Donald L. McCabe

The Ethical Context in Organizations: Influences on Employee Attitudes and Behaviors

This field survey focused on two constructs that have been developed to represent the ethical context in organizations: ethical climate and ethical culture. We first examined issues of convergence and divergence between these constructs through factor analysis and correlational analysis. Results suggested that the two constructs are measuring somewhat different, but strongly related dimensions of the ethical context. We then investigated the relationships between the emergent ethical context factors and an ethics-related attitude (organizational commitment) and behavior (observed unethical conduct) for respondents who work in organizations with and without ethics codes. Regression results indicated that an ethical culture-based dimension was more strongly associated with observed unethical conduct in code organizations while climate-based dimensions were more strongly associated with observed unethical conduct in non-code organizations. Ethical culture and ethical climate-based factors influenced organizational commitment similarly in both types of organizations. Normative implications of the study are discussed, as are implications for future theorizing, research and management practice.

Individual and Contextual Influences on Academic Dishonesty: A Multicampus Investigation.

Students at nine medium to large state universities were surveyed in this comprehensive investigation of the influences of individual and contextual factors on self-reported academic dishonesty. Results suggested that cheating was influenced by a number of characteristics of individuals including age, gender, and grade-point average, as well as a number of contextual factors including the level of cheating among peers, peer disapproval of cheating, fraternity/sorority membership, and the perceived severity of penalties for cheating. Peer disapproval was the strongest influential factor.

THE INFLUENCE OF COLLEGIATE AND CORPORATE CODES OF CONDUCT ON ETHICS-RELATED BEHAVIOR IN THE WORKPLACE

Codes of conduct are viewed here as a communitys attempt to communicate its expectations and standards of ethical behavior. Many organizations are implementing codes, but empirical support for the relationship between such codes and employee conduct is lacking. We investigated the long term effects of a collegiate honor code experience as well as the effects of corporate ethics codes on unethical behavior in the workplace by surveying alumni from an honor code and a non-honor code college who now work in business. We found that self-reported unethical behavior was lower for respondents who work in an organization with a corporate code of conduct and was inversely associated with corporate code implementation strength and embeddedness. Self-reported unethical behavior was also influenced by the interaction of a collegiate honor code experience and corporate code implementation strength.

Honor Codes and Other Contextual Influences on Academic Integrity: A Replication and Extension to Modified Honor Code Settings.

Research has shown that traditional academic honor codes are generally associated with lower levels of student academic dishonesty. Utilizing data obtained from students at 21 colleges and universities, this study investigated the influence of modified honor codes, an alternative to traditional honor codes, that is gaining popularity on larger campuses. It also tested the model of student academic dishonesty previously suggested by McCabe and Treviño in a more diverse sample of campuses. Results suggest that modified honor codes are associated with lower levels of student dishonesty and that the McCabe and Treviño model appears to be reasonably robust.

Cheating Among Business Students: a Challenge for Business Leaders and Educators

Ethical issues have long occupied the attention of both academicians and business practitioners. There is little question that interest in business ethics has increased substantially since the early 1980s. Many corporations have joined the rush to develop codes of ethical conduct and ethics training has become a multimillion dollar business. Important journals in the field devote considerable space to ethical issues and business schools are offering courses in ethics and corporate social responsibility to an increasing number of students. In spite of these efforts, it is not clear that much progress has been achieved. Indeed, there is evidence that the current economic slowdown has

Context, values and moral dilemmas: Comparing the choices of business and law school students

Much has been written about the ethics and values of todays business student, but this research has generally been characterized by a variety of methodological shortcomings — the use of convenience samples, a failure to establish the relevance of comparison groups employed, attempts to understand behavior in terms of unidimensional values preselected by the researcher, and the lack of well-designed longitudinal studies. The research reported here addresses many of these concerns by comparing the values and ethical decision making behavior of a large cohort of students entering an M. B. A. program to students entering law school. Using the Rokeach value survey and several ethical decision making vignettes, significant differences were found between the two groups which have important implications for both the business and legal professions and the education of their future leaders.

FACULTY RESPONSES TO ACADEMIC DISHONESTY: THE INFLUENCE OF STUDENT HONOR CODES

Cheating among college students has generally been studied from a student perspective. The research discussed here looks at student cheating from a faculty perspective. Utilizing the responses of 789 faculty members at 16 institutions located throughout the United States, it examines typical faculty responses to incidents of student cheating and how the presence of a student honor code influences faculty responses. These findings are compared to student perspectives on how faculty address incidents of cheating using data collected from over 3,000 students at the same 16 institutions in an earlier phase of this research project.

Academic dishonesty in nursing schools: an empirical investigation.

Academic dishonesty, whether in the form of plagiarism or cheating on tests, has received renewed attention in the past few decades as pervasive use of the Internet and a presumed deterioration of ethics in the current generation of students has led some, perhaps many, to conclude that academic dishonesty is reaching epidemic proportions. What is lacking in many cases, including in the nursing profession, is empirical support of these trends. This article attempts to provide some of that empirical data and supports the conclusion that cheating is a significant issue in all disciplines today, including nursing. Some preliminary policy implications are also considered.

Some Good News About Academic Integrity

he press frequently reports instances of academic dishonesty in our schools and colleges. The news is usually alarming-like the cover proclamation on the November 22, 1999, issue of U.S. News & World Report that “a new epidemic of fraud is sweeping through our schools.” Both of us have contributed to such stories, and we certainly don’t dispute them. But what’s missing, in our view, is an appropriate emphasis on some surprisingly good news hidden behind such headlines: effective strategies are being increasingly implemented to reduce high rates of cheating, even at large universities. Those strategies-emphasizing student leadership and intensive programming about the importance of academic integritysuggest that faculty and administrators can influence student behavior and enhance the ethical development of students.

Ten (Updated) Principles of Academic Integrity: How Faculty Can Foster Student Honesty

(2004). Ten (Updated) Principles of Academic Integrity: How Faculty Can Foster Student Honesty. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning: Vol. 36, No. 3, pp. 10-15.