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Technology A Test of Ethical Reasoning An online quiz helps students better understand—and apply—three approaches to ethical reasoning. by William Guth, Michael Steinmann, Edward Stohr, and Harry Jin Critics often argue that business schools teach ethics in ways that are too grounded in the language of abstract ethical theory, which can be mean- ingless to businesspeople who often lack philosophical training. But a lack of training is a large reason why too many business practitioners are unable to explain—much less justi- fy—their actions in ethical terms. In 2005, the Howe School of Technology Management at the Ste- vens Institute of Technology imple- mented an "ethics thread" through- out our graduate curriculum. As part of this thread, our graduate-level instructors introduce ethical topics and discuss cases involving ethical issues throughout their courses. Our goal is to help students develop an understanding of ethical approaches and learn to apply ethical reasoning skills to their decision making. To provide a foundation for these discussions, we piloted the use of an online ethics quiz in the sum- mer and fall semesters of 2009. We made it a formal requirement for all master's and doctoral students in fall 2010. The quiz is part of a free first-semester, zero-credit online workshop, supported by WebCam- pus, the online learning unit of the Stevens Institute of Technology. Our quiz presents students with ethical dilemmas, but also exposes them to three well-known approaches to ethical reasoning. These include deontological, the 58 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2011 application of universal moral rules; teleological, the consideration of the consequences of one's actions; and virtue-based, the consideration of actions that a virtuous person would take in the same situation. Ethical Cases In the online workshop, students are required to read a short introduction to ethical reasoning. Next, they read four short business cases, each based on a real-life situation. In each case, they must state their level of agree- ment with the actions the managers took in those situations and explain their reasons. Students "pass" the quiz if they provide answers to all four cases and complete a brief sur- vey. Their responses remain anony- mous, so they know they can provide their honest reactions. One such case involves Foudy, a salesperson at Fare and Shear, a hypo- thetical brokerage firm. In the case, the firm is carrying a heavy inventory of bonds from a power company. Its executives ask Foudy to recommend these bonds to customers—it even increases the sales commission on the bonds as incentive. Foudy is reluctant because he knows that not only are interest rates rising, but the power company is at risk for bankruptcy. Even so, Foudy decides to recom- mend the bonds. The quiz asks students what they think of Foudy's actions. Their explanations for their ethical choices are automatically captured. After responding to each case, students are provided with a model answer illustrating the application of the three theories to the case. After completing all four cases, they are provided with charts that show stu- dent responses from the previous semester. In this way, students can learn from each other—for instance, they see that most students disap- prove of Foudy's actions! A Learning Experience Our analysis of student responses reveals interesting and unexpected patterns in students' ethical thought processes. In fall 2009, for example, 180 students took the quiz. Not surprisingly, a strong majority (136) "disapproved" or "strongly disap- proved" of Foudy's actions. But that meant that a significant minority of students had a different view. Thirty students noted that they "approved" or "strongly approved," while eight