Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58912
Honor codes allow students and employees to cultivate their values, develop their integrity, and pursue their goals in an environment that frees them to do their best. The Honorable Student Linda Treviño Professor of Organizational Behavior Franklin H. Cook Fellow in Business Ethics Smeal College of Business Administration Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania Some business schools are adding courses designed to instill ethics in their students, but a complementary way to reinforce learning about behav- ioral standards would be to institute an honor code. Honor codes allow students to learn ethical behavior by living it every day. Honor codes provide students with a definition of ac- ceptable and unacceptable behavior and the knowledge of the consequences if their behavior fails to meet those stan- dards. Honor codes also parallel the codes of conduct that are in place at many corporations and, thus, prepare students to work in such companies. Employees follow the dictates of ethics or compliance programs, sign commitment state- ments, attend ethics training, and are held responsible for their behavior. Honor codes and ethical codes of conduct have many benefits, but one is paramount: They allow students and em- ployees to cultivate their values, develop their integrity, and pursue their goals in an environment that frees them to do their best. To institute an honor code, a business school might start with a document that states aspirations, principles, and stan- dards of conduct for academic integrity. Included are goals for creating a community of trust, as well as creating an en- vironment where cheating and plagiarizing are not tolerated. The document might also address behavior outside of the classroom, such as how students are expected to behave dur- ing the job recruitment process. Students might be required to sign these documents as a condition of attending the school. It might be particularly effective if they commit to an honor code in a public forum. Literature on behavioral commitment indicates that per- forming any act in a public way has a profound impact on a person's psychological commitment. Once a school implements an honor code, it should offer students orientation programs that outline acceptable behav- 26 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006 ior. Most companies with a code of conduct also offer annual ethics training. It's unfair to expect people to conform to a code of conduct without telling them expressly what conduct is required. Another component of most honor codes is the peer reporting requirement, which demands that participants report code vio- lations by their fellow students. Peer report- ing is very difficult for students, but it's an essential part of an effective honor code be- cause it makes students responsible for code implementation. Students who do violate the code are subject to a judiciary process, which is generally run by the students themselves. Students investigate the violation, while giving accused students the opportunity to present their side of the story. Then they decide on the sanction. In the workplace, someone who is found to have violated the code of conduct will likely be disciplined or even fired. At schools, the approach varies with the institution. Some schools have a single sanction policy—expulsion for any code violation. Other schools use a range of sanctions from grade changes to suspension or expulsion. Still others have more of a rehabilitative orientation. Sanctions also generally can be appealed to a higher authority. It's important for students to understand how to oper- ate under an ethical standard of conduct, because a growing number of companies are instituting such behavioral codes. In 2005, the National Business Ethics Survey reported on a number of gauges of ethical standards in American work or- ganizations. The survey found that formal ethics and compli- ance programs have become more prevalent over time, with 86 percent of respondents saying that their organization has written standards of ethical business conduct. Evidence shows that—both for students in an honor code environment and employees working under an ethics code that is part of a broader ethical culture—the experience is overwhelmingly positive. Individuals learn what it means to live in a community of trust where values and standards are upheld. They often make comments like, "This gives me a renewed sense of what is possible. It allows me to believe that humans are basically good." In so much of the literature about teaching ethics, the focus is on forcing people to conform to certain standards. What is often overlooked is the aspirational element of an ethics program or an honor code—which allows both stu- dents and employees to perform at their highest levels.