has gathered relevant literature, developed a notion of “business ethics operation” which have been put to the test within four selected enterprises across the Taiwan Strait. The findings reveal that different types of “ethical leadership” and “catalytic mechanism” precipitated four operations and a swathe of different approaches to business ethics. The study has, it is hoped, justified academic interest in business ethics by obtaining experimental results which demonstrate the merits of promoting their practice.     

The human experience of ethics: a review of a decade of qualitative ethical decision‐making research

Qualitative studies are an important component of business ethics research. This large amount of research covers a wide array of factors and influences on ethical decision making published between 2004 and 2014. Following the methodology of past critical reviews, this work provides a synopsis of the diverse array of qualitative studies in ethical decision making within the business ethics literature. We highlight the distinct and investigative nature of qualitative research, synthesize and summarize findings, and suggest opportunities for future research. We conclude with a recommendation for developing qualitative studies in business ethics and a call for an increased openness when considering this valuable and underrepresented strategy of inquiry.     

A Framework for Teaching Business Ethics

What ethical framework should be used as a basis for teaching business ethics? Should business ethics be taught by ethicists in a separate course, by business faculty in business courses, or perhaps by both? These are some of the issues this paper will address. The paper begins with a review of the literature concerning approaches to teaching business ethics. Next, some ethical frameworks for teaching business ethics are considered. Finally, the paper proposes that students should apply their own personal values to business ethical issues in the classroom, thus providing future business leaders with a process for resolving ethical dilemmas.     

Concerns of college students regarding business ethics

Although some attention has been devoted to assessing the attitudes and concerns of businesspeople toward ethics, relatively little attention has focused on the attitudes and concerns of tomorrow's business leaders, today's college students. In this investigation a national sample was utilized to study college students' attitudes toward business ethics, with the results being analyzed by academic classification, academic major, and sex. Results of the investigation indicate that college students are currently somewhat concerned about business ethics in general, and that female students in particular are more concerned about ethical issues than are their male counterparts.Richard F. Beltramini is Assistant Professor of Marketing and Advertising in the Department of Marketing at the Arizona State University. He has published a number of articles in marketing and advertising journals and proceedings.Robert A. Peterson is Sam Barshop Professor of Marketing Administration and Senior Research Fellow at The University of Texas at Austin. He is at present Chairman in the Department of Marketing Administration. He was Fellow of the Southwestern Marketing Association and has published over 100 books and articles.George Kozmetsky is J.M. West Chair Professor at The University of Texas at Austin. He is at present Director of the Institute for Constructive Capitalism, The University of Texas, Austin and was formerly Dean, College and Graduate School of Business, The University of Texas, Austin.This research was supported in part by the Institute for Constructive Capitalism, The University of Texas at Austin. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute.     

The teaching of ethics in Canadian Schools of Management and Administrative Studies

Business ethics has been described as a prime academic growth industry. This paper reports the findings of a survey aimed at establishing the status of ethics in the curricula of Canadian Schools of Management and Administrative Studies. It was found that twenty-three of the forty-two responding schools offer courses in business ethics and that they offer a total of twenty-five ethics courses, twenty of which are offered as electives. Forty-two percent of the schools not offering a course in business ethics plan to offer such a course by 1989. This means that by 1989 seventy-four percent of the responding schools should have a business ethics component in their curricula.Jang B. Singh, B. A. (Toronto), M. A. (St. Thomas), M. A. (Toronto), M.B. A. (Windsor), Ph.D. (Toronto), is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Windsor. His research focus is on ethical issues involved in the management process. He also maintains a keen interest in issues related to business in the Third World.     

Ethical behaviours in organizations: Directed by the formal or informal systems?

Past research has focused on individual culpability with the assumption that individuals will further their own self interest over that of the organization, given an appropriate opportunity. In contrast, this research shifts the focus from individual motivation to the influence of the formal and informal control systems of organizations on ethical behaviours. An open-ended interview approach was used to collect data. It was found that pressures within the informal system were the dominant influence in the resolution of ethical issues. The dominance of the informal system, however, varies according to the economic position of the organization.Loren Falkenberg and Irene Herremans are Associate Professors in the Faculty of Management at the University of Calgary. Both have published in a wide variety of academic journals. Loren Falkenberg teaches courses in business ethics and management of human resources while Irene Herremans teaches in the accounting and tourism areas.     

An assessment of ethics instruction in accounting education

Business school faculty have begun to increase ethics instruction, but very little has been done to assess the effectiveness of this instruction. Curricula-wide studies present conflicting results of the effect of ethics integration into the business curricula. Several studies suggest that courses like business ethics and business and society might have an effect on the ethical awareness or ethical reasoning of business students. A belief of many individuals interested in business ethics is that students must be exposed to ethical awareness and ethical reasoning in business ethics and business and society-type courses and this should be supplemented by discussions of these topics in various business courses such as Accounting, Finance, Marketing, and others.This study reports the results of integrating a unit of business ethics into eleven accounting classes at two universities. An approach for measuring the effect of ethics integration into accounting and other business courses is suggested, and an assessment is made of the impact of ethics integration on students in accounting classes. Results indicate that the principles on which students rely when making moral decisions were affected by ethics integration. After ethics integration, students relied more heavily on the disclosure rule, the golden rule, and the professional ethic.Kenneth M. Hiltebeitel, Ph.D., CPA is an Associate Professor of Accountancy at Villanova University. He has included a unit on business ethics in his Auditing and Advanced Accounting classes for the past two years.Scott K. Jones, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the University of Delaware. He has included a unit on business ethics in his Cost Accounting classes for the past two years.     

Can corporate codes of ethics influence behavior?

There is increasing public interest in understanding the nature of corporate ethics due to the knowledge that unethical decisions and activities frequently undermine the performance and abilities of many organizations. Of the current literature found on the topic of ways organizations can influence ethical behavior, a majority is found on the issue of corporate codes of ethics.Most discussions on codes of ethics evaluate the contents of the codes and offer opinions on their wording, content, and/or value. Unfortunately, very little research has been devoted towards discovering whether they are effective in promoting ethical decision-making behavior. Thus, due to the lack of empirical research on this particular topic, this paper attempts to further address this issue.Data was obtained through the use of a fifteen-item questionnaire, in which seven of the items were scenarios on the topic of ethical behavior, and the remaining eight questions were concerned with demographic information. The survey was administered to 150 business students at a large university.The results indicated that corporate codes of ethics are not influential in determining a person's ethical decision-making behavior.     

A Review of The Empirical Ethical Decision-Making Literature: 1996–2003

This review summarizes and critiques the empirical ethical decision-making literature from 1996–2003. One hundred and seventy-four articles were published in top business journals during this period. Tables are included that summarize the findings by dependent variable – awareness, judgment, intent, and behavior. We compare this review with past reviews in order to draw conclusions regarding trends in the ethical decision-making literature and to surface directions for future research.Michael J. O’Fallon is a graduate student in the Department of Management and Operations at Washington State University. His primary research interest is individual ethical decision-making and behavior in organizations. Recently, he has explored issues in organizational behavior, human resource management, and consumer behavior toward genetically modified foods.Kenneth D. Butterfield is an associate professor of management at Washington State University. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from The Pennsylvania State University. His research has been published in a variety of academic journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Business and Society, Business Ethics Quarterly, Human Relations, Journal of Higher Education, Journal of Managerial Issues, and Research in Higher Education. His current research interests involve organizational behavior issues such as managing ethical decision-making and behavior in organizations, examining why people fail to recognize moral issues, understanding academic dishonesty and promoting academic integrity, and examining organizational punishment from the manager’s perspective.