Stages Of The Research Process Article Review

Business

The first article of Wang & Calvano (2015), it talks about the main interactive effects of gender in business ethics education on moral judgment. The article will explain the relationships between gender and business ethics education based on personal ethical perspectives. The results of the study revealed that women are have a greater tendency to act more ethically compared to men. It is ironic however, that women with background on business ethics instruction have a lesser tendency to respond ethically to business situations. It was also shown in the research study that men are more responsive to business ethics education compared to women. To conclude, the personal ethical orientations of women can become more relativistic after they have taken a business ethics class (Wang & Calvano, 2015, p.591).
The two hypothesis in this article are: 1.) Female students who have business ethics training tend to make more moral judgments on business ethical dilemmas than male students who have business ethics training; and 2.) Female students without business ethics training tend to make more moral judgments on business ethical dilemmas than male students with no business ethics training (Wang & Calvano, 2015, p. 594).
The article discussed that under cognitive moral development theory, it is concluded that ethical behaviors may be learned through ethics education or training. In fact, the authors argued that as the individual progress through the different levels of cognitive moral development, their ability to deal with ethical dilemmas is improved (Wang & Calvano, 2015, p. 594).
The independent and dependent variables used for this study made use of measuring moral judgment by using two scenarios that were adapted from hypothetical ethical dilemmas and applied to undergraduate business students. The first scenario focused on a business situation and the other scenario emphasized on a personal dilemma. The business-related dilemma used is whether the business owner should inform his or her supplier that there was an error on the bill and ask for the correct amount, which is higher than the wrong bill. The personal dilemma asked the respondent whether he or she thinks that it is ethical to return to a stranger $100 in cash that was found in an envelope.
The article explained that male students have a greater tendency to act ethically in a business ethical dilemma if they are in the process of taking a business ethics course, rather than when they did not have such training. The males are more responsive to business ethics education that concerns a business-related ethical dilemma. The female respondents did not exhibit such responsiveness. Overall, all respondents were more likely to act ethically in a non-business ethical dilemma, rather than in business ethical dilemma (Wang & Calvano, 2015, p. 599).
In the second article of May, Luth & Schwoerer (2014), it studied the influence of business ethics education on moral efficacy and moral meaningfulness of employees. The first hypothesis is that moral efficacy will increase for those individuals in a business ethics treatment course as compared to those in a control group course. The second hypothesis is that moral meaningfulness will increase for those individuals in a business ethics treatment course as compared to those in a control group course (May, et al., 2014, p.70). The participants in the study were 84 students enrolled in graduate business courses at a major public Midwestern University in the United States. The graduate business students were chosen for lack of research on ethical attitudes and behaviors among the students (May, et al., 2014, p.70). The researchers controlled three variables that may affect the outcomes of ethics education. The first variable is based on the practical experience can alter an individual’s ability to assimilate educational materials by controlling its effects and including it as a covariate in the analyses. The second variable is controlling the impression management by using 10 items from the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding. The third variable e reasoned that previous exposure to a stand-alone ethics course could affect the dependent variables: moral efficacy, moral meaningfulness, and moral courage (May, et al., 2014, p.70).
The hypothesis for this study is that individuals who complete a business ethics treatment course will score higher than the control group on the measure of moral efficacy. It was revealed in this study that business ethics education has a positive influence on the moral efficacy, moral meaningfulness, and moral courage of a person. The effect of ethics education on moral efficacy of a person is by achieving the course objective with the intention to develop the abilities of the students to analyze, develop, and recommend solutions for ethical problems in business (May, et al., 2014, p.76). Finally, it was concluded that business ethics instructors can help build the students’ skills in moral recognition and reasoning, and to increase their beliefs in their ability to use these skills to solve complex moral issues and recommend solutions.

References:

May, D., Luth, M., & Schwoerer, C. (2014). The Influence of Business Ethics Education
on Moral Efficacy, Moral Meaningfulness, and Moral Courage: A Quasi-
experimental Study. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(1), 67-80.
doi:10.1007/s10551-013-1860-6
Wang, L., & Calvano, L. (2015). Is Business Ethics Education Effective? An Analysis of
Gender, Personal Ethical Perspectives, and Moral Judgment. Journal of Business
Ethics, 126(4), 591-602. doi:10.1007/s10551-013-1973-y.