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What is Working, What is Not, and What We Need to Know: a Meta-Analytic Review of Business Ethics Instruction

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Abstract

Requirements for business ethics education and organizational ethics trainings mark an important step in encouraging ethical behavior among business students and professionals. However, the lack of specificity in these guidelines as to how, what, and where business ethics should be taught has led to stark differences in approaches and content. The present effort uses meta-analytic procedures to examine the effectiveness of current approaches across organizational ethics trainings and business school courses. to provide practical suggestions for business ethics interventions and research. Thus, the primary questions driving this research are as follows: (1) what course characteristics moderate the effectiveness of ethics instruction?, and (2) have ethics education and training efforts improved? Findings suggest that professional, focused, and workshop-based training programs are especially effective for improving business ethics. However, results also reveal considerable problems with many of the criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of business ethics interventions. Practical suggestions for course design and evaluation in business ethics efforts are discussed along with future research needs.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Alison Antes, Jason Borenstein, Jeffrey Engler, Michael Kalichman, Brian Martinson, Michael Verderame, Noorain Chaudhry, and Bailey Schrock for their assistance with the present effort. The project described was supported by Grant Number ORIIR140010-01-00 from the National Institutes of Health and the Office of Research Integrity. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Office of Research Integrity.

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  1. University of Texas at Arlington, 501 S. Nedderman Drive, Arlington, TX, 76019, USA

    Kelsey E. Medeiros

  2. Baruch College, The City University of New York, 55 Lexington Ave, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Logan L. Watts

  3. Center for Applied Social Research, University of Oklahoma, 5 Partners Place, 201 Stephenson Parkway, Suite 4100, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    Tyler J. Mulhearn, Logan M. Steele, Michael D. Mumford & Shane Connelly

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Correspondence to Michael D. Mumford.

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Medeiros, K.E., Watts, L.L., Mulhearn, T.J. et al. What is Working, What is Not, and What We Need to Know: a Meta-Analytic Review of Business Ethics Instruction. J Acad Ethics 15, 245–275 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-017-9281-2

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