Teaching undergraduate business ethics: Comparing course structure and faculty goals

There has been a long-standing debate between advocates for integrating business ethics material into traditional business school courses, and advocates for separate courses on business ethics. This debate suggested that there is a difference in the teaching goals of the business ethics faculty between those who teach separate courses and those who teach integrated courses.; A quantitative survey, designed for this study, was sent to members of 2 professional organizations in order to reach faculty members who teach business ethics at the college level. Respondents were asked a series of demographic questions and were asked whether they taught integrated or separate business ethics courses. The participants rated the importance of 6 different teaching goals and the level of achievement their business ethics students experienced in awareness and mastery.; A broad cross-section of experienced business ethics teachers participated in the survey. A total of 174 usable responses were tabulated and analyzed. The teaching goals of faculty who teach stand-alone undergraduate business ethics courses were compared with the goals of faculty who teach business ethics as part of traditional business courses. The goals of faculty who teach business ethics in an integrated structure were different from the goals of faculty teaching business ethics in a separate structure in the survey responses, although of the 6 teaching goals, only 2 had statistically significant differences. Also surveyed were the participants' views of the achievement of their business ethics students in awareness and mastery of the subject. This study also examined variables related to the faculty who participated in the study, the business ethics courses that they teach, and information about the schools of the participants.; This study will help to further inform the debate over the approach to teaching business ethics. The resulting analysis and recommendations will contribute to improving coherence in undergraduate business ethics courses.