Purpose

While the problem of unethical leadership is undoubtedly a global one, the urgency of generating ethical leadership to advance the development of Africa has never been more evident than it is today. The challenge for higher education in developing ethical leaders is of core importance, as it is responsible for providing the main recruiting ground of business leaders. The current paper reports findings of a qualitative study of postgraduate students’ ethical development at the end of courses in business ethics aimed to enhance moral reasoning and ethical decision-making. The paper aims to ascertain whether stand-alone ethics courses are more effective than integrated ones in achieving academic ethical competency.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts an idiographic approach which aims at eliciting individual student subjective perceptions of the effects of the direct and indirect courses of ethical instruction on their moral reasoning and ethical practice. The research design broadly follows Mill’s (2017) method of difference.

Findings

Findings indicate perceived differences in the relative effectiveness of stand-alone and embedded ethics courses among students but also show that most students hold positive overall evaluations of the effectiveness of the both types of ethics instruction.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations to the study include that it is cross-sectional, involves a small sample of postgraduate students and is restricted to two management courses at one institution of higher learning. Furthermore, while Mill (2017) provides a useful research design in this context, it is not able to indicate causality, as there are other possible unidentified “third variables” that may be the actual cause of student differences between embedded and stand-alone ethics courses. The study is not able to show the durability and transfer of ethical competencies into students’ later working lives.

Practical implications

The study provides a useful practical educational contribution to the extant knowledge in the field in that it suggests that ethical courses aimed at giving students a moral reasoning “toolkit” for ethical decision-making are more effective when delivered in the stand-alone format, whereas practical decision-making skills are best honed by embedded business ethics courses.

Social implications

The problem of corruption in business and politics in South Africa is widely documented and has been regarded as responsible for creating a serious developmental drag on the alleviation of poverty and quality of lives of the majority of people in the country. The moral/ethical competency and behavior of future business leaders is partly the responsibility of institutions of higher learning. The study aims to find the most effective means of imparting moral awareness in postgraduate students who are likely to take up business leadership positions in their future careers.

Originality/value

The study provides useful contribution to the extant knowledge in the field in the African context in that it suggests that ethical courses aimed at giving students a moral reasoning “toolkit” for ethical decision-making are more effective when delivered in the stand-alone format, whereas practical decision-making skills are best honed by embedded business ethics courses.

中文翻译：

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培养道德管理者以担任未来的业务角色：对“独立”和“嵌入式”大学“道德”课程功效的定性研究

目的

虽然不道德的领导问题无疑是一个全球性的问题，但建立道德领导力以促进非洲发展的紧迫性从未像现在这样明显。在培养道德领导者方面，高等教育面临的挑战至关重要，因为它负责提供商业领导者的主要招聘基础。本论文报告了在商业道德课程结束时对研究生的道德发展进行定性研究的结果，旨在加强道德推理和道德决策。本文旨在确定独立的道德课程在实现学术道德能力方面是否比综合课程更有效。

设计/方法/方法

该研究采用一种独特的方法，旨在激发学生对道德指导的直接和间接课程对他们的道德推理和道德实践的影响的主观认识。研究设计大致遵循Mill（2017）的差异法。

发现

研究结果表明，学生在独立和嵌入式道德课程的相对有效性上的感知差异，但也表明，大多数学生对这两种类型的道德教学的有效性都抱有积极的整体评价。

研究局限/意义

该研究的局限性在于它是横断面的，只涉及一小部分研究生，并且仅限于在一所高等院校中开设的两个管理课程。此外，尽管Mill（2017）在此背景下提供了有用的研究设计，但它无法表明因果关系，因为还有其他可能无法识别的“第三变量”，这可能是造成嵌入式伦理学和独立伦理学之间学生差异的真正原因。课程。该研究无法显示出道德能力的持久性和转移到学生以后的工作生活中。

实际影响

该研究为该领域的现有知识提供了有益的实践教育贡献，因为它表明以独立格式提供课程的目的是为学生提供道德决策“道德推理”工具包的道德课程更有效，而嵌入式商业道德课程最好地磨练实际的决策技巧。

社会影响

南非商业和政治中的腐败问题已得到广泛记录，并被认为是造成该国大多数人的贫困和生活质量得到缓解的严重发展阻力。未来商业领袖的道德/道德能力和行为部分是高等院校的责任。该研究旨在寻找最有效的手段，以在可能在未来职业中担任商业领导职务的研究生中传授道德意识。

创意/价值

该研究为非洲背景下的该领域的现有知识提供了有益的帮助，因为该研究表明，以独立格式提供课程的目的是，为学生提供道德决策的道德推理“工具”的道德课程更加有效，而实际的决策技巧最好通过嵌入式商业道德课程进行磨练。