Abstract
Ethics researchers have scrutinized ethical business problems, which have been demonstrated through the actions of managers at Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Andersen, among others. In response to these business transgressions, the US government has implemented the Sarbanes–Oxley Act to shore up businesses’ ethics infrastructures. However, universities, too, struggle with ethics problems. These include NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) violations, discrimination issues, sexual harassment, endowment admits, plagiarism, and research funding manipulation. Despite these problems, we have little knowledge regarding universities’ ethics infrastructures and codes of conduct, and insignificant empirical research on academic ethics issues (Kelley & Chang, Journal of Higher Education, under review, 2006; Morgan & Korschgen, College Student Journal, Sept., 2001). This lack of knowledge exists despite the critical role universities play in shaping the moral behavior of future generations (Langlais, The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 13:B11, 2006; Woo, BizEd, May/June:22–27, 2003). In this paper, we conduct exploratory research to identify the elements of universities ethics’ infrastructures. From our research, we develop an understanding of the ethics policies and infrastructure elements in place at a representative group of universities. We compare these infrastructures to those in business as well as across Carnegie Classifications. We then conclude with recommendations for developing university ethics infrastructures and suggestions for future research.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
AASCU (2006). Ethics Codes. American Association of States Colleges and Universities.” http://www.aascu.org/. Retrieved January 6, 2006.
AAUA (2005). Mission statement and professional standards and its importance in retention. College Student Journal.
Agle, B. R. and Kelley, P. C. (2003). The road not taken: Creating university ethics infrastructures. In International Association for Business and Society Proceedings.
Alsop. (2004). Virtue is in vogue at business schools. College Journal Oct. 28, 1–4.
Altman, L. K. and Broad, W. J. (2005). Global trend: More science, more fraud. New York Times, December 20.
Anderson, C. (1997). Values-based management, Academy of Management Executive 11(4), 25–46.
Anderson, S. and Davies, T. (2000). An ethical decision making model: A necessary tool for community college presidents and boards of trustees, Community College Journal of Research and Practice 24(9), 711–727.
AOM (2006). Academy of Management revised code of ethics. http://www.aomonline.org/. Retrieved January 9, 2006.
Baumgarten, E. (1982). Ethics in the academic profession: A Socratic view, Journal of Higher Education 53(3), 283–295.
Bok, D. (1988). Address at the AITEA National Conference, ‘Managerial Vision.’ Harvard Annual Report.
Bruhn, J. G., Zajac, G., Al-Kazemi, A. A. and Prescott, Jr. L. D. (2002). Moral positions and academic conduct: Parameters of tolerance for ethics failures, Journal of Higher Education 73(4), 461–493.
Bruscas, A. (2003). The lying game: Deceptions shed light on sports’ grey areas. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 27, 2003.
Callahan, D. (1982). Should there be an academic code of ethics? Journal of Higher Education 53(3), 335–344.
Counelis, J. S. (1993). Toward empirical studies on university ethics: A new role for institutional research, Journal of Higher Education 64(1), 74–92.
Davis, M. S. (1971). That’s interesting! Philosophy of the Social Science 1, 309–344.
DiMaggio, P. J. (1995). Comments on what theory is not, Administrative Science Quarterly 40, 391–397.
Dobson, J. (2003). Why ethics codes don’t work, Financial Analysts Journal 59(6), 29.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from one case study research. Academy of Management Review 14(4), 532–550.
Folse, K. (1991). Ethics and the profession: Graduate student training, Teaching Sociology 19(3), 344–350.
Fusilier, M. R., Aby, Jr. C. D., Worley, J. K. and Elliott, S. (1996). Perceived seriousness of business ethics issues, Business and Professional Ethics Journal 15, 67–78.
Glaser, G. and Strauss, A. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine.
Goodstein, D. (2002). Scientific misconduct, Academe 88(1), (Jan/Feb).
Goonen, N. and Blechman, R. (1999). Higher Education Administration: A Guide to Legal, Ethical, and Practical Issues. Westport, CN: Greenwood.
Iyer, G. (1999). Approaches to ethics in international business education, Journal of Teaching in International Business 11(1), 5–20.
Kelley, P. C. and Chang, P. (2006). A typology of universities ethical infractions: Classifying the types, levels of seriousness, and originating location of ethical failures in university settings. Journal of Higher Education (under review).
Kidder, L. (1981). Research Methods in Social Relations, 4th Edition. New York: Holt, Rinehart Winston.
Knight, K. and Auster, C. J. (1999). Faculty conduct: An empirical study of ethical activism, Journal of Higher Education 70(2), 1–10.
Lampe, M. (1997). Increasing effectiveness in teaching ethics to undergraduate business students, Teaching Business Ethics 1(1), 3–19.
Langlais, P. (2006). Ethics for the next generation, The Chronicle of Higher Education January 13, 2006, B11.
LeClair, D. T., Clark, R., Ferrell, L., Joseph, G. and LeClair, D. (1999). Ethics in international business education: Perspectives from five business disciplines, Journal of Teaching in International Business 11(1), 43–72.
Lindblom, C. (1987). Useable Knowledge. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Lindblom and Cohen, S. (1979). Alternatives to validity – Some thoughts suggested by Campbell guidelines, Knowledge – Creation Diffusion Unitization 8(3), 509–520.
McCabe, D., Trevino, L. and Butterfield, K. (1996). The influence of collegiate and corporate codes of conduct on ethics-related behavior in the workplace, Business Ethics Quarterly 6(4), 461–476.
McCabe, D., Trevino, L. and Butterfield, K. (1999). Academic integrity in honor code and non-honor code environments: A qualitative investigation, Journal of Higher Education 70, 211–234.
McCabe, D., Trevino, L. and Butterfield, K. (2001a). Cheating in academic institutions: A decade of research, Ethics and Behavior 11(3), 219–232.
McCabe, D., Trevino, L. and Butterfield, K. (2001b). Dishonesty in academic environments: The influence of peer reporting requirements, Journal of Higher Education 72(1), 29–45.
McCabe, D., Trevino, L. and Butterfield, K. (2002). Honor codes and other contextual influences on academic integrity: A replication and extension to modified honor code settings, Research in Higher Education 43(3), 357–378.
McKerrow, K. (1997). Ethical administration: An oxymoron? Journal of School Leadership 7, 210–225.
Morgan, B. and Korschgen, A. (2001). The ethics of faculty behavior: Students’ and professors’ views, College Student Journal, Sept. 2001.
NACADA (2006). About National Academic Advising Association. http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/AboutNACADA/index.htm. Retrieved January 9, 2006.
Narvan, F. (2003). Seven steps for changing the ethical culture of an organization, Ethics Resource Center, Article ID: 785 http://www.ethics.org/resources/article_detail.cfm?ID=785. Retrieved March 5, 2005.
Neukrug, E. S. (1997). A developmental approach to the teaching of ethical decision making, Human Service Education 16(1), 19–36.
Orzack, L. and Simcoe, A. (1982). Rutgers University Committee on Professions and Public Accountability. The Professions of Ethics: Views and Realities in New Jersey. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.
Rich, J. (1984). Professional Ethics in Education. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Roworth, W. (2002). Professional ethics, day by day, Academe 88(1), 24–27.
Schulte, L. E., Thompson, F., Hayes, K., Noble, J. and Jacobs, E. (2001). Undergraduate faculty and student perceptions of the ethical climate and its importance in retention. College Student Journal, Dec. 2001.
University of Washington (2005). University of Washington: UW Effort Training Workshop: Effort Certification Education. https://courses.washington.edu/fecnon/lesson1/section2.html. Retrieved November 14, 2005.
Van de Ven, A. H. (1989). Nothing is quite so practical as a good theory, Academy of Management Review 14(4), 485–489.
Weaver, G., Trevino, L. and Cochran, P. (1999a). Integrated and decoupled corporate social performance: Management commitments, external pressures, and corporate ethics practices, Academy of Management Journal 42(5), 539–552.
Weaver, G., Trevino, L. and Cochran, P. (1999b). Corporate ethics practices in the mid-1990’s, Journal of Business Ethics 18, 283–294.
Weber, J. (1993). Institutionalizing ethics into business organizations: A model and research agenda, Business Ethics Quarterly 3, 419–436.
Wiley, C. (1995). The ABC’s of business ethics: Definitions, philosophies, and implementation, IM 22–27. January–February.
Woo, C. Y. (2003). Personally responsible, BizEd May/June 2003, 22–27.
Zinn, L. (1993). Do the right thing: Ethical decision making in professional and business practice, Adult Learning 5(2), 7–8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kelley, P.C., Agle, B.R. & DeMott, J. Mapping our Progress: Identifying, Categorizing and Comparing Universities’ Ethics Infrastructures. J Acad Ethics 3, 205–229 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-006-9014-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-006-9014-4