The Impact Of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act Of 2002 On The Teaching Of Ethics In Core MBA Curriculums In Ohio

Abstract

A decade of corporate scandals has highlighted a lack of ethical decision making skills among business leaders.  Reasons for this deficiency vary from an absence of ethical teaching in the home to a failure of American corporate culture.  In 2002, the situation reached a critical point with scandals such as Enron and Tyco forcing a Congressional response in the form of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.  Questions concerning corporate leaders’ ability to act ethically again resurfaced in the wake of the recent financial collapse of giants such as AIG and Citigroup, creating a debate over what lessons were learned from the Sarbanes- Oxley experience.  MBA curriculums are major stakeholders in this debate.  MBA programs are venues where the majority of our business leaders learn the critical skills needed to succeed.  The purpose of this study was to assess the treatment of ethics in core MBA curriculums in Ohio in response to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.  The study determined that MBA programs in Ohio failed to adjust their core curriculums in response to the new demand for increased ethics instruction.  Further, it determined that private and public institutions reacted to the legislation in a similar manner.  It also revealed that private and public institutions traditionally approach ethics instruction differently.