Perceptions of Dishonesty among Two-year College Students: Academic versus Business Situations

This study statistically analyzes two-year college students' attitudes toward cheating via a survey containing academic and business situations that the students evaluated on a seven point scale from unethical to ethical. When both the general questions concerning attitudes about cheating and the opinions on the ethical statements are considered, the business students were generally more unethical in their behavior and attitudes than non-business majors. These results indicate a need for more ethical exposure in business courses to help students distinguish ethical from unethical decisions.     

Can Students' Academic Integrity Be Improved? Attitudes and Behaviors Before and After Implementation of an Academic Integrity Policy

This study compares survey results administered before the implementation of a culture change and the adoption of an academic integrity policy with results of a second administration of the instrument six years later. Data collected reveal significant changes in attitudes towards academic integrity issues by undergraduate business school students. Progress, in terms of reducing students' participation in various forms of academic dishonesty, has been uneven. The most notable shift occurred in behaviors over which instructors enjoy some measure of control.     

A Replication Study: “Attitudes Toward Ethics: A view of the College Student”

This study replicates Grant and Broom's 1988 study to determineif any of the student responses to the ethical dilemmas havechanged in more than a decade, and to measure the impact of thedemographic variables of father's occupation, family income, anduniversity attended on the students' responses. The findings inthis research indicate that there have been changes in theethical attitudes of business students in the last decade. Thisstudy and future research concerning the possible impact ofethics courses taught at the undergraduate level yield importantunderstandings for those teaching and studying ethics inbusiness.     

Learning from the Literature on Collegiate Cheating: A Review of Empirical Research

The role demographic, personality, and situational factors play in the ethical decision making process has received a significant amount of attention (Ford and Richardson, 1994). However, the empirical research on students' decisions to engage in collegiate cheating has not been included in this literature. This paper reviews the last 25 years of empirical research on collegiate cheating. The individual/situational factor typology from Ford and Richardson's review (1994) is used to compare the two literatures. In addition, issues pertaining to the quantification of academic dishonesty, the perception that cheating is increasing, and methodological considerations are addressed in this review.     

Individual Differences in the Acceptability of Unethical Information Technology Practices: The Case of Machiavellianism and Ethical Ideology

This study presents the findings from aninternational survey of college students whichexamined perceptions and attitudes towarddishonesty in academic and business contexts. Data were collected from undergraduate studentsstudying business and economics in eighttransitional economies of Eastern Europe andCentral Asia and from students in the UnitedStates. The results indicate that academiccheating is a common activity in all of thecountries surveyed. Even though most studentsreported fearing the punishment of beingcaught, substantial numbers of studentsindicated that academic cheating is sociallyacceptable and not ethically wrong. When askedto rate their perceived degree of dishonestywith respect to behavior in an academic settingrelative to analogous behavior in a businesssetting, students in both the United States andthe transitional economies viewed dishonesty ina business context more severely thandishonesty in an academic context. Theevidence also suggests that when compared tostudents in the transitional economies,American students apply a relatively higherstandard of honesty toward behavior in both theacademic and business settings.     

Student Honor Codes as a Tool for Teaching Professional Ethics

Today's business students have grown up in a society where distinctions between right and wrong have become blurred and where unethical behavior is observed and even expected in high-profile leaders. Especially troubling is the impression educators have that many students no longer view cheating as morally wrong (Pavela and McCabe, 1993). By contrast, the general public is demanding higher ethics of businesspeople. In this environment, educators are challenged to instill ethical norms in business students, especially when recent research indicates that students intending to enter business fields are more likely than any other group of students to engage in cheating and other forms of academic dishonesty (McCabe and Trevino, 1995). One of the major future roles of accounting students depends on their honesty, however. For audits to have economic value, the auditors must be perceived by the public as acting with independence, integrity, and objectivity. Public accountants have adopted a Code of Professional Conduct in order to protect the integrity of the profession. In an effort to teach accounting students the importance of ethical professional conduct, the author has developed a class project wherein groups of students write proposals for a student honor code at Niagara University.     

Determinants of Perceptions of Cheating: Ethical Orientation, Personality and Demographics

A sample of 227 business students from the United States and Australia was used to evaluate factors that impact business students' ethical orientation and factors that impact students' perceptions of ethical classroom behaviors. Perceptions of classroom behaviors was considered a surrogate for future perceptions of business behaviors. Independent factors included age, gender, religious orientation, country of origin, personality, and ethical orientation. A number of factors were related to ethical orientation, but only age and religious orientation exhibited much impact upon perceptions of ethical classroom behaviors.     

Demographic & related differences in ethical views among small businesses

This study examines the effects of demographic characteristics on ethical perceptions. While earlier research has produced conflicting results regarding the predictive power of these variables, significant and definite insights were obtained with proper controls. The following predictors of ethical attitudes are examined: age, gender, marital status, education, dependent children status, region of the country and years in business, while controlling for job status. A nation-wide random sample of employees was used in obtaining a response rate of fifty-three percent (total n of 423). Indices of aspects of business ethical attitudes were constructed using factor analysis. Linear multiple regression analysis indicated the significant predictive variables. Age was found to be a most-significant predictor. Older workers had stricter interpretations of ethical standards. Gender and region predicted attitudes about job-discrimination practices only, with women and persons from the Midwest most strongly opposed to the practice. All the other variables proved to be unreliable ethics predictors.Paul Serwinek is a research affiliated with Wayne State University. He has done extensive research in business management and consulting work in the field of insurance agency employee job satisfaction.SPSS PC Plus Computer Program used.     

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.     

Are New Zealand Business Students More Unethical Than Non-Business Students?

Using undergraduate students from the Waikato University in New Zealand as a sample, this study compared the ethical positions of students of different field of study and demographic characteristics. It was found that the ethical standard of business students are not significantly different from that of non-business students. The findings also suggest that female students are more ethical than male students, and senior students are more ethical than junior students.Besides sex and year of study, other variables studied were parents' occupation, religiosity and household income of the students. All these variables were found to have no significant impact on the ethical position of the students. Furthermore, all the interaction effects between the variables studied and the students' major field of study were nonsignificant.     

The Influence of an Observer’s Value Orientation and Personality Type on Attitudes Toward Whistleblowing

This study examines the influence of an observer’s value orientation and personality type on attitudes toward whistleblowing. Based on a review of the literature we generated three hypotheses to explain the relationship between these two factors and attitudes toward whistleblowing, and these were tested using data collected from 490 university students in South Korea. The survey comprises two parts, a measure of MBTI personality types, and a section assessing value orientations and attitudes toward whistleblowing. Regression analysis was conducted to clarify the influence of the independent variables. The study offers two main contributions. First, it examines what role an observer’s value orientation and personality type play in determining the attitudes. Second, it provides insights into designing customized ethical training programs and developing policy aimed at changing negative attitudes toward whistleblowing.     

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.     

Are Ethical Responses Linked to Locus of Control?

Locus of control (LOC) has received considerable attention in the psychological literature. However, there is limited research and inconclusive results reported from the research examining its potential relationship to ethical beliefs and attitudes.This research examines how the locus of control of university students (n = 671) can be linked to their ethical responses concerning academic-behavior items. Whenever the students were asked about their personal beliefs concerning the unethical nature of academic-environment behaviors, the results indicated significant differences ( 0.05) by the internal/external LOC designation on 21 of the 27 items. Because a review of the literature indicated that there might be an interaction of LOC scores, gender, and age, an analysis of variance was performed. An ANOVA was used to analyze the ethical responses using a 3-level age classification (AGECLASS) variable and a 4-level LOC/GENDER variable (INTMale, EXTMale, INTFemale, EXTFemale). Overall results indicated both AGECLASS and LOC/GENDER variables to be significant on the survey responses.     

Business Students' Perceptions of Potential Ethical Dilemmas Faced by Faculty

Because students' ethical behavior may be modified through socialization contact with faculty, the perspectives of students relating to faculty ethics is an important topic. Prior research on business schools and ethics has not included students' perceptions of ethical dilemmas that often confront faculties of business schools. Student questionnaire data provides two important insights into students' perceptions of the ethics of faculty behavior. In the aggregate, students viewed 29 potential ethical issues as more serious than did faculty. Based on students' perceptions, four factors of ethical dilemmas were isolated: Regulations, Academic Job Performance, Dating, and Personal Benefits.     

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.     

A cross-cultural comparison of the ethics of business students

The ethical tendencies of university business students from the USA, Denmark, and New Zealand were examined by analyzing their reactions to ethical dilemmas presented in a set of ethical problem situations. These dilemmas dealt with coercion and control, conflict of interest, physical environment, paternalism and personal integrity. Findings indicate that students' reactions tended to be similar regardless of their country. A comparison of these findings to practicing managers indicated that students and practicing managers exhibit a similar degree of sensitivity to ethical dimensions of business decision-making. Implications are drawn for business education and further research. Steven Lysonski is an Associate Professor at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is a former member of the marketing faculty at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ and the University of Rhode Island at Kingston. In addition to presenting research to more than 30 academic conferences, he has published widely in such journals as the Journal of Marketing, The European Journal of Marketing, the International Journal of Advertising, the Journal of Product Innovation and Management and Psychological Reports. His research interests focus on product management, international issues of marketing, and ethical implications of marketing. William Gaidis is an Assistant Professor at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has published articles in the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Consumer Affairs, and other journals and academic conferences. His research interests focus upon decision-making, strategic-implementation problems, and business ethics.     

The Impact of Acculturation on Immigrants’ Business Ethics Attitudes

This study explores to what extent immigrants adopt the business ethical attitudes of their host country and/or maintain those of their country of origin. For countries that have significant immigration, acculturation is an important social issue. An immigrant’s acculturation is influenced through the ability to adapt his/her “ethical culture of origin” by integrating it with the host country’s ethical culture. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the role of acculturation on immigrant’s ethical attitudes. What happens to individuals, who have developed in one cultural context, when they attempt to live in a new cultural context? Three groups were the object of this study: (1) native students of business administration in Israel, (2) students of business administration in the Ukraine and (3) business students in Israel who had emigrated from the Ukraine. Samples of these student populations allowed the study of acculturation effects on the immigrants as they acclimated to Israeli society. Results showed that students living in the Ukraine had the lowest ethical attitudes, followed by Ukraine immigrants in Israel. Israeli-born students had significantly higher ethical attitudes than either of the two Ukrainian groups. Accordingly, the ethical perceptions of immigrant students showed that they were influenced by both their home and host cultures. According to Berry’s (Appl Psychol Int Rev 46(1): 5–68, 1997) model of acculturation strategies, integration was their preferred strategy. The implications of these results and guidelines for further research are suggested.     

Exposure to Ethics Education and the Perception of Linkage between Organizational Ethical Behavior and Business Outcomes

This study focused on the effects of individual characteristics and exposure to ethics education on perceptions of the linkage between organizational ethical practices and business outcomes. Using a stratified sampling approach, 817 students were randomly selected from a population of approximately 1310 business students in an AACSB accredited college of business. Three hundred and twenty eight of the subjects were freshmen, 380 were seniors, and 109 were working managers and professionals enrolled in a night-time MBA program. Overall, the respondents included 438 male students and 379 female students. Exposure to ethics in the curriculum had a significant impact on student perceptions of what should be the ideal linkages between organizational ethical practices and business outcomes. Gender based differences were found with female students having a higher expectation regarding what should be the “ethics practices and business outcomes” link. Exposure to ethics in the curriculum had a positive moderating influence on the gender-based effects on perceptions of ideal ethical climate. The interaction effect showed that exposure to ethical education may have a positive impact on males and allow them to catch up with females in their ethical sensitivities concerning the ideal linkage between organizational ethical behavior and business outcomes. Further, consistent with the literature, the study found that gender differences in ethical attitudes regarding the ideal ethical climate, while significant for undergraduates, appeared to narrow considerably for the working professionals who were part-time MBA students. Harsh Luthar is an Associate Professor of Management at Bryant University. He received his Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic University, Pamplin College of Business, in the Department of Management. His research interests include international differences and cross-cultural issues impacting global human resource practices, ethical attitudes of students, and the nature of spiritual leadership. Ranjan Karri is an Assistant Professor of Management at Bryant University. He received his Ph.D. in strategic management from Washington State University. His research interests include corporate and business strategies, enterpreneurship, ethical leadership and corporate governance.     

Business Ethics in a Transition Economy: Will the Next Russian Generation be any Better?

This study investigated students’ perceptions of ethical organizational climates, attitudes towards ethical issues, and the perceived relationship between ethical behavior and success in business organizations. Comparisons were made between the attitudes of these future managers with previously published studies of Russian managers’ attitudes. A survey of 100 business students in three Moscow universities showed that their attitudes toward ethical behavior were more negative than those of Russian managers. No significant differences were found in the perceptions or attitudes of students who had attended an ethics course and those that did not. The implications for both managers and researchers were reported.     

Business Students and Ethics: A Meta-Analysis

Given the proliferation of research regarding the ethical development of students in general, and business students in particular, it is difficult to draw conclusions from the contradictory results of many studies. In this meta-analysis of empirical studies from 1985 through 1994, the relationships of gender, age and undergraduate major to the ethical attitudes and behavior of business students are analyzed. The results indicate that female students exhibit stronger ethical attitudes than males. The same is also true for older versus younger students. However, the relationship with undergraduate major is still difficult to interpret.