Cheating During the College Years: How do Business School Students Compare?

When it comes to cheating in higher education, business school students have often been accused of being the worst offenders; if true, this may be a contributing factor in the kinds of fraud that have plagued the business community in recent years. We examined the issue of cheating in the business school by surveying 268 students in business and other professional schools on their attitudes about, and experiences with, cheating. We found that while business school students actually cheated no more or less than students in other professional schools, their attitudes on what constitutes cheating are more lax than those of other professional school students. Additionally, we found that serious cheaters across all professional schools were more likely to be younger and have a lower grade point average. Helen A. Klein is an assistant professor in the Management Department at Grand Valley State University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Computer and Information Systems and is interested in Object Oriented Software development, business process redesign and the use of ERP as a tool for learning in higher education. Nancy M. Levenburg is an associate professor in the Management Department at Grand Valley State University. She received her Ph.D. degree from Union Institute & University, and has done post-graduate study at Harvard University and UCLA. Her primary research interests include electronic commerce and strategic applications of information technologies. Marie McKendall is a professor in the Management Department at Grand Valley State University. She received her Ph.D. in Management from Michigan State University. Her primary research interest is organizational illegality. William M. Mothersell is an assistant professor in the Management Department at Grand Valley State University. He received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in Labor and Industrial Relations. His research interests include strategic human resource management, organizational behavior and development, and lean transformation.     

The Influence of Ethics Instruction,Religiosity, and Intelligence on Cheating Behavior

This study examines the influence of ethics instruction, religiosity, and intelligence on cheating behavior. A sample of 230 upper level, undergraduate business students had the opportunity to increase their chances of winning money in an experimental situation by falsely reporting their task performance. In general, the results indicate that students who attended worship services more frequently were less likely to cheat than those who attended worship services less frequently, but that students who had taken a course in business ethics were no less likely to cheat than students who had not taken such a course. However, the results do indicate that the extent to which taking a business ethics course influenced cheating behavior was moderated by the religiosity and intelligence of the individual student. In particular, while students who were highly religious were unlikely to cheat whether or not they had taken a business ethics course, students who were not highly religious demonstrated less cheating if they had taken a business ethics course. In addition, the extent of cheating among highly intelligent students was significantly reduced if such students had taken a course in business ethics. Likewise, individuals who were highly intelligent displayed significantly less cheating if they were also highly religious. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Academic entitlement and its relationship with perception of cheating ethics

Cheating is an epidemic in higher education. The author examined the psychological variable of academic entitlement and its relationship with the ethical perception of cheating using a sample of business students. Contrary to some previous research, the author found that millennials were only slightly more academically entitled than students from other generations but overall had a low sense of entitlement. Highly entitled business students viewed cheating actions as less unethical compared with less entitled students.     

Preparing undergraduate students for the Major Field Test in Business

Many business programs address the learning of undergraduate students with an exit exam. A reference librarian and the business school faculty created an online test preparation study guide (or LibGuide) which included no-cost resources that were readily available yet academically authoritative to aid students in studying for the Educational Testing Service Major Field Test in Business at an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business–accredited college in northwest Georgia. The findings indicated that while some graduating business seniors did use the LibGuide materials, many were overwhelmed with the amount of material available and believed studying would not be beneficial to their performance on the exit exam. Discussion and areas for future research are presented.     

Examining the Decision Process of Students' Cheating Behavior: An Empirical Study

This research examines the association between attitudes on cheating and cognitive moral development. In this research, we use Rest's (1979a) Defining Issues Test, the Attitudes on Honesty Scale (Authors) and Academic Integrity Index (Authors); the last two are adaptations of the DIT. A total of 220 students from three universities participated in the study (66 psychology majors and 154 business majors). The data indicate that 66.4 percent of the students reported that they cheated in high school, college, or both high school and college. Psychology majors scored higher than business majors on both the Defining Issues Test (Rest, 1979a) and the Attitudes on Honesty Scale (AHS, Authors). Using factor analysis, we found significant associations between students' ratings of the importance considerations present in the three cheating scenarios and their estimates of whether cheating would occur (i.e., the Academic Integrity Index). Finally, using logistic regression, we found that the scores on the Attitudes on Honesty Scale and Academic Integrity Index associate with the self-reported cheating behavior of college students.     

大学生考试作弊行为的调查与分析

考风建设是各类学校加强校风、学风建设的重要举措。如何有效地遏制大学生考试作弊行为，形成良好校风、学风，成为高校亟待解决的问题。选择成都高校大学生进行问卷调查，对其作弊行为进行统计分析、聚类分析、主成分分析和相关性分析。结果表明高年级男生更倾向于作弊。基础类型课程作弊现象较为突出，学生多采用夹带等低成本的方式实施作弊行为，同时学生作弊与监考老师是否严格监考关系较弱。针对这一分析结果，应改变学生对考评的认知，完善考试规章制度，加强诚信教育等，以降低大学作弊行为。     

Undergraduate Student Perceptions Regarding Cheating: Tier 1 Versus Tier 2 AACSB Accredited Business Schools

Cheating is fairly commonplace at both Tiers 1 and 2 AACSB accredited business schools. Distinct differences exist between Tiers 1 and 2 students with regard to cheating. Tier 1 students are more likely to cheat on written assignments, they believe sanctions impact cheating, and that a stigma is attached to cheating. Tier 2 students are more likely to cheat on exams, and nearly as likely to cheat on written assignments. Tier 2 students accept the notion that moral and ethical people cheat. Tier 2 students who are Business Administration majors, those who are employed 40 h or more per week, married students, and married students with children are more likely to cheat. At both Tiers 1 and 2 schools Asian students are less likely to cheat, but resident members of fraternities and sororities and those who drink frequently are more likely to cheat.     

Student Reports and Faculty Perceptions of Academic Dishonesty

As college students prepare for the businessworld, what they learn as acceptable behavioron campus may well inform their expectations ofacceptable behavior in their professionallives. Numerous studies have reported thatmost college students admit to cheating onmultiple occasions (e.g., McCabe and Trevino,1993; Sims, 1993; McCabe, Trevino andButterfield, 1996, 1999). Furthermore,studies have linked academic integrity withethical business practices (McCabe, Trevinoand Butterfield, 1996; Sims, 1993). Oneapproach to reducing academic dishonesty hasbeen the student honor code. Such codes havebeen on the rise for the last decade (Pavelaand McCabe, 1993). Honor codes have been usedas a teaching tool to underscore the importanceof professional ethics among business students(Kidwell, 2001).In the effort to establish a culture ofacademic integrity, a university must firstunderstand the current state. This paperdiscusses a two-year study at a small liberalarts university without an honor code at thepresent time. Students were surveyed abouttheir cheating behaviors as well as theirreceptiveness to an honor code. Over seventypercent of the students surveyed reported thatthey were habitual cheaters, i.e., they hadcheated on exams, plagiarized papers, orcommitted other forms of academic dishonesty onmultiple occasions. A survey similar to thatadministered to students was subsequentlyadministered to faculty in order to determinetheir understanding of student cheating norms. This paper compares the student and facultyperceptions, and the prospects for an honorcode at the university are also explored.     

The Contract of Employment - Ethical Dimensions

A review of the literature indicates that faculty, students, and employers recognize the importance of professional behaviors for a successful career. These professional behaviors were defined by business school faculty to include honesty and ethical decision making, regular attendance and punctuality, professional dress and appearance, participation in professional organizations, and appropriate behavior during meetings. This paper presents the results of a survey administered to managers, faculty, and students about how business school professors can teach these professional behaviors. A hypothesis was tested that managers, professors, and students differ in their perceptions about what is appropriate professional behavior. Using a scale of strongly agree to strongly disagree to respond to critical incidents, one-way ANOVA indicated no group differences for items about cheating, plagiarism, and helping students to work projects on schedule. Group differences were found for ethics items (raising course grade for the purpose of tuition reimbursement, stopping excessive use of school printers, simplifying course work to accommodate weaker students), time management items (making accommodations for students unable to regularly attend class, refusing to admit late students), appearance items (requiring students to dress in suits for major presentations, counseling a student with facial piercing), and for items about required activities inside and outside of the classroom. Allen Hall received his Ph.D. in education from the University of Iowa. Currently he is an associate professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) Institute of Technology. His research projects center around surveys designed to measure changes in ethical awareness. His teaching area is Business & Society. He currently studies management issues in non-profit organizations. Lisa Berardino received her Ph.D. in management from Virginia Tech. Currently she is an associate professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) Institute of Technology and coordinator for the Master of Business Administration program. Her publications focus on identifying, measuring and building the critical skills that business students need in today’s workplace. Her teaching area is human resource management and compensation. Her current research projects center on how to build the competency of professional behavior and how to teach ethics.     

The Impact of Anti-Intellectualism Attitudes and Academic Self-Efficacy on Business Students’ Perceptions of Cheating

College cheating represents a major ethical problem facing students and educators, especially in colleges of business. The current study surveys 666 business students in three universities to examine potential determinants of cheating perceptions. Anti-intellectualism refers to a student’s negative view of the value and importance of intellectual pursuits and critical thinking. Academic self-efficacy refers to a student’s belief in one’s ability to accomplish an academic task. As hypothesized, students high in anti-intellectualism attitudes and those with low academic self-efficacy were least likely to perceive college cheating as unethical. Considering that college cheating has been found as a predictor of workplace cheating, the results urge business instructors to reduce anti-intellectualism among students and to encourage them to put forth their best efforts. The results also serve employers by focusing attention on these two psychological variables during the hiring and promotion processes.

Faculty Responsibilities in Dealing with Collegiate Cheating: A Student Development Perspective

Recent research has demonstrated that business students have more tolerant attitudes toward cheating (Roig and Ballew, 1994), tend to believe they need unethical beliefs in order to complete their degrees (Lane and Schaupp, 1989), and are more likely to cheat than non-business students (Baird, 1980; McCabe and Trevino, 1995). Given the importance of this issue, this paper discusses the responsibilities of faculty members in dealing with collegiate cheating. A student development perspective (Kibler, 1993; Sanford, 1966) is used to articulate these responsibilities. Three other perspectives are discussed with respect to each viewpoint's limitations to students' development. In addition, based on empirical, theoretical, and experimental information, strategies for managing classroom cheating are offered within the framework of the student development perspective. Special attention is paid to issues relevant to business students and faculty throughout the paper.     

Business Ethics Perspectives: Faculty Plagiarism and Fraud

Faculty plagiarism and fraud are widely documented occurrences but little analysis has been conducted. This article addresses the question of why faculty plagiarism and fraud occurs and suggests approaches on how to develop an environment where faculty misconduct is socially inappropriate. The authors review relevant literature, primarily in business ethics and student cheating, developing action steps that could be applied to higher education. Based upon research in these areas, the authors posit some actions that would be appropriate in higher education and suggest topics for continued study.     

Cheating and Moral Judgment in the College Classroom: A Natural Experiment

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a natural experiment involving academic cheating by university students. We explore the relationship of moral judgment (as measured using the defining issues test) to actual behavior, as well as the relationship between the honesty of students self-reports and the extent of cheating. We were able to determine the extent to which students actually cheated on the take-home portion of an accounting exam. The take-home problem was not assigned with the intent of inducing cheating among students. However, the high rate of observed cheating prompted the instructor to return to class and ask the students to provide information on their motivation. The students' responses are the data analyzed in this natural experiment. We found that in a simple regression the relationship between moral judgment scores and cheating behavior was insignificant. However, when we tested whether including Utilizer scores (i.e. the extent to which people select actions based on notions of justice) affected the relationship of cheating and moral judgment we found that Utilizer affected the relationship significantly. Finally, we found that moral judgment and honesty were not related, but higher levels of cheating behavior related to less honesty.     

Ethics vs. IT Ethics: Do Undergraduate Students Perceive a Difference?

Do undergraduate students perceive that it is more acceptable to ?cheat’ using information technology (IT) than it is to cheat without the use of IT? Do business discipline-related majors cheat more than non-business discipline-related majors? Do undergraduate students perceive it to be more acceptable for them personally to cheat than for others to cheat? Questionnaires were administered to undergraduate students at five geographical academic locations in the spring, 2006 and fall 2006 and spring, 2007. A total of 708 usable questionnaires were returned including 532 from students majoring in business-related disciplines and 139 from students majoring in non-business related disciplines (37 were undecided). It appears that in terms of intellectual property violations, undergraduate students in general find cheating using IT more acceptable than cheating without the use of IT. It also appears that undergraduate students perceive that it is relatively more acceptable for them to personally cheat when using IT than for others to cheat when using IT, although this is reversed when IT is not involved. No significant differences on these issues were found between undergraduate students having business discipline-related majors and those having non-business discipline-related majors.     

How does ethics institutionalization reduce academic cheating?

Extant research on academic cheating primarily focuses on the impact of honor codes on academic cheating. However, the influence of ethics institutionalization is curiously missing in past research. The authors developed and validated a structural equations model in the R programming language to examine the impact of formal (explicit) and informal (implicit) ways of institutionalizing ethics on reducing students' academic cheating. They found a significant mediating effect of implicit ethics institutionalization on the relationship between explicit ethics institutionalization and academic cheating among business students. Therefore, academic administrators are encouraged to place significant emphasis on implicit forms of ethics institutionalization to curb academic cheating among students.     

Predicting consumers’ cheating behavior. The role of mental representation of goods and psychological ownership

This study examines the likelihood of cheating when consumers are offered with the option of using postponed payment plans after purchasing hedonic goods. It addresses how the nature of the good combined with payment timing affects its perceived psychological ownership, which in turn influences consumers’ cheating behavior. Three experimental studies indicate that when consumers mentally represent a hedonic (vs. utilitarian) good, they are more likely to cheat. This effect is greater with a postponed payment than with an immediate one. Findings also show that perceived psychological ownership is lower for hedonic goods and this explains different levels of cheating behavior. The paper offers managerial guidance on how to increase perceived psychological ownership for hedonic goods, with the goal of reducing cheating behavior.     

Is Classroom Cheating Related to Business Students' Propensity to Cheat in the "Real World"?

Previous studies have reportedstudents' widely held belief that they are moreethical than businessmen. On the other hand,widespread cheating among college students hasbeen reported. This paper examines thisinconsistency between the beliefs of collegestudent regarding the need for ethical behaviorin a business setting and their actions in anacademic setting.The results of this study indicate that whilestudents are generally upset with cheating intheir class, a large proportion of themnonetheless engage in such behavior. It wasfurther found that students have a goodunderstanding of what constitutes ethicalbehavior in the business world and the need forsuch behavior. However, they also believe thatbusiness people fail to act in an ethicalmanner, and that they may need to actunethically to advance their careers.     

The Evolution and Challenges of the Concept of Organizational Virtuousness in Positive Organizational Scholarship

This study considers the potential for influencing business students to become ethical managers by directing their undergraduate learning environment. In particular, the relationship between business students’ academic cheating, as a predictor of workplace ethical behavior, and their approaches to learning is explored. The three approaches to learning identified from the students’ approaches to learning literature are deep approach, represented by an intrinsic interest in and a desire to understand the subject, surface approach, characterized by rote learning and memorization without understanding, and strategic approach, associated with competitive students whose motivation is the achievement of good grades by adopting either a surface or deep approach. Consistent with the hypothesized theoretical model, structural equation modeling revealed that the surface approach is associated with higher levels of cheating, while the deep approach is related to lower levels. The strategic approach was also associated with less cheating and had a statistically stronger influence than the deep approach. Further, a significantly positive relationship reported between deep and strategic approaches suggests that cheating is reduced when deep and strategic approaches are paired. These findings suggest that future managers and business executives can be influenced to behave more ethically in the workplace by directing their learning approaches. It is hoped that the evidence presented may encourage those involved in the design of business programs to implement educational strategies which optimize students’ approaches to learning towards deep and strategic characteristics, thereby equipping tomorrow’s managers and business executives with skills to recognize and respond appropriately to workplace ethical dilemmas.     

An Examination of Cheating and its Antecedents Among Marketing and Management Majors

This study examines cheating behaviors among 742 marketing and management majors at three public AACSB-accredited business schools. Specifically, we studied the simultaneous influence of demographic and attitudinal characteristics on: (1) reported prior cheating behavior; (2) the tendency to neutralize cheating behaviors; and, (3) likelihood of future cheating. We additionally examined the impact of in-class deterrents on neutralization of cheating behaviors and the likelihood of future cheating. We also directly tested potential mediating effects of neutralization on cheating behavior.We conducted independent assessments of the validity of the Smith et al. (2002) model of cheating behavior and its antecedents using structural equations modeling procedures. Results supported the differentiation of the theoretical constructs within the specified process model. Furthermore, tests of the aforementioned theoretical model indicated that the primary influences on future cheating were prior cheating, and the degree to which one neutralized prior cheating behaviors. Equally noteworthy, in contrast to previous research we found in-class deterrents to have no significant influence in either neutralizing behavior or future cheating proclivities.     

International Marketing (14th edition), by Philip R. Cateora,Mary C. Gilly,and John I. Graham

Abstract

The trend toward internationalizing business curriculum at American colleges and universities should be incorporated as a strategy throughout the United States. The catalyst that has led most business schools to adopt a systematic acceptance of the internationalization of their curriculum was the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) 1984-1985 Standards and Guidelines for business school accreditation. Most would agree that without AACSB mandates, the transition would be slower, but inevitable, due to the focus on worldwide business issues. The global economy is rapidly evolving and the needs for competencies in international business are becoming very important to the U.S. and its economic well-being. Because of this, industry is looking for a new kind of employee, the kind that understands both the importance of international business and how to operate within it successfully. The halls of academia must respond to this pressing need by going much further than providing a sporadic array of “elective” international topics. Their response has to be synergistic with university presidents, deans and faculties fully supportive of an organizational design change that promotes a new way of thinking. The new organization is one in which there must be an international focus throughout the business school. With that synergy in place, the process of internationalizing students, the university, curriculum and faculty can move forward.