Development of a cognitive skill in solving business ethics problems: The effect of instruction

Education in business ethics focuses mainly on the improvement of ethical awareness, on philosophical issues, or on the transfer of moral content. However, serious problems with the effectiveness of these methods have been reported. In line with the psychological theories of Piaget, Vygotsky and Kohlberg, and in order to avoid the above problems, the educational effort in the present study was concentrated on the stimulation of development of the underlying autonomous cognitive ability to solve moral problems. Adults were trained to solve business ethics problems according to the autonomous function. The problems were presented in the form of moral conflicts introduced by hypothetical stories. The results showed that simple instructions were sufficient to promote a significant shift in the subjects' mode of solving the problems towards the autonomous moral function. Both the educational method and the test device are promising. Issues concerning the scoring instrument as well as questions about the transfer and application of the cognitive skill in real situations are discussed.Iordanis Kavathatzopoulos is Assistant Professor of Psychology at the Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Sweden. His research focuses mainly on education and development of ethics, and on structure and dynamics of work organisation. He has published recently in theJournal of Moral Education.