ollege student cheating, or academic dishonesty, has been a topic C of much interest to education researchers. A thorough, multidisciplinary literature search on the subject reveals at least 200 journal articles and reports. The research literature on college cheating might be divided into the following categories: reporting and defining types of cheating or academic misconduct; reactions by researchers to academic cheating (How serious is the problem?); methodologies for studying academic dishonesty; causes (or self-reported reasons) for cheating; and prevention and control measures.Sims (1991) describes a positive relationship between academic dishonesty that undergraduates admit and the dishonesty that ex-students later exhibit at work. She reports that the reasons that people give for both academic and employment dishonesty are very similar. With attention now focused on business and professional ethics, it is important to study the earlier socialization and learning cultures that may foster forms of questionable or unethical conduct. Certainly childhood and early school experiences and developing levels of moral reasoning influence managerial and professional values. But the college years appear to be a critical period for Stephen L. Payne is a professor of management. and Karen s. Nantz is an associate professor of administrative information systems at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. educators to try alternative means for the moral or ethical education of future business leaders.Our purpose in this article is, first, to offer readers a brief overview of the literature on college student cheating. We suggest that research efforts continue to explore a recent and potentially useful direction for analysis. Various researchers (

No abstract

is the primary communication vehicle for the information superhighway. Unfortunately, e-mail education is focusing on the hardware and software issues without regard for the requisite communication skills. To be effective electronic communicators, students need training in understanding the electronic organizational hierarchy and electronic communication volume and costs; selecting the appropriate media; and evaluating message permanence, security, ownership, and privacy. Including targeted exercises in the business communication class can enhance students' understanding of e-mail.A students prepare for employment in a changing technological environment, they must be prepared to communicate effectively with the appropriate technology. Not only do they need to understand the hardware and software associated with using electronic communication but they also need to understand how the technology changes the communication process. Electronic communication allows instantaneous written communication from offices, homes, schools, and even most forms of transportation. Computers with faxes and modems make it possible to communicate globally and instantly with anyone who has similar technology.Electronic mail (e-mail) has achieved the most widespread acceptance in all types of organizations because it is the primary method for communicating electronically. Organizations can use electronic mail for product development, training, giving and receiving work assignments, testing, personnel administration, problem solving, posting notices, marketing, and sending personal communication. Many organizations believe e-mail gives them a competitive advantage because it is fast, inexpensive, readily available, and not dependent on receiver availability.As with other emerging and fast-growing technologies, organizations are struggling to get internal email hardware and software installed and working properly and to connect internal systems with worldwide networks such as Internet. Although e-mail use is widespread, organizations have not yet dealt with all the other issues that e-mail brings into an organizational communication environment. Most employees are not taught how to be effective electronic communicators.Business communication professors need to include electronic methods of business and office communication in university courses, along with the more traditional approaches. This article focuses on relevant e-mail topics and provides exercises that make students more aware of the organizational impact of e-mail.Electronic communication can cause a major change in the organizational communication process because senders can circumvent traditional communication hierarchies. With traditional communication, an intermediary screens both phone and written messages. The receiver may get electronic messages ' directly since each employee is assigned an individual e-mail account. The lack of screening allows employees to communicate directly with someone several levels higher on the organizational chart. For example, a clerk in the ma...

Winter 1995 Electronic communications, the ability to communicate computer to computer, has been greatly enhanced by the widespread installation of local area networks (LANs). These networks have the ability to connect users in limited geographical areas and, through linkages with other mainframe computers, national and international networks. Networks are changing the way organizations do business. A currently installed base of 6.1 million LAN users in 1993 with a predicted increase to 14.5 million by 1995 indicates that networking is a major technological trend for which business devotes major computer funding (Ashton, 1993). This trend, which has also been experienced in colleges and universities, allows the business world and the academic world to be linked together worldwide and has the potential to drastically change the way in which people work.As O' Brien (1990) and others have noted, the use of electronic communications is causing major changes in busi-

No abstract