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Investigating and Assessing the Quality of Employee Ethics Training Programs Among US-Based Global Organizations

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Abstract

Reoccurring instances of unethical employee behavior raises the question of the effectiveness of organization’s employee ethics training programs. This research seeks to examine employee ethics training programs among US-based global organizations by asking members of the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association to describe various elements of their organizations’ ethics training programs. This investigation and assessment reveal that there are some effective aspects of ethics training but five serious concerns are identified and discussed as potential contributions to the lack of ethics among business organizations’ employees.

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Notes

  1. The author is indebted to Tim Mazur, Chief Operating Officer of the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association, for his assistance with the administration of the survey.

  2. The author also wishes to thank David Wasieleski of Duquesne University for his invaluable research support on this project; Jack Radke for his constructive comments on an earlier draft; and blind reviewers for their insights and suggestions for enhancing the quality of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business Ethics and Management, Palumbo Donahue School of Business, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15282, USA

    James Weber

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Weber, J. Investigating and Assessing the Quality of Employee Ethics Training Programs Among US-Based Global Organizations. J Bus Ethics 129, 27–42 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2128-5

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