Toward Assessing Business Ethics Education

A volume in Ethics in PracticeSeries Editors Robert A. Giacalone Temple Universityand Carole L. Jurkiewicz Louisiana State UniversityToward Assessing Business Ethics Education edited by Diane L. Swanson and Dann G. Fisher of KansasState University is a sequel to their book Advancing Business Ethics Education in the Ethics in Practice IAPbook series. The focus on assessment in this second book is a timely response to the urgent search amongbusiness schools for ways to teach and assess ethics at a time when the public's faith in corporations andbusiness schools has been undermined greatly by the failure of both to respond to widespread corruption andscandals in the business sector. Although no one expects business education alone to resolve these problemsthe distinguished scholars represented in this book advocate that business schools should at least do their partby exposing their students to decision models that incorporate ethical dimensions on behalf of corporate stakeholders and society at large. As thebook's title conveys it is then important to assess key learning objectives to insure that business students graduate knowing ethics fundamentals andarmed with the ability to recognize ethical dilemmas and possible solutions during the course of their careers.This book will speak to all who are interested in accountability for business ethics education especially business school deans universityadministrators faculty members students and prospective employers. This audience will find that the enterprise of assessing business ethics educationis advanced in three ways. First the book functions as a venue for distinguished scholars to share the innovative ways that they are assessing ethicscoverage in courses and degree programs. Second these authors identify what needs to be assessed and the means for doing so. Third the book servesnot only as a guide to assessment but also as a platform for expanding and improving ethics coverage in business schools. Moreover an important takeaway for readers is the provision of a simple formula first advocated by Diane L. Swanson and William C. Frederick (University of Pittsburgh) in2005 for delivering ethics education that minimizes assessment errors. By following this formula business schools can provide assurances that ethicswill not be assessed as being sufficient when it is woefully inadequate or even missing in the curriculum and that it cannot be distorted diluted ortrivialized by uninformed coverage and still pass inspection. Avoiding these assessment errors is critical in an educational environment in which weakaccrediting standards for ethics go hand in hand with spotty uniformed coverage that would not be tolerated for other business disciplines.