What Are the Root Causes For Corporate Unethical Behavior Do Colleges and Universities Have a Role?

• In Event: Public Interest 2

Abstract

There has been an explosion of interest in ethical behavior. This attention has been the result of the continuous notoriety of the corporate, community, and educational misdeeds. Therefore, this trend has called for increased organization governance and accountability (Rezaee, Elmore, and Szendi March 2001). This interest has been fueled by the wrongdoings at Enron, WorldCom, Martha Stewart, Tyco, Citigroup, Qwest, Arthur Andersen, Adlephia, and United Way to name a few. To mitigate these activities, an effort is underway at the higher education level to incorporate “ethics” into business school curriculum (Farnsworth and Kleiner 2003). State colleges and universities are being scrutinized because they are using public funds for their curriculum. Many colleges and universities believe there is some validity to the criticism pointed at them (Economist, 2005). Consequently, the public, regulators, and the accounting profession want to hold these institutions accountable in light of the extensive exposure of corporate misdeeds (Swanson and Frederick Spring 2003 and Rezaee, Elmore, and Szendi March 2001). Some business schools speculate if they should also share the blame for these misfortunes (Nicklaus, November 2003 and Swanson, December 2002). Does the responsibility of ethics coverage ultimately lie with the individual school? Unfortunately, a student cannot become instantaneously ethical with the taking of a three credit hour course. A review of the literature covering the national trend on organizational governance and accountability will be reviewed; coupled with the status of business ethics being taught in the classroom at the higher education level.

Author

• Joseph Riotto, New Jersey City University