GOALS FOR BUSINESS AND MARKETING ETHICS CURRICULA: A THEORY DRIVEN APPROACH Gordon G. Mosley, Troy State University ABSTRACT Research into ethics courses has been hampered by the lack of consistent content. Commonly used textbooks show little consistency. Goals for business and marketing ethics courses should guide content. This paper presents goals that can be used to determine content and pedagogical issues based on seven models of ethical behavior applicable to business and marketing. Research could then be done into the effectiveness of courses so designed. INTRODUCTION In the nineteenth century, ethics was included as a normal part of the liberal arts curriculum in American higher education. It was viewed as the discipline that unified knowledge, and was often taught by a college's president as the capstone course. Over time, ethics became perceived as an exercise for sophists, since it was used to justify both sides of many controversial issues of the day (slavery, women's suffrage, treatment of native peoples, etc.). During this period, scientific knowledge came to replace the classical topics at many institutions. By the early part of the twentieth century, few colleges or universities required ethics. It had become marginalized as an academic discipline (Hastings Center 1980). In the reflective period during and after the Water- gate scandal in the 1970's, many believed that the moral standards of Americans, and the institutions Ahich upheld those standards, were in a long period of decline (Bok 1976). The Hastings Center organized a task force to investigate the nation's ethical health, and to make recommendations for its improvement. Their published reports recommended the inclusion of ethics as an integral part of higher education (Callahan 1980, Hastings Center 1980, Lickona 1980, Rosen & Caplan 1980), and became the foundation of many future articles proposing goals for business ethics courses (Weber 1990; Frederick & Hoffman 1991; Snoeyenbos 1992; Piper, Gentile & Parks 1993; Herndon 1996). This paper will look at the progress that has been made in teaching ethics in business schools over the past two decades. First, we will examine the goals established for ethical education in the Hastings Center reports (1980), and give a brief report on the inclusion of ethical material in professional educational curricula. Next we will examine theoretical models of ethical behavior that have been developed in the ensuing years (largely in the marketing literature), to distill variables that are thought to affect ethical behavior. We will then aggregate antecedents of ethical behavior from the individual models, and propose goals for business ethics instruction based on theory. THE HASTINGS CENTER'S ETHICAL GOALS The Hastings Center reports (1980), recommended bringing ethical instruction back to higher education. The hope was that by learning moral analysis, increasing ethical awareness, and increasing sensitivity to issues, students would be better prepared to develop their characters, grapple with thorny ethical issues, and participate ethically in their professional lives. It was concluded that undergraduates should be exposed to both theory and applied ethics. In professional education, students should study the dilemmas which practitioners face, as well as the profession's relationship to the wider society (Hastings Center 1980, Rosen & Caplan 1980).

Specifically, the following goals were recommended:

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Stimulating the moral imagination, allowing student recognition of their involvement in a web of ethical relationships. Recognizing ethical issues.

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Developing analytical skills.

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Eliciting a sense of moral involvement and personal responsibility.

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Tolerating - and resisting - disagreement and ambiguity (Hastings Center 1980, Rosen & Caplan 1980).

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Other goals were recommended for specific professions, including the study of professional ethical codes. Further, special duties incumbent on professionals with special knowledge or responsibilities were also to be studied (Hastings Center 1980, Rosen & Caplan 1980). Mosley (1999) examined the developing literature in moral education to see if the Hastings Center goals needed updating for business and marketing ethics. Although similar to the Hastings Center goals, these goals have their own particular emphasis because they were developed specifically for business and marketing. The following goals were recommended by Mosley (1999): 1. Recognition of ethical issues within the normal decision- making process (Gandz & Hayes 1988; Martin 1990; Weber 1990; Bishop 1992; Stiles, Johnson & Lord 1993; Mohagen 1994). 2. Development of analytical skills in ethics, necessitating, of course, an understanding of the various common ethical systems and ethical arguments (Bok 1976; Gandz & Hayes 1988; Martin 1990; Weber 1990; Bishop 1992; Stiles, Johnson & Lord 1993; Mohagen 1994). 3. Awareness of one's own and other people's values (Bok 1976; Bishop 1992). 4. Improvement of one's moral reasoning level (Lickona 1980; Penn 1990; Stiles, Johnson & Lord 1993). 5. Awareness of the socio-cultural and political environments in which ethical decisions are embedded (Parks 1993; Mohagen 1994). 6. Recognition of role-based professional ethical issues and obligations (Weber 1990; Bishop 1992; Parks 1993; Herndon 1996). TEACHING ETHICS IN PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS The inclusion of ethical material in the curricula of professional education has increased dramatically in the two decades since the release of the Hastings Center's reports. Separate, required courses in ethics existed in only four percent of medical schools in the United States in 1972. This had increased to 34% by 1989, and to 100% by 1994 (Fox Arnold & Brody 1995)! Virtually all law schools in the United States require ethical training as well (Solberg Strong & McGuire 1995).

Ethical instruction in business schools has not grown as rapidly as in medicine or law. In 1995, separate, required courses in ethics were a part of the curriculum in only 29% of business schools. Other institutions offered electives in ethics, integrated ethical content with other course materials, or offered no ethical instruction (Solberg Strong & McGuire 1995). Although integrating ethical content in the curriculum varies from one school to another, there is a growing number of business school professors with experience in ethical instruction, and a constantly growing body of research and instructional materials. The business disciplines have become involved with teaching, researching, consulting, and publishing in the applied ethics area. In fact, there are expanded opportunities for publishing both theoretical and empirical articles in business journals (Daniel ElliottHoward & DuFrene 1997). CONTENT OF BUSINESS ETHICS COURSES Several research studies have been conducted trying to measure the results of various exercises and courses in "business ethics." Instructors of these courses have often claimed their usefulness with little or no empirical evidence. Indeed, the empirical evidence that exists is mixed. Herndon's (1996) review of seven published empirical studies showed little effect. Murphy and Boatright (1994) also reported weak results. Many of these studies, however, reported results from Business and Society courses-not Business Ethics ones, or short modules inserted into accounting or other courses. Instruction intended to increase students' cognitive moral development level has been shown to be effective in a meta-analysis of 55 empirical studies (Schlaefli Rest & Thoma 1985). Before drawing conclusions about the effectiveness of business or marketing ethics courses, the content of these courses should be defined. The applied ethics component of the curriculum within medicine, law, and the business disciplines has been developing over the past two or three decades. In business schools, however, no consensus has developed about what "should" be included in that component. Should such instruction include the basics of deontology, teleology, and virtue ethics? Should it focus on the analysis of actual cases? Should the concepts of rule-based and care- based ethics be introduced? Should Kohlberg's theory of cognitive moral development be studied? Should basic values (such as respect, responsibility, honesty, compassion, fairness, and justice) be promoted? If so, how should these values be chosen? Before the content for a study of business or marketing ethics can be specified, however, standards for good curricular design recommend that outcomes or goals should be established (Tanner & Tanner 1980). This paper works toward establishing a consensus about such goals. A review of the textbooks commonly used in business ethics courses shows no general agreement about what goals or content ought to be covered. See, for example, the following texts: DeGeorge (1994), Ferrell Fraedrich and Ferrell (2000), Fritzsche (1997), Shaw and Barry (1997), and Hartman (1998). As courses in business and marketing ethics have developed and matured, one would expect more agreement on the general topics to be covered. Contrast textbooks for business ethics, for example, with those for the introductory course in marketing. Although there will be differing emphases on the various topics and theories to be covered, the general themes (and even the organizational structure) for introductory marketing texts are remarkably similar. See, for example, the following texts: Evans and Berman (1997), Boone and Kurtz (1999), Kotler and Armstrong (1999), and Perreault and McCarthy (1999). Content similarity has many advantages, allowing CLEP (College Level Examination Program) tests and credit transfers among universities. Certainly common content would allow experimentation into the effectiveness of these courses, which could be generalized to other similar courses. Without common content, such generalization would be problematic-at best. As with all "standardized" courses, there would always be the opportunity for instructors to insert materials that they feel are pertinent to a given student group.

MODELS OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOR IN BUSINESS Research is best when its design and results are guided and interpreted with applicable theory. The goals of curricula and courses can be guided by theory as well. The main impetus toward including ethics in the business curricula comes from the angst of the 1970's, and has always been based on the premise that better ethical behavior is the desired goal, not merely ethical knowledge. The ultimate goal, then, is better ethical behavior. Ethics curricula should be informed by the antecedents to (and the moderators and mediators of) ethical behavior. The ultimate goal of these curricula, more ethical behavior, would be best served by establishing theoretically sound subgoals. These subgoals would be to increase the levels of those antecedent variables that are positively related to ethical behavior, and to decrease the levels of those that are negatively related. What then are the antecedents to behaving ethically? Several models have been developed and gained wide exposure since the Hastings Center reports were published in 1980. The following paragraphs review several of these models to gain insights into antecedents to ethical behavior. Ferrell and Gresham 1985 Ferrell and Gresham's model is centered on the individual making the decision. This individual brings certain knowledge, attitudes, values, and intentions to the ethical decision making process. From the social and cultural environment, ethical dilemmas emerge gaining the decision maker's attention. Relationships to significant others involved in the organization (e.g., peers and superiors) also affect individual's decision making. The opportunity to select ethical or unethical behaviors may be limited by organizational policy, professional ethical codes, or the reward/punishment structure in the firm. After the behavior, the model includes an evaluation of the behavior as ethical or unethical. This evaluation then feeds back to the individual factors, significant others, and opportunity variables. This model's focus on the individual decision maker emphasizes the importance of his/her knowledge, values, and attitudes. It further recognizes that ethical behavior will increase if significant others honor higher ethical standards, and if the opportunities for unethical behavior within the organization are limited. Hunt and Vitell 1986 Ethical problems are perceived out of an individual's personal experiences and the cultural, organizational, and industry's environments. These same environments also inform perceived alternatives and consequences of the various possible behaviors. Deontological norms, along with the alternative behaviors are used in the deontological evaluation. The probabilities and desirabilities of the various perceived consequences, along with the perceived importance of the various stakeholders, enter into the teleological evaluation. Both the deontological and teleological evaluations affect the individual's ethical judgment. The ethical judgment along with the teleological evaluation is used to form behavioral intentions. Actual behavior is determined by these intentions within any situational constraints. Behavior has actual consequences, which feed back into the individual's personal experiences. Hunt and Vitell's model focuses on the individual's decision-making process within the various environments and with individual variability because of personal experiences. Where Ferrell and Gresham's model simply shows an area labeled "individual decision making," Hunt and Vitell detail the deontological and teleological decisionmaking process. This model also introduces the separate effects of intention and situational constraints.

Trevino 1986 Trevino's model has the ethical dilemma cognitions 4 ethical/unethical behaviors. Cognitions are moderated by situational moderators, and the path from cognitions to behavior is moderated by both situational and individual moderators. How ethical dilemmas are initially recognized is not addressed. Trevino sees higher stages of cognitive moral development (Kohlberg's stages 5 and 6) leading to increased consistency between ethical judgments (EJ) and actual behaviors over lower stages (Kohlberg's stages 3 and 4). [See Trevino (1986) for a brief synopsis of Kohlberg's stages of cognitive moral development.] Individual moderators include ego strength, field dependence, and locus of control. Ego strength is a construct that includes the strength of an individual's conviction and self-regulating skills. Those high in ego strength will have higher levels of consistency between EJ and behavior than those with low ego strength. Field dependent people make more use of outside referents in ambiguous situations than do field independent people. Field independent people will have higher levels of consistency between EJ and behavior than will field dependent people. Further, people with an internal locus of control will display higher levels of consistency between EJ and behavior than will those with an external locus of control. Situational moderators include the characteristics of the work, the organizational culture, and the immediate job context. If the work entails role taking and the responsibility for resolving moral conflicts, this may actually help to increase the employee's level of cognitive moral development, thereby tending to increase the EJ to behavior consistency. Employees' behavior will be influenced by the organization's normative structure, the behavior of referent others, and the demands of authority figures. Responsibility for moral behavior and enforced ethical codes (if they are consistent with the organizational culture) will lead to a higher level of consistency between EJ and behavior. Organizational rewards for ethical behavior (or punishments for unethical ones) will increase the consistency between EJ and behavior. External pressures may also negatively affect employees' ethical behavior. This model points out the importance of increasing the cognitive moral development level of business ethics students. Rest 1986, Ferrell Gresham & Fraedrich 1989, Jones 1991, & Malhorta & Miller 1998 These four models will be considered together, since they share much in common. Rest's model involves four processes: 1) recognize the moral issue 2) make the moral judgment 3) establish moral intent 4) engage in moral behavior. Ferrell, Gresham, and Fraedrich divided the second step into two parts, the first was the stage of cognitive moral development, and the second was the actual moral evaluational deontological and teleological judgment. They also added the social and economic environments from which ethical issues emerged. They viewed organizational culture, opportunity, and individual variables as moderators to the ethical decision-making process, and added a feedback loop involving an evaluation of the behavior's consequences influencing the organizational culture and individual moderators. Jones added the moral intensity concept as a modifier of each of the four major processes that Rest identified. Moral intensity increases the salience of issues, and includes the following six component parts: 1) the magnitude of consequences, 2) social consensus about the focal issue, 3) the probability of effect, 4) temporal immediacy, 5) proximity, and 6) the concentration of effect. (Jones 1991)

Although Malhotra and Miller created their model specifically for marketing research ethics, it has general applicability. It expands on Ferrell Gresham, and Fraedrich's model in three important ways. First, it expands the moral judgment process to include more detailed ethical evaluation systems (e.g., relativism, justice, objectivism, and hybrid systems). Second, it specifically identifies stakeholders to the marketing research process. These could be changed when using this model in non-marketing research uses. Third, it identifies industry variables (as does Hunt and Vitell's) as well as individual and organizational ones as pertinent moderators of the ethical behavior model. These models give several insights into the areas that should be addressed as goals in business and marketing ethics curricula. Development of cognitive moral development is important, as is the individual's knowledge and ability to analyze with various ethical principles. Increasing the student's perception of the moral intensity and the specific identification and consideration of stakeholders would also lead to improved behavior. SUMMARY OF ANTECEDENTS TO ETHICAL BUSINESS BEHAVIOR The above review of the seven ethical models suggests a number of possible antecedents to ethical behavior in business. The entire list, abstracted from the individual models includes: Social and cultural environment, recognition of an ethical issue, relationships with significant others, opportunity, professional codes, corporate policy, rewards-punishments, knowledge, values, attitudes, intentions, industry and organizational environments, personal experiences, knowledge of deontological norms, deontological evaluation, teleological evaluation, situational constraints, evaluation of actual consequences, stage of cognitive moral development, ego strength, field dependence, locus of control, role taking, responsibility for moral behavior of others, organizational normative structure, external pressures (time, limited resources, etc.), economic environment, moral intensity, ethical analysis using several ethical theories, and consideration of stakeholders. In accordance with theory, manipulations of these variables in desired directions should lead to more ethical behavior. The sheer number of variables listed makes their analysis daunting, but they can be truncated into a much shorter list of variables. Antecedents of ethical behavior in business can be categorized as follows. Some of these variables are assignable to more than one category, but for simplicity, each has been assigned to only one: • • • • •

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Macroenvironments: social and cultural environment, economic environment, industry environment Microenvironments: organizational environment, situational constraints, external pressures, consideration of stakeholders Managerial considerations: influence of significant others, opportunity, professional codes, corporate policy, rewards/punishments, responsibility for the moral behavior of others, organizational normative structure Ethical knowledge: recognition of an ethical issue, deontological norms, deontological evaluation, teleological evaluation, analysis with other ethical theories Individual attributes: values, attitudes, intentions, stage of cognitive moral development, personal experiences, evaluation of actual consequences of behavior, ego strength, field dependence, locus of control, role taking Moral intensity of the ethical dilemma

GOALS FOR BUSINESS ETHICS CURRICULA BASED ON THEORETICAL MODELS Several of the antecedents would not be controllable by a single individual within an organization. These would include macroenvironment, microenvironment, and managerial considerations. These might be discussed in an ethical curriculum (as well as the models from which they were derived) but the curriculum could not directly affect the environments or organizations that students will join in the future. The goals of a business ethics curriculum should address the remaining antecedents: ethical knowledge, individual attributes, and moral intensity. As much as is practical, then, business ethics curricula should have the goals of: • • • •

Increasing the student's recognition of ethical issues Developing the student's ethical analysis skills (including cognitive moral development) and knowledge of ethical philosophies Enhancing the student's personal qualities associated with more ethical behavior (values, attitudes, intentions, ego strength, field independence, internal locus of control, and role taking) Stimulating student's involvement in ethical issues through an appreciation of their moral intensity dimensions.

BUSINESS ETHICS CURRICULA: MOVING FROM GOALS TO CONTENT It is easier to choose appropriate content and teaching methods when goals have been clearly established. The goals proposed here are similar to the goals proposed by the Hastings Center (1980) and those found through Mosley's (1999) literature review. Each of these sets of goals has value in guiding the development of business and marketing ethics education. The Hastings Center (1980) presents an a priori list of goals, Mosley (1999) presents goals from the experiences of many scholars in the field, and the goals proposed here are well grounded in theory. In the future, these three sets of proposed goals should be reconciled and used for guidance in selecting both content and pedagogy that supports the business and marketing ethics curriculum. Agreement on consensus goals is just the beginning to designing what should be taught, and the subsequent measurement of the effectiveness of business ethics courses in higher education. A substantial body of literature about course content and pedagogy already exists. After general agreement on goals, this literature could be examined and used to select materials that support these goals. Then courses designed in congruence with the literature can be taught experimentally, with pre- and post-testing to determine the difference that this instruction can make in the ethical intentions of students. It would then be possible to determine the amount of ethical change caused by a standardized, replicable business or marketing ethics course; a considerable accomplishment! This discussion of goals, then, is ultimately most useful only if followed-up by extensive work on the content, pedagogy, and consequences of business ethics courses. REFERENCES Bishop, Terrence R. (1992), "Integrating Business Ethics into an Undergraduate Curriculum," Journal of Business Ethics 11 (4), 291-299. Bok, Derek C. (1976),"Can Ethics Be Taught?"Change (October), 26-30. Boone, Louis E. and David L. Kurtz (1999), Contemporary Marketing 19991, Fort Worth, TX: Dryden. Callahan, Daniel (1980). "Goals in the Teaching of Ethics," in Ethics Teaching in Higher Education, Daniel Callahan and Sissela Bok, editors, New York: Plenum Press. (61-80)

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