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"Our output is not teaching; it is, in fact, student learning. " (AACSB, 2005, 1 2).
As educators, we have strived to teach our students about ethical and unethical behavior. However, the teaching involved more than simply reciting current events. We desired to teach our students to behave ethically. This has been an ominous task.
Ethics, especially business ethics, is in crisis. There were obviously many ethical problems prior to Enron, but for this generation of students, that is the controversy which initiated them into the topic of business ethics. Enron's exploits read like a soap opera (Ludlum and Moskalionov, 2008). On the heels of Enron, came Worldcom, Tyco, the automobile industry, executive bonuses, the foreclosure crisis, the Wall Street financial crisis, and the list grows and grows. Some people will not behave ethically, and society must be ready to correct unethical behavior through legal constraints. In fact, much of consumer protection law, and shareholder protection legislation, such as the recent Sarbanes-Oxley in the U.S., has occurred because of ethical abuses by businesses (Robin, 2009).
Recent studies in the United States shows a link between unethical views during college and unethical behavior in the workforce (Nonis and Swift, 2001a; 2001b; Knotts, Lopez and Mesak, 2000; Sanders, 2002; Silver and Valentine, 2000, Johns and Strand, 2000; Rawwas and Isakson, 2000). These preliminary findings point to the importance of this line of research. The attitudes students have now translate into behaviors they will have in the business world. "Today's college students will be the next generation of business employees, owners, managers, and regulators" (Ludlum, Moskalionov, and Machiorlatti, 2008 at 1).
Accordingly, if we as educators are to have any effect on business students' views of ethics, we had to be pro-active. The curriculum changed rapidly. Schools mandated ethical components and separate ethics classes. Textbooks entitled "Business Ethics" emerged from every publisher. However, few had anything in common.
At the same time, but influenced by other events, the accrediting bodies demanded that business schools assess the results of their teaching. Administrators wanted to know that their students were getting a quality education, which matched or exceeded the expectations of peer institutions. The academic community, divided by discipline, generated tons of data, spreadsheets and reports, and the discipline...