Building Ethical Leaders

By Kirsten Shaw

For most college students today, the major business scandals of the early 2000s are part of history, something to be studied in class. But for those only a little older, who lived through Enron and WorldCom, they’re active memories that must not be repeated.

These pervasive scandals affected more than those who lost money or were employed by the companies involved. They impacted all consumers, investors and businesses – including the many enterprises that were doing things by the book. They damaged the American public’s trust in business in general.

In the wake of such accounting scandals, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) established the NASBA Center for the Public Trust (CPT). The CPT works to advance ethical practices not only in the accounting profession but in corporate America at large. Its goal of linking ethical theory to practical professional activities is pursued through seminars and conferences on topics like public trust, leadership, integrity and ethical decision-making.

A few years ago, the CPT introduced a new tool to help prepare future business professionals for the dilemmas they may face even early in their careers: an Ethical Leadership Certification program for college students. “I have found that college students tend to tune out when their professors talk about ethics,” says Alfonzo Alexander, President of the CPT and Chief Ethics and Diversity Officer for NASBA. “They think ‘only senior managers deal with that,’ and ‘I’ll know what to do when I’m a senior manager.’ But they are wrong – studies show that 83 percent of employees face some kind of ethical dilemma within their first five years on the job. They have to be prepared for that by thinking about how they’ll handle those situations now.”

The College of Business has made the decision to require all its undergraduates to participate in the CPT’s Ethical Leadership Certification program (ELCP), placing MSU among the first universities to adopt it. Dean Sharon Oswald felt strongly about adding the program to the curriculum.

Graduating tomorrow’s business leaders with high ethical standards is something that is at the core of what we strive to do,” she states. “The ethical leadership certificate gives students the opportunity to experience ethical dilemmas and learn how to best handle the situations. Among future employers, this certification will also provide our students with a competitive advantage in the hiring process.

The advent of the program at MSU was heralded by Alfonzo Alexander himself, who came to campus in August through the Leo W. Seal, Jr. Distinguished Speaker Series. In addition to the university-wide Seal lecture, he met with management and accounting faculty and spoke to students in one of the classes engaged in the certification program.

“The ELCP program teaches students the importance of deciding at the beginning of their careers what ethical boundaries they have and what lines they will not cross,” remarks Alexander, who was involved in creating the program’s content with Auburn University professors Dr. Linda Ferrell and Dr. O.C. Ferrell. “It’s harder to define those boundaries when you are under pressure and facing a difficult situation. The ELCP program also teaches students the importance of developing a network of mentors both inside and outside their organizations so they are prepared with advisors who can help them navigate difficult ethical dilemmas and come up with solutions that don’t necessarily require quitting.”

The ELCP program has been embedded in the Management 3213 course Organizational Communications, which is a requirement for all MSU business majors. Dr. Emily Marett led the pilot classes this past fall, and it will be added in the spring by the other faculty who teach the course.

“I am so thankful to Emily Marett for taking the lead on this project,” says Oswald. “She has such great passion for wanting our students to graduate with this certificate.”

“Ethics is something our College has been committed to for a long time, and every major integrates it a little differently,” shares Marett, an Instructor of Management. “Adding the Center for Public Trust’s program offers consistency across all majors and enables every Mississippi State business student to acquire a certificate via a nationally recognized, respected organization, assuring employers our graduates have training and skills in ethical leadership.

“The ELCP program dovetails well with the communications course, which focuses on subjects like how to lead teams and how the power of the leader can influence groupthink,” she observes.

The ethical leadership program is provided through online modules by the CPT that involve lectures and interactive components, and each includes a quiz that must be passed before moving to a new section. Students in the Organizational Communications course complete each module as an assignment outside of class, and after each, they participate in ethical decision making activities in the classroom.

Alexander met with Dr. Emily Marett, along with other COB faculty and students, to discuss the Ethical Leadership Certificate program.

Photo by Grace Cockrell

Topics include an overview of ethical leadership, ethical decision making, organizational support of ethical leadership, the role of leadership in managing and preventing conflicts and ethical risks, the role of communication in ethical leadership and “Ethics Dash,” a scenario-based activity. The program concludes with an independently administered comprehensive exam.

“Some of the things students learn are how to facilitate conversations as a manager, how small things can set a tone and create expectations for behavior and how to create a culture in which employees are confident they have permission and support for whistleblowing,” says Marett.

“I’m glad we are doing this certification because it makes you look at the business world from a different perspective,” says junior Gracie Hammons. “It makes you realize what is ethical and what is not and has opened my eyes to different pressures and reasons why people end up committing unethical acts.”

Adds junior Serena Rozsa, “I like that it gives examples of ethical situations and asks what I would do. That helps me think about the ethical dilemmas I will most likely have to face in my career.”

For accounting students in particular, theirs is a profession where ethics will be a career-long emphasis. Some state boards of accountancy require ethics courses or an ethics exam prior to licensure, and some – like Mississippi – require continuing professional education (CPE) credits to maintain licensure. The ELCP program will establish a strong foundation from the outset.

“Although nothing can fully prepare you for being in an unethical position,” shares accounting senior Alison Watson, “I feel more prepared for whatever situations will arise.”

I am excited to see the program being made available to all our students, but especially our accounting students,” says Angela Pannell, Instructor of Accountancy. “Ethical challenges will arise as our students move forward in their careers. With the introduction of the training as part of the undergraduate degree, accounting students can begin to think about how they will address various ethical challenges when they arise, so they do not have ethics violations that might result in a case being brought before their state boards.

Pannell is well acquainted with the value of ethical accounting and the expectations of the profession. She serves on the American Institute of CPAs’ (AICPA) State Board Committee, a subcommittee of the AICPA Board of Examiners, and has served on the Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy, the NASBA Education Committee and the NASBA CPE Committee, among others. It is here where the standards of accountancy are defined and upheld.

Students who start out their careers having learned to detect and deter ethical pitfalls and having defined their ethical boundaries are more likely to grow into ethical leaders. As they progress into positions of increasing responsibility, they will set the standard for their businesses and those who work for them.

It is this active, intentional pursuit of ethical leadership that will help keep the specter of business scandal where it belongs – as a part of history.