Using Ethics Vignettes in Introductory Finance Classes: Impact on Ethical Perceptions of Undergraduate Business Students

A number of ethical scandals in the past decade have raised awareness of ethical issues in business. J. M. D'Aquila, D. F. Bean, and E. G. Procario-Foley (2004) reported that 97% of business leaders perceive American businesses as ethical, versus 24.5% of students. G. R. Laczniak, M. W. Berkowitz, R. G. Brooker, and J. P. Hale (1995) provided evidence that business leaders feel unfairly maligned and that their actual behavior is positive. Thus, a discrepancy exists between students' and practitioners' perceptions of business ethics, and this discrepancy is a concern because business students become practitioners on graduation. J. Merritt (2003) suggested that the job of cleaning up corporate America lies with management education. Given that many scandals have involved financial impropriety, finance faculty have been at the center of the debate about whether ethics should be integrated into the curriculum, and if so, how.