MBAs' changing attitudes toward marketing dilemmas: 1981?1987

Ethical Cycles and Trends: Evidence and Implications

“…While previous investigations have either attempted to measure long-run changes using ''book end'' sampling methodologies (e.g., Brenner and Molander, 1977;Farling and Winston, 2001;Harich and Curren, 1995) or have presented short-run changes in ethical attitudes (Zinkhan et al, 1989;Conroy and Emerson, 2006), there has been no previous attempt to present a coherent theoretical framework for ''ethical cycles'' and trends. This current investigation is a first step toward this end.…”

“…They found that the ethical attitudes of students significantly decreased while those of managers increased. Additionally, Zinkhan et al (1989) conducted a series of cross-sectional surveys of MBA students each semester from 1981 to 1987. While their investigative focus was on linear trend analysis, the data reported in their paper offered an intriguing -if fragile -hint that ethical attitudes were anything but stable over time.…”

“…The Zinkhan et al (1989) study mentioned above provides an interesting real world example of the problem of identifying a long-run trend (from a short-run cycle) with only two data points. One of the ethical challenges (question #5) used in Zinkhan et al's investigation involves firing a sales representative who is underperforming due to ''recent family troubles'' (p. 966).…”

“…Either way, failure to account for these vacillations would result in inaccurate characterizations of the data. Zinkhan et al (1989). Percentage of respondents willing to fire an under-performing sales representative who is experiencing family troubles.…”

A Novel Approach to Business Ethics Training: Improving Moral Reasoning in Just a Few Weeks

“…Several prior studies on business ethics training have not included a control group (e.g., Abolmohammadi and Reeves, 2000;Bodkin and Stevenson, 2007;Carlson and Burke, 1998;Dellaportas, 2006;Desplaces et al, 2007;Fraedrich et al, 2005;Weber and Glyptis, 2000;Wynd and Mager, 1989). Moreover, in some of the studies in which a control group was included, preand post-training measures were not obtained at the same times in both groups (e.g., Glenn, 1992;Zinkhan et al, 1989). Unlike these prior studies, the design of the present study accounts for three potential threats to validity: history, practice, and maturation effects (Cook and Campbell, 1979).…”