The impact of business ethics education on students’ attitudes towards ethical behaviour

In the light of the recent business scandals, business communities are expressing their concern about organizations’ ethical behaviour and suggesting that business schools should emphasize the development of future leaders who are ethically aware. However, there are conflicting views on whether business ethics can be taught. Does business ethics education increase students’ ethical awareness? The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of business ethics education on undergraduate business students’ ethical awareness. A total of 312 first- and second-year undergraduate business students participated in the study during spring 2012. The study hypothesizes that undergraduate business students who had participated in a business ethics course would show stronger attitudes towards ethical behaviour in general and in particular to questions of business and consumer ethics and social dilemmas, compared to those who had not participated in such a course. The hypotheses are tested drawing on data from two groups of undergraduate business students from a major business school where 1,490 students were sampled. The results from analyses of data collected using Likert-type rating measurement instruments revealed no significant difference with respect to attitudes towards ethical behavior between undergraduate business students who had taken a business ethics course and those who had not. However, an analysis of dendrograms that are based on data collected using Best Worse Scaling suggests differences between the two groups when controlling for gender, religious affiliation, and cumulative grade average (CGA).