Business Ethics Training in Human Resource Development: A Literature Review

Abstract

In view of corporate wrongdoings like Enron’s accounting fraud and Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, the need to prevent unethical decision-making in the business sector has become widely accepted. Human resource development is of high relevance in this regard: a multiplicity of companies utilizes ethics training programs to teach their managers and employees business ethics and to develop their ethical competences. However, knowledge about the efficacy of these training programs is still rather fragile. In the present study, we (a) develop a framework of relevant design categories to consider in creating ethics training programs; (b) consolidate empirical insights by reviewing 92 studies about the effectiveness of standalone business ethics training programs regarding their impact, dependent variable and measurement methods, design, and conceptual foundation; and (c) identify remaining research gaps and provide theoretical-conceptual considerations for further investigation.

The influence of issues on moral judgment: A comparison of college students and business practitioners in the Republic of Croatia

“…Second, given that business professionals exhibit higher levels of moral reasoning, the methods used by Croatian business to educate their employees, when done, might similarly introduce collegiate educators to novel pedagogies. Corporate ethics training programs increasingly is having a positive impact on ethical business behavior (Kreismann & Talaulicar, 2021). And finally, an interesting finding from earlier research in Croatia posits students compensate for a lack of ethics education with individual self‐study.…”

Factors affecting ethical optimism of purchasing professionals in India

“…While the literature has identified the critical need for inclusion of ethics in corporate training programs, the research on its effectiveness is still in its infancy (Hauser, 2020). Kreismann & Talaulicar (2021) in a review of business ethics training in human resource development add that the prevalence of studies using student samples and fictitious scenarios raise doubt about the validly of these results at the workplace. Therefore, we hypothesize: H4: Ethical training significantly impacts ethical optimism.…”

A conceptual framework for understanding the learning processes integral to the development of responsible management practice

“…Given that HRD is the area of practice within organisations that fosters long term opportunities for learning and development at the level of the individual, group and organisation, the insights provided in this paper orientate HRD professionals to the design of interventions which can stimulate the learning processes identified. This is timely given that HRD's contribution to developing responsible practice is widely recognised (Preuss et al, 2009;Garavan and McGuire, 2010;Blakeley and Higgs, 2014;Jang and Ardichvili, 2020;Kreismann and Talaulicar, 2021). There is agreement that HRD can develop responsible practice through, amongst other things, providing opportunities for learning that supports ethical organisational cultures and communities of responsible practitioners (Ardichvili, 2013;Mackenzie, Garavan and Carbery, 2012;Blakeley and Higgs, 2014).…”

“…This is timely given that HRD's contribution to developing responsible practice is widely recognised (Preuss et al. , 2009; Garavan and McGuire, 2010; Blakeley and Higgs, 2014; Jang and Ardichvili, 2020; Kreismann and Talaulicar, 2021). There is agreement that HRD can develop responsible practice through, amongst other things, providing opportunities for learning that supports ethical organisational cultures and communities of responsible practitioners (Ardichvili, 2013; Mackenzie et al.…”