Abstract
To help academic associations in management develop, refine, and implement a code of ethics, we conducted a survey of management educators’ perception of the ethicality of 142 specific behaviors in teaching, research, and service. The results of the survey could be used to inform ethics committees of these associations regarding the level of acceptability of such conduct. The potential value of our study for the Academy of Management or similar management associations lie in our (1) systematically involving the members in building support for the code of ethics, (2) assessing members’ ethical judgments on both cross-sectional and longitudinal bases so as to identify areas needing particular attention in ethical training, (3) providing an extensive list of specific examples of questionable and potentially unethical behaviors so as to make it easier to implement the code, and (4) providing a template survey document for potential use in involving more stakeholder groups in the development of codes of ethics.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
At the time the survey was developed (before December 2005, when the revised Academy of Management Code of Ethics was announced), the Academy of Management still used the Academy Code of Ethical Conduct, which only included broad principles of professional conducts (Academy of Management 2005b).
References
Academy of Management (2005a) Academy of Management revised code of ethics. http://www.aomonline.org/aom.asp?id=14&page_id=235. Accessed 20 July 2006.
Academy of Management (2005b) Academy of Management revised code of ethics frequently asked questions. http://www.aomonline.org/aom.asp?id=14&page_id=234. Accessed 25 July 2006.
Adam, A. M., & Rachman-moore, D. (2004). The methods used to implement an ethical code of conduct and employee attitudes. Journal of Business Ethics, 54(3), 223–244. doi:10.1007/s10551-004-1774-4.
Anand, V., Ashforth, B., & Joshi, M. (2004). Business as usual: the acceptance and perpetuation of corruption in organizations. Academy of Management Executive, 18(2), 39–53.
Anderson, R. E., Johnson, D. G., Gotterbarn, D., & Perrolle, J. (1993). Using the new ACM code of ethics in decision making. Association for Computing Machinery. Communications of the ACM, 36(2), 98–104. doi:10.1145/151220.151231.
Anonymous (1991). The academy of management code of ethical conduct. Academy of Management Journal, 34(4), 995–1002.
Armstrong, J. S., & Overton, T. S. (1977). Estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. JMR, Journal of Marketing Research, 16, 396–400 (August) doi:10.2307/3150783.
Bell, E., & Bryman, A. (2006). The ethics of management research: an exploratory content analysis. British Journal of Management. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2006.00487.x. Accessed 24 July 2006.
Boling, T. E. (1978). The management ethics “Crisis”: an organizational perspective academy of management. Academy of Management Review, 3(2), 360–365. doi:10.2307/257676.
Bruhn, J. G., Zajac, G., Al-Kazemi, A. A., & Prescott Jr., L. D. (2002). Moral positions and academic conduct. The Journal of Higher Education, 73(4), 461–492. doi:10.1353/jhe.2002.0033.
Cassell, C., Johnson, P., & Smith, K. (1997). Opening the black box: corporate codes of ethics in their organizational context. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(10), 1077–1093. doi:10.1023/A:1017926106560.
Coe, T., & Coe, B. (1976). Marketing research: the search for professionalism. In K. L. Bernhardt (Ed.), Marketing: 1776–1976 and beyond. Chicago: American Marketing Association.
Coombs, J. R. (1998). Educational ethics: are we on the right track? Educational Theory, 48(4), 555–556. doi:10.1111/j.1741-5446.1998.00555.x.
Dean, P. J. (1992). Making codes of ethics ‘Real’. Journal of Business Ethics, 11(4), 285–290. doi:10.1007/BF00872170.
Donaldson, T. (1992). Corporations and morality. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. (1994). Toward a unified conception of business ethics: integrative social contracts theory. Academy of Management Review, 19, 252–284. doi:10.2307/258705.
Donaldson, T., & Dunfee, T. W. (1999). Ties that bind: a social contracts approach to business ethics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Dufresne, R. L. (2004). An action learning perspective on effective implementation of academic honor codes. Group & Organization Management, 29(2), 201–218. doi:10.1177/1059601103261472.
Dunfee, T. W. (1991). Business ethics and extant social contracts. Business Ethics Quarterly, 1, 23–51. doi:10.2307/3857591.
Ferrell, O. C. (1999). An assessment of the proposed academy of marketing science code of ethics for marketing educators. Journal of Business Ethics, 19, 225–228 (April) doi:10.1023/A:1005953209391.
Ferrell, O. C., & Skinner, S. J. (1988). Ethical behavior and bureaucratic structure in marketing research organizations. JMR, Journal of Marketing Research, 25, 103–109 (February) doi:10.2307/3172930.
Field, R. H. G. (1993). The case of the purloined journal article, or on being at the receiving end of academic dishonesty. Journal of Management Inquiry, 2(4), 317–324. doi:10.1177/105649269324002.
Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51, 327–343. doi:10.1037/h0061470.
Gioia, D. (2002). Business education’s role in the crisis of corporate confidence. Academy of Management Executive, 16, 142–144.
Hardesty, D. M., & Bearden, W. O. (2004). The use of expert judges in scale development: implications for improving face validity of measures of unobservable constructs. Journal of Business Research, 57, 98–107. doi:10.1016/S0148-2963(01)00295-8.
James Jr., H. S. (2000). Reinforcing ethical decision making through organizational structure. Journal of Business Ethics, 28(1), 43–58. doi:10.1023/A:1006261412704.
Khurana, R., Nohria, N., & Penrice, D. (2005). Is business management a profession? Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, February 21.
Kohut, G. F., & Corriher, S. E. (1994). The relationship of age, gender, experience and awareness of written ethics policies to business decision-making. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 59, 32–39.
Kurtz, D. L. (1999). Commentary on social responsibility and the marketing educator: a discussion document. Journal of Business Ethics, 19, 207–209 (April) doi:10.1023/A:1005945008482.
Lawrence, F. G. (1976). Whose ethics guide business? Management Review, 65(4), 44–48.
Leicht, K., & Fennell, M. (2001). Professional work: a sociological approach. Malden: Blackwell.
Lere, J. C., & Gaumnitz, B. R. (2003). The impact of codes of ethics on decision making: some insights from information economics. Journal of Business Ethics, 48(4), 365–379. doi:10.1023/B:BUSI.0000005747.37500.c8.
Malhotra, N., & Miller, G. L. (1999). Social responsibility and the marketing educator: a focus on stakeholders, ethical theories, and related codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 19, 211–224 (April) doi:10.1023/A:1005901225320.
Manning, K. C., Bearden, W. O., & Madden, T. J. (1995). Consumer innovativeness and the adoption process. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 4(4), 329–345. doi:10.1207/s15327663jcp0404_02.
Mason, J. B., Bearden, W. O., & Richardson, L. D. (1990). Perceived conduct and professional ethics among marketing faculty. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 18(Summer), 185–197. doi:10.1007/BF02726470.
McDonald, G., & Nijhof, A. (1999). Beyond codes of ethics: an integrated framework for stimulating morally responsible behaviour in organisations. Leadership and Organization Development Journal, 20(3), 133–146. doi:10.1108/01437739910268406.
Molander, E. A. (1987). A paradigm for design, promulgation, and enforcement of ethical codes. Journal of Business Ethics, 6(8), 619–631. doi:10.1007/BF00705778.
Nijhof, A., Cludts, S., Fisscher, O., & Laan, A. (2003). Measuring the implementation of codes of conduct: an assessment method based on a process approach of the responsible organization. Journal of Business Ethics, 45(1), 65–78. doi:10.1023/A:1024172412561.
Nijhof, A. H. J., & Rietdijk, M. M. (1999). An ABC-analysis of ethical organizational behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 20(1), 39–50. doi:10.1023/A:1005979101679.
Nixon, J. C., Wiley, C., & West, J. F. (1992). Ways to encourage ethical conduct among marketing professionals. European Business Review, 92(2), 19–21. doi:10.1108/EUM0000000001895.
Obermiller, C., & Spangenberg, E. R. (1998). Development of a scale to measure consumer skepticism toward advertising. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 7(2), 159–186. doi:10.1207/s15327663jcp0702_03.
Pajo, K., & McGhee, P. (2003). The institutionalisation of business ethics: are New Zealand organisations doing enough? Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, 9(1), 52–65.
Peterson, R., & Ferrell, O. C. (Eds.) (2005). In Business ethics: new challenges for business schools and corporate leaders. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe.
Petrick, J. A., & Scherer, R. F. (2005). Management educators’ expectations for professional ethics development. Journal of Business Ethics, 61, 301–314. doi:10.1007/s10551-005-2926-x.
Rezaee, Z., Elmore, R. C., & Szendi, J. Z. (2001). Ethical behavior in higher educational institutions: the role of the code of conduct. Journal of Business Ethics, 30(2), 171–183. doi:10.1023/A:1006423220775.
Saxe, R., & Weitz, B. A. (1982). The SOCO scale: a measure of the customer orientation of salespeople. JMR, Journal of Marketing Research, 19, 343–351 (August) doi:10.2307/3151568.
Sharma, S., Netemeyer, R., & Mahajan, V. (1990). In search of excellence revisited: an empirical investigation of Peters and Waterman’s attributes of excellence. In W. O. Bearden, & A. Parasuraman (Eds.), Enhancing knowledge development in marketing, vol. 1 (pp. 322–328). Chicago: American Marketing Association.
Sheldon, T. S., & Michael Hoffman, W. (2005). Does higher education make the grade in institution-wide ethics and compliance programs? Business and Society Review, 110(3), 249–267. doi:10.1111/j.0045-3609.2005.00015.x.
Sherrell, D. L., Hair Jr, J. F., & Griffin, M. (1989). Marketing academicians’ perceptions of ethical research behavior. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 17, 315–324 (Fall) doi:10.1007/BF02726642.
Sirgy, M. J. (1999). Social responsibility and the marketing educator: a discussion document. Journal of Business Ethics, 19, 193–206 (April) doi:10.1023/A:1005742504867.
Slama, M. E., & Tashchian, A. (1985). Selected socioeconomic and demographic characteristics associated with purchasing involvement. Journal of Marketing, 49(Winter), 72–82. doi:10.2307/1251177.
Soule, E. (2002). Managerial moral strategies—in search of a few good principles. Academy of Management Review, 27, 114–124 (January) doi:10.2307/4134372.
Soutar, G. M., McNeil, M. M., & Molster, C. (1994). The impact of the work environment on ethical decision making: some Australian evidence. Journal of Business Ethics, 13, 327–339. doi:10.1007/BF00871761.
Stead, W. E., Worrell, D. L., & Stead, J. G. (1990). An integrative model for understanding and managing ethical behavior in business organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 9(3), 223–242. doi:10.1007/BF00382649.
Swanson, D., & Frederick, W. (2003). Are business schools silent partners in corporate crime? Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 3, 24–27.
Trank, C., & Rynes, C. (2003). Who moved our cheese? Reclaiming professionalism in business education. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 2(2), 189–205.
Trevino, L. K., Weaver, G. R., Gibson, D. G., & Toffler, B. L. (1999). Managing ethics and legal compliance: what works and what hurts. California Management Review, 41, 131–151.
Ways, M. (1974). Business faces growing pressures to behave better. Fortune, 89(5), 193–195.
Wiley, C. (1995). The ABC’s of business ethics: definitions, philosophies and implementation. Industrial Management, 37, 22–21.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gao, T., Siegel, P., Johar, J.S. et al. A Survey of Management Educators’ Perceptions of Unethical Faculty Behavior. J Acad Ethics 6, 129–152 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-008-9062-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-008-9062-z