Ana Marie A. Binalla, Ronald B. Chavez
Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology, Naga City,
Philippines
aabinalla@biscast.edu.ph, rbchavez@astean.biscast.edu.ph
Date Received: July 9, 2020; Date Revised: September 19, 2020
Business Students‟ Ethical Ideology: A Predictor of Moral Behavior 545 KB 3 downloads
Ana Marie A. Binalla, Ronald B. Chavez Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and...
The rule of thumb is to do the right thing, uphold the laws of the land, and follow appropriate principles. But how about given a situation that will test one’s ethical decision-making? Will we just use our personal moral norms, or will it depend on the context of an individual? This study tries to know and understand the ethics position among business students and whether they are more of an idealist rather than a relativist or vice versa. And what ethical ideologies do they occupy. Further, the study would identify if there is any significant difference of these in terms of gender and year level. This would provide ideas and information on how to enhance curricula and engage students to actual business settings. The online survey forms were sent via email to business students being handled by one of the researchers in a public Higher Education Institution (HEI) in Region V, Philippines. Seventy out of 85 active students were able to send their answers. A quantitative research approach was used while weighted mean and analysis of variance were used to statistically analyze the data gathered. Significant findings were that the students belong to the situationist type of ethical position, and can be considered as a positive trait. It shows that students both look at the perspective of what is right as well as judging morality according to their context. The students-respondents also noted exemplary actions or modelling may be the best method in bringing ethics to the classroom. Studies posited that if we wanted to have ethically successful business students, instructional focus must give way to a more holistic view of business leadership. Even safe to note that ”…students’ mindsets are evolving. Millennials now want to have serious conversations about ethics and corporate social responsibility”. Teaching ethics could therefore be daunting and challenging at the same time.
Keywords –Business Ethics, Social Responsibility, Ethical Ideology, Ethical Position