Business Student Moral Influencers: Unseen Opportunities for Development?

Abstract

Using the case study approach, we explore the influences of a university's ethical system on the moral development of business undergraduate students. The sample participants in this qualitative study include 28 business students at a private, religiously affiliated university. Using qualitative analysis, we developed a number of themes that reveal unseen institutional influences on student moral development. Our theoretical process model displays five factors contributing to the students' living moral code, which in turn influences student moral development outcomes; the five factors include institutional moral reinforcement, service activities, experiential challenges, moral amplifiers and an evolving moral identity. Research findings offer insight toward a comprehensive approach to student ethics reform. They also reveal that the student state of moral development is not bankrupt; students are looking for guidance and participation in their moral development, while at the same time holding specific expectations for the institution and its agents.