An Investigative Analysis of Teaching Business Ethics in Tennessee Community Colleges.

The purpose of this study was to investigate what Tennessee community colleges were currently doing in preparing students in the area of business ethics. The study explored preparedness of faculty members in teaching business ethics, motivations for teaching business ethics, preferred methods of business ethics instruction, proportion of time devoted to teaching business ethics, and faculty member perceptions of responsibility, importance, and effectiveness of teaching business ethics. Personal and professional demographic factors were collected, such as age, gender, degree earned, teaching experience. These were useful in developing a profile of business faculty members in the 13 Tennessee community colleges. An on line survey was designed to gather information to address the research questions in the study. The survey consisted of 14 questions with areas for comments and remarks from faculty members. Based upon the findings, conclusions have been drawn. The typical business faculty member is male, 56 years of age or older, teaching in higher education 16 years or longer, holding a masters degree as his highest academic achievement, and holding the current academic position of associate professor. Over two-thirds of the faculty members devoted 10% or less of their class time teaching business ethics. Eighty-five percent of the faculty members have had some business ethics training taking courses and attending workshops. It appears that the business faculty members in Tennessee community colleges are well prepared to teach business ethics. The most preferred method of teaching business ethics was the use of real-life cases, followed by discussion, and hypothetical cases. Ninety-six percent of the business faculty members perceived some degree of responsibility, 100% business faculty members perceived some degree of importance in teaching business ethics. Over two-thirds perceived business ethics instruction not to be effective, somewhat effective, or unsure. Recommendations for faculty include: commit, train, establish goals and objectives, develop effective instructional methods, put program into place, and evaluate its effectiveness. Recommendations for further research include: explore any changes from this study, include other states for comparison, go beyond the specific areas in this study, and conduct a study focused on measuring the effectiveness of business ethics education