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Does employment influence the success of ethics training?

Treena Gillespie Finney (Associate Professor of Management, based at Mitchell College of Business, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA)
R. Zachary Finney (Associate Professor of Marketing, based at Mitchell College of Business, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, USA)

Social Responsibility Journal

ISSN: 1747-1117

Article publication date: 30 September 2013

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Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to understand how university students' work experiences influence their perceptions of university ethics training. In the past, researchers have focused on the content of university ethics programs, but have ignored the influence of students' employment.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors surveyed 953 students at a medium-sized university in the Southeastern USA.

Findings

Students' views of work and experiences on the job predicted both their views of college ethics training and their ability to identify ethical issues from a set of scenarios. Students' perceptions of their degrees as valuable credentials and their feelings that ethical behavior is the “norm” in business were the strongest predictors in both instances.

Research limitations/implications

While the regression analyses were significant, they explained relatively little of the variance.

Practical implications

In designing programs to promote ethical behaviors among future managers, university personnel should bear in mind that students' experiences on the job help to determine the manner in which they view university ethics training.

Originality/value

To date, most researchers have not considered that the response to university ethics training is influenced – in part – by the fact that students are often employed.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Deborah F. Spake for her helpful comments on the survey. Received 2 October 2012 Revised 2 October 2012 Accepted 3 October 2012

Citation

Gillespie Finney, T. and Zachary Finney, R. (2013), "Does employment influence the success of ethics training?", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 554-570. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-10-2012-0117

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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