TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of a business ethics elective on Hong Kong undergraduates' attitudes toward corporate ethics and social responsibility
AU - SIMMONS, Richard S.
AU - SHAFER, William E.
AU - SNELL, Robin S.
PY - 2013/12
Y1 - 2013/12
N2 - This study examines the effect of a business ethics course on undergraduates' attitudes toward the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility, as measured by the PRESOR scale. It employs a survey approach, adopting a pretest/posttest methodology in the data collection. A total of 132 undergraduate students were surveyed over a period of four semesters during 2006 and 2007. To test the effects of individual personality characteristics and examine their potential interaction with ethical education, participants' personal values and degree of Machiavellianism were also assessed. The business ethics course resulted in significantly less support for the traditional stockholder view of business, providing backing for the inclusion of a stand-alone business ethics course in the business studies curriculum. In addition, among nonbusiness majors, the course resulted in significantly greater support for the stakeholder view, suggesting that it would be especially beneficial to open such a course to nonbusiness students.
AB - This study examines the effect of a business ethics course on undergraduates' attitudes toward the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility, as measured by the PRESOR scale. It employs a survey approach, adopting a pretest/posttest methodology in the data collection. A total of 132 undergraduate students were surveyed over a period of four semesters during 2006 and 2007. To test the effects of individual personality characteristics and examine their potential interaction with ethical education, participants' personal values and degree of Machiavellianism were also assessed. The business ethics course resulted in significantly less support for the traditional stockholder view of business, providing backing for the inclusion of a stand-alone business ethics course in the business studies curriculum. In addition, among nonbusiness majors, the course resulted in significantly greater support for the stakeholder view, suggesting that it would be especially beneficial to open such a course to nonbusiness students.
KW - Machiavellianism
KW - business ethics education
KW - corporate ethics
KW - personal values
KW - social responsibility
UR - http://commons.ln.edu.hk/sw_master/2083
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84887516350&doi=10.1177%2f0007650309350282&partnerID=40&md5=26f1c58b600b23d94ad3dd7e55d107d7
U2 - 10.1177/0007650309350282
DO - 10.1177/0007650309350282
M3 - Journal Article (refereed)
SN - 0007-6503
VL - 52
SP - 558
EP - 591
JO - Business and Society
JF - Business and Society
IS - 4
ER -