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Chapter 6:
ETHICS TRAINING
CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER AND ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
In studying this chapter, students should consider the questions below.
“CQ1” refers to “Chapter Question 1.” This question appears at the end of the textbook
chapter.
“AQ1” refers to an “Additional Question 1.” This is an “additional” question related to
the chapter. It is not listed at the end of the textbook chapter as a “Chapter Question”.
These items are numbered within the two categories based on the order in which the
answer appears in the chapter.
CQ1: Why is organizational trust so important?
AQ1: Who should attend ethics training workshops?
AQ2: What are the strengths and weaknesses of web-based ethics training?
CQ2: How would you design an ethics training program? Who should serve as facilitator?
CQ3: Describe ten types of ethics training workshop options. Which of these workshop options
would you recommend? Why?
CQ4: What are the recommended six-steps for facilitating an ethics dialogue workshop?
CQ5: Which personality surveys can employees take to gain a better understanding of ethics at
work?
CQ6: How would you assess the success of an ethics training workshop?
CHAPTER 6 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this chapter, students should be able to:
Discuss the importance of organizational trust
Describe the extent of ethics training nationwide
Understand the shortcomings of web-based ethics training programs
Develop ten types of ethics training workshops
Create business ethics scenarios for workshop discussion
Administer ethics personality surveys
Assess the ethics training workshop
CHAPTER 6 OVERVIEW
Individuals are more likely to discuss work-related ethical issues with family and friends
than co-workers or executives. A managerial challenge is to design workshops where employees
can discuss ethical issues at work. Ethics training can initiate dialogue around contentious ethical
issues. A well-facilitated ethics training workshop has greater impact on employee behaviors
than the presence of an ethics code or memos from the boss. Researchers report that people
employed in organizations with formalized ethics training have more positive perceptions about
their organization’s ethics and greater job satisfaction.
This chapter emphasizes the importance of creating a culture of trust, reviews the extent
of ethics training nationwide, recommends ethics training for everyone in the organization,
highlights providing web-based and facilitator-guided ethics training programs, and examines
choosing the workshop facilitator. Ten different types of ethics training workshops are presented.
CHAPTER 6 LECTURE OUTLINE
Teaching Objective: To teach offer a range of ethical training workshops.
Suggested Time: Two to three hours of class time is recommended to present this chapter.
I. Chapter Question 1: Why is organizational trust so important?
What is trust?
Benefits of trust
II. Additional Question 1: Who should attend ethics training workshops?
Extent of ethics training
Who to train
III. Additional Question 2: What are the strengths and weaknesses of web-based ethics
training?
Background
Strengths
Weaknesses
IV. Chapter Question 2: How would you design an ethics training program? Who
should serve as facilitator?
Background
Ethics training program design
Workshop facilitator
V. Chapter Question 3: Describe ten types of ethics training workshop options. Which
of these workshop options would you recommend? Why?
VI. s Question 4: What are the recommended six-steps for facilitating an ethics dialogue
workshop?
Six Steps
Vignettes
VII. Chapter Question 5: Which personality surveys can employees take to gain a better
understanding of ethics at work?
Personality measures and ethics
Personality measure examples
VIII. Chapter Question 6: How would you assess the success of an ethics training
workshop?
s
CHAPTER 6 SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Textbook Inserts
Ethical Dilemma Analysis
What would you do?
Let’s Build a Building
In the Real World: Enron
Exhibits
Exhibit 6.1: Ethics Training Workshop Outline
Exhibit 6.2: Ethics Training Workshop Options
Exhibit 6.3: Ethical Culture Survey Scale
Exhibit 6.4: Match the Bribe to the Penalty Exercise
Exhibit 6.5: Facilitating an Ethics Dialogue Workshop
Exhibit 6.6: Ethical Dilemma Narrative Exercise
Exhibit 6.7: “Sick Leave” Ethical Dilemma Narrative
Exhibit 6.8: Anti-Fraud Education Program
Exhibit 6.9: Qualities of an Ideal Employee Self-Assessment
Exhibit 6.10: Work as a Calling
Thematic Boxes
Tips and Techniques
Best Practice in Use
CHAPTER QUESTION 1: WHY IS ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST SO IMPORTANT?
WHAT IS TRUST?
Ethics training helps to create a culture of trust at work.
Organizational trust refers to having a positive attitude that another member of the
organization will be fair and not take advantage of one’s vulnerability or dependency in a
risky situation.
Trust has a cognitive dimension.
oTrust is developed based on careful reflection of past experiences with
organizational members and practices.
oA trusting relationship forms through repeated social exchanges between two
people, where each person makes decisions and acts in a way that takes into
consideration the other person’s interests and well-being.
Trust also has an emotional dimension.
oTrust is linked to an individual’s feelings and intuition, and creates a positive
emotional bond between two people.
BENEFITS OF TRUST
oAccording to the management theorist W. Edwards Deming, “Trust is mandatory for
optimization of a system... Without trust, each component will protect its own immediate
interests to its own long-term detriment, and to the detriment of the entire system.”
oTrust eliminates psychological barriers separating employers and employees. The other
person’s goodwill and reliability are assumed in a trusting relationship, which allows for
greater flexibility to respond as needed without burdensome oversight or approval
process.
oTrust creates economic benefits through enhanced individual and organizational
performance. Trusting and cooperative relationships play a critical role in effective
communications and teamwork, which impacts employee commitment, employee loyalty,
productivity, and profits.
oEthical organizations, which have high levels of trust, attract and sustain high quality
employees, customers, and suppliers. They also have low levels of office politics and
employee cynicism. Ethical work cultures lead to greater accountability through clearly
defined standards and shared expectations. The two-way communication reinforces
policy compliance and reduces organizational risks.
oHard-earned trust can quickly disappear when violated and hamper organizational
performance.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students think about someone at work or a friend they trust. Why do they trust this person?
What did the person do to earn this trust? How have they responded when a person they
previously trusted violated that trust?
ADDITIONAL QUESTION 1: WHO SHOULD ATTEND ETHICS TRAINING
WORKSHOPS?
EXTENT OF ETHICS TRAINING
oA 2004 survey of publicly traded companies found that 68 percent provided ethics
training.
oMore than 80 percent of city governments provide ethics training for employees.
oMembers of some professions are required to take ethics training as part of obtaining or
renewing their professional license to protect the public from incompetent practitioners.
oMany states mandate that continuing education courses for licensed accountants and
lawyers include an ethics component.
oOrganizations may be tempted to eliminate ethics training as an extraneous expense when
budgets are tight, but this is exactly when ethics training is needed most.
oEmployees who tend toward the relativistic belief that cutting ethical corners may
be necessary to “save the organization” might sound heroic in the short-term, but
these actions can come back to haunt the organization in the long-term.
WHO TO TRAIN
oConduct ethics training throughout the organization.
oAll employees, ranging from the CEO and Board of Directors to the janitor, experience
ethical dilemmas on a daily basis.
oEthics training can help organizational leaders achieve consensus on how to address
difficult situations they encounter and how they will hold other employees accountable
for their behaviors.
oMiddle managers and supervisors deserve special attention for ethics training. Direct
supervisors have the most immediate impact on the ethics of subordinates.
oNew employees need ethics training; making ethics training part of a new employee’s
orientation process demonstrates from the outset the importance of ethics to the
organization.
oConduct a follow-up session six months later to reinforce the crucial role of ethics
and explore ethical issues they have experienced at work up to that point.
oLong-term employees significantly shape the organization’s ethical tone. One long-term
employee’s denigrating comments about the organization’s ethical efforts can undo all the
managerial effort at aligning a new employee with the organization’s ethics.
oTrain long-term employees to lead ethics training workshops and share stories
about how the organization’s code of ethics was upheld in difficult situations.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Ask students who work part-time or had jobs over the summer if they received ethics training.
Who else in the organization received ethics training? How often was it offered? What was the
content? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the ethics training? How could a weakness
be remedied?
ADDITIONAL QUESTION 2: WHAT ARE THE STRENGHTS AND WEAKNESSES OF
WEB-BASED ETHICS TRIANING?
BACKGROUND
oAccording to one survey, companies conduct more than 90 percent of their ethics training
through e-learning programs.
oAll new hires at Coors Brewing Company must complete a web-based training module
within 90 days of employment.
oIn Illinois, all state employees are required to do web-based ethics training annually.
STRENGTHS
oOnline ethics training programs are easy to implement at minimal cost.
oWeb-based training offers a simple method for making employees aware of the most
common ethical issues. Software programs provide standardized information about legal
requirements and moral expectations.
oThe information can be studied at a pace that matches the employee’s learning style.
oQuestion and answer test formats provide immediate feedback on the knowledge being
learned.
oAt EnPro, an industrial products company, employees retake the computerized ethics
training program until achieving a perfect score.
WEAKNESSES
oEthics training requires dialogue. The best response to even the most cut-and-dried
ethical dilemma can be highly debatable.
oWeb-based training by itself does not address all the nuances and contextual issues
associated with ethical dilemmas.
oEmployees are not pushed out of their ethics comfort zone.
oComplement web-based ethics training programs with facilitator-guided
face-to-face interactions and group activities.
oSkilled facilitators can guide the discussion to other relevant issues worthy of
exploration, point out contradictions, and call on quiet participants to express their
views in a safe learning environment.
oInteractive training workshops can also enhance team building and collegiality.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students explore the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ethics website at
http://ethics.house.gov/. Explore the different subject links. Click on the Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ) link at http://ethics.house.gov/Subjects/FAQ.aspx and try to answer
the questions before clicking on the answers.
CHAPTER QUESTION 2: HOW WOULD YOU DESIGN AN ETHICS TRAINING
PROGRAM? WHO SHOULD SERVE AS FACILITATOR?
BACKGROUND
oSome organizations do not provide ethics training workshops because they believe it
suggests that their employees are unethical or that the organization has ethical problems.
This obstacle can be avoided by recognizing that every person is morally imperfect and
that every organization has ethical risks.
oPresent the ethics training in the spirit of ongoing continuous improvement efforts and
part of a systematic effort to reinforce the organization’s ethical culture.
oThere is no “one-size-fits-all” ethics training program, yet there are general trends and
best practices found among organizations.
oOffer at least one mandatory ethics training annually. Researchers report that the
frequency of training has positive impacts on employee attitudes and behaviors.
oIf attendance is voluntary, the employees who need the training the most may not attend.
ETHICS TRAINING PROGRAM DESIGN
oSome organizations only want to sponsor one ethics training workshop a year. If this is
the case, first consider conducting the “Code of Ethics Employee Assessment” outlined in
EXHIBIT 4.9.
oSome organizations might find the approach too challenging to undertake for its first
ethics training workshop because of the many issues that may be raised.
oEXHIBIT 6.1 outlines a more moderate initial ethics training workshop for addressing an
important issue during a 90-minute session.
CEO or supervisor expresses support for the activity
Clarify workshop rationale, goals, and objectives
Present competitive advantages of maintaining an ethical work culture (see
Chapter 1)
Foster awareness of industry, organizational, or work unit ethical issues
Introduce the organization’s Code of Ethics and Conduct (see Chapter 4)
Focus on a salient issue or behavior that challenges the Code of Ethics and
Conduct
Legitimize an ethical decision-making process (see Chapter 5)
Individually apply the decision-making process to a specific relevant situation
Discuss the issue in small groups
Debrief
Assess and evaluate the workshop for continuous improvement
Workshop relevancy can be created at the beginning of the workshop with a short quiz
about a complex issue – such as what the code of conduct says about conflicts-of-interest
– and the results can serve as benchmark data to measure achieving workshop learning
objectives.
Make the ethics training program content as specific as possible. Target specific
behaviors and provide specific examples, but present the material in general terms so as
not to offend any specific employee.
Use cases that are relevant to the greatest number of participants. Ask participants how
they would respond to the situation, and have them discuss their answers in small groups.
Praise divergent thinking and creative problem-solving, but make sure the suggestions are
ethically sound.
Train participants on how to respond when these particular situations arise in the future.
WORKSHOP FACILITATOR
Facilitating an ethics discussion takes a particular skill.
A good facilitator inspires self-learning among the participants by keeping everyone
focused on the main issues while being flexible to new issues as they arise.
The facilitator can encourage participants to form opinions, analyze and modify their own
views, and engage in civil disagreements without offending people holding the opposing
view or stifling discussion.
An ideal workshop facilitator is someone the participants trust and has the requisite skills
to create a safe learning environment.
Initially consider a human resources department staff person. But some employees will
not speak honestly in front of a human resources employee, particularly about ethical
issues, because they fear that their comments might have a negative impact on
performance evaluations and lead to termination.
If this is the case, assign the facilitator role to someone both the direct supervisor and
employees trust.
Possibilities include an informal leader from within the work unit, someone everyone
respects who works in another department, or an outside consultant.
The best option may be to train an informal leader from within the work unit who has
management potential. This person already has a sense of key ethical issues and can
ensure that the discussion is realistic and relevant.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students design an ethics training program for college students. Do so independently and
then share in small groups. Have small group representatives report out. Assess the strengths and
weaknesses of each group’s program design.
