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Managers’ Views on Ethics Education in Business Schools: An Empirical Study

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Abstract

More and more scholars are expressing their apprehensions regarding the current state of management education. The increased number of corporate scandals has fueled their concerns that training students to have sound business ethics upon graduation has failed. Consequently, research is emerging that focuses on the lack of impact that business ethics teaching has had on students in recent years. Remarkably, the voice of managers has barely been heard in this area, even though they are the ones who are among those best suited to evaluate graduates’ capabilities to solve ethical dilemmas. This research presents the managers’ view on the role of business schools in training students in business ethics, and the managers’ evaluation of business schools’ success in that area. The findings reveal that managers are quite disappointed with the lack of improvement in the ethics of graduating students. Managers nonetheless provide a range of ideas for business schools to work on, and particularly, call for closer collaboration between industry and business schools.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Throstur Olaf Sigurjonsson

  2. Reykjavik University, Reykjavík, Iceland

    Throstur Olaf Sigurjonsson, Audur Arna Arnardottir & Pall Rikhardsson

  3. California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA

    Vlad Vaiman

Authors
  1. Throstur Olaf Sigurjonsson
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  2. Audur Arna Arnardottir
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  3. Vlad Vaiman
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  4. Pall Rikhardsson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Throstur Olaf Sigurjonsson.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

  1. I.

    General questions about business ethics in Iceland

    1. 1.

      Icelandic firms practice good business ethics.

    2. 2.

      Business ethics in Iceland are good compared to neighboring countries.

    3. 3.

      Business ethics in Iceland have improved since the fall of 2008.

    4. 4.

      Icelandic firms emphasize business ethics in their strategy.

    5. 5.

      To what extent do you believe the following are common problems in Icelandic business?

      1. a.

        Nepotism

      2. b.

        Bribes

      3. c.

        Lack of transparency

      4. d.

        Lack of accountability

      5. e.

        Inappropriate interference by politicians

      6. f.

        Conflicts of interest

      7. g.

        Unreliability of public information

      8. h.

        Cross-ownership

      9. i.

        Insider trading

    6. 6.

      If you believe business ethics in Iceland are poor, could you please explain?

  1. II.

    Ethics in own firm

    1. 7.

      Good business ethics are practiced in my firm.

    2. 8.

      There are clear consequences if poor ethics are practiced in my firm.

    3. 9.

      The firm‘s board of directors adequately acts as a check of good business practice.

    4. 10.

      My firm demonstrates its commitment to ethics by:

      1. a.

        Has incorporated business ethics into its strategy

      2. b.

        Has implemented a code of conduct

      3. c.

        Holds employees accountable for their actions through performance appraisals

      4. d.

        Has systems in place that help employees with reporting if unethical behavior is suspected or witnessed

      5. e.

        Has established employee hotlines for whistle-blowing

    5. 11.

      During the past 2 years I have witnessed unethical business practices in our firm:

      1. i.

        Never

      2. ii.

        1–2 times

      3. iii.

        3–5 times

      4. iv.

        More than 5 times

    6. 12.

      If your answer to last question was positive, please mention the type of unethical business practices you have experienced.

  1. III.

    The role of business schools teaching business ethics.

    1. 13.

      It is a role of business schools to help their students become more ethically conscious.

    2. 14.

      The business schools have done well in their role of improving students’ business ethics.

    3. 15.

      Business students have strong ethical standards before entering the workforce.

    4. 16.

      Business graduates are more ethically responsible now than before 2008.

    5. 17.

      Employers’ role should be to strengthen and foster employees’ good business ethics.

    6. 18.

      It should be mandatory for business students to learn about business ethics at university.

    7. 19.

      How should business ethics be taught at business schools? Please rate the following methods)

      1. a.

        Study fundamentals of business ethics

      2. b.

        Training in problem solving

      3. c.

        Guest lecturers (managers) that have dealt with ethical dilemmas

      4. d.

        A broad range of guests’ lecturers, such as politicians, philosophers, lawyers, medical doctors, etc.

      5. e.

        Provide practical “tools” on how to analyze and solve ethical dilemmas

      6. f.

        Help students learn to recognize, clarify, speak and act on their values when ethical conflicts arise

      7. g.

        Train students in how to respond and to raise ethical issues in an effective manner (e.g., what he/she needs to do and say in order to be heard)

      8. h.

        Other methods—answer in text box below

    8. 20.

      Please mention one item you believe is the most important in question 25: ___ (only one choice, a–h)

    9. 21.

      What is lacking in current business graduates in terms of their ability to solve ethical dilemmas?

    10. 22.

      How can the business schools better prepare their students for ethical dilemmas in a workplace?

    11. 23.

      I believe a stronger cooperation between industry and the business schools necessary to improve business ethics (disagree–agree).

    12. 24.

      How can such increased cooperation be implemented?

    13. 25.

      What can the business schools do?

    14. 26.

      What can industry do?

    15. 27.

      How can business schools assist industry better in order to improve business ethics?

      1. a.

        Assist managers?

      2. b.

        Assist employees?

Background questions

  1. 1.

    What is your gender?

    1. a.

      Male

    2. b.

      Female

  2. 2.

    How old are you? ___

  3. 3.

    What is your education?

    1. a.

      Business

    2. b.

      Law

    3. c.

      Engineering

    4. d.

      Natural science other than engineering

    5. e.

      Other social sciences

    6. f.

      Other

  4. 4.

    What is your occupation?

    1. a.

      Top-level manager

    2. b.

      Mid-level manager

    3. c.

      Specialist

    4. d.

      Other

  5. 5.

    In what industry is your employer?

    1. a.

      Financial/Banking

    2. b.

      Auditing

    3. c.

      Professional services

    4. d.

      Retail

    5. e.

      Manufacturing/Fishing

    6. f.

      IT

    7. g.

      Service

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Sigurjonsson, T.O., Arnardottir, A.A., Vaiman, V. et al. Managers’ Views on Ethics Education in Business Schools: An Empirical Study. J Bus Ethics 130, 1–13 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2202-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2202-z

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