Effects of a business ethics elective on Hong Kong undergraduates' attitudes toward corporate ethics and social responsibility
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Business & Society
Publication Date
1-1-2013
Volume
52
Issue
4
First Page
558
Last Page
591
Keywords
business ethics education, corporate ethics, Machiavellianism, personal values, social responsibility
Abstract
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.
DOI
10.1177/0007650309350282
Print ISSN
00076503
E-ISSN
15524205
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2013 by SAGE Publications
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Simmons, R. S., Shafer, W. E., & Snell, R. S. (2013). Effects of a business ethics elective on Hong Kong undergraduates' attitudes toward corporate ethics and social responsibility. Business & Society, 52(4), 558-591. doi: 10.1177/0007650309350282