Business Ethics as a Sustainability Challenge: Higher Education Implications

Abstract

Recent financial scandals worldwide have intensified concern for business (and especially accounting) ethics. Hence, under an overall economic and social sustainability approach, it is crucial to improve the effectiveness of business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) education, in terms of its impact on business students' awareness of ethical issues. However, stand-alone business ethics/CSR courses are uncommon in Spanish universities. Accordingly, this paper aims at examining the influence of ethics courses on students' awareness of business ethics in unfriendly environments. We test our hypotheses, through hierarchical regression, in a sample of 551 management students of a Spanish university. Our results suggest that business ethics/CSR courses increase awareness of the importance of ethics in: (i) business courses, (ii) recognizing accounting ethical implications, and (iii) workplace decisions. Our findings also show that a joint interactive effect of gender (female students) and age (older students) increases the impact of business ethics/CSR courses on students' awareness of the importance of: (i) ethics in workplace decisions, and (ii) the recognition of accounting ethical implications. Our results also support the relevance of different learning styles and the convenience of adapting ethics/CSR teaching methods depending on students' characteristics. Research and practical implications are derived from our findings.

Are Corporate Social Responsibility Courses Effective? A Longitudinal and Gender-Based Analysis in Undergraduate Students

“…However, existing research has offered mixed findings on this point [14,15,23,26,29]. Simultaneously, little attention has been paid to the contingencies of CSR courses' effectiveness, such as the role of gender [16]. While Ritter showed that females are more positively impacted by business ethics courses [23], it was only true for older (rather than younger) female students [16].…”

“…Simultaneously, little attention has been paid to the contingencies of CSR courses' effectiveness, such as the role of gender [16]. While Ritter showed that females are more positively impacted by business ethics courses [23], it was only true for older (rather than younger) female students [16]. To fill this gap, this study explored whether completing a CSR course has a positive impact on undergraduate students' levels of ethical decision-making, and further, whether this impact is stronger for females than for males.…”

“…Because CSR courses typically address the impact of ethical/unethical decisions on society, they can expose students to ethical theories and help them progress in their cognitive moral development, which may improve their ability to deal with ethical dilemmas [29]. On the other hand, existing research has documented that undergraduate students usually consider business ethics and CSR courses as an important facet of their university training [16,30,31]. This interest is especially high among students of MBA programs offered by top business schools [32] and may only continue to increase as more members of generations Y (1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995) and Z (1995-2015) enter the academy; such individuals seem to express the deepest sensitivity towards ethical and CSR issues [33][34][35].…”

“…For example, gender may affect the positive impact that CSR courses have on undergraduate students' ethical decision-making. Whereas women are generally more concerned about altruistic values and caring for others' well-being, men are often more concerned about competition and ambition [10,16]. This divergence in values could explain why, in general, men tend to show lower ethical awareness and ethical decision-making than women [17,18], as well as why women have a higher sensitivity to ethical, social, and sustainability issues [19,20].…”

“…This greater sensitivity among women [21] could make the CSR course more impactful for female students than male students. Yet the research in this area is scarce [16], which has created the need for further studies that illuminate the moderating role of gender in the positive relationship between a CSR course and undergraduate students' ethical decision-making. This study aims to address this gap by providing data both before and after students' attendance of a CSR course, which allowed us to compare the strength of the course's impact on male and female students' ethical decision-making.…”