Title: Teaching business ethics to Chinese undergraduate students: using the Hunt-Vitell experiential learning model

Authors: Chen-Yu Feng; David D. Schein; Wei Song; Roger Collins

Addresses: International College of Business and Technology, Tianjin University of Technology, No. 391, Binshuixi Rd. Xiqing District, Tianjin City 300384, China ' Cameron School of Business, University of St. Thomas, Houston, 111 Heights Blvd. Houston, Texas 77008, USA ' Department of Marketing, Black Hills State University, 1200 University Street, Spearfish, South Dakota 57783, USA ' School of Business and Economics, Thompson Rivers University, 900 McGill Rd, Kamloops, BC V2C 6N6, Canada

Abstract: Whereas Western literature on the teaching of business ethics is extensively developed, research of the subject in a non-Western setting is somewhat limited. This study investigated the possible impact of the teaching of business ethics on the cognitive competence and decision-making processes of Chinese business undergraduate students by using the Hunt-Vitell experiential learning model. A university in the northern region of the China was selected and a qualitative study, comprising both observation and in-depth, semi-structured interviews, was undertaken. The findings revealed that taking a business ethics course could have a significant effect on students' cognitive development, but little impact on their ethical decision-making process. The study identified an inconsistency between the students' comprehension of ethical principles and their application. Their behaviour when confronted with an ethical dilemma or situation was not consistent with the ethical theories they indicated could apply. The theoretical and the practical implications and the limitations of the study are noted. Directions for future study in this area are suggested.

Keywords: Hunt-Vitell model; business education; business ethics; China; undergraduate students; cognitive competence; ethical decision making; experiential learning; higher education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIE.2016.073363

International Journal of Management in Education, 2016 Vol.10 No.1, pp.77 - 95

Received: 11 Dec 2014
Accepted: 20 Apr 2015
Published online: 30 Nov 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article