Teaching Ethics - Northern Arizona University



Christine Lynn, Ph.D.

Professor & Director of Isbell Hospitality Ethics

November, 2007

Teaching Ethics

Isbell Hospitality Ethics has been keeping track of all the articles concerning ethics written in the hospitality journals since 1990. (Please go to the Isbell Hospitality Ethics web site at www2.nau.edu/~clj5/ethics/ for a complete review of the hospitality ethics literature since 1990 and many of the full-text articles.) Eleven categories emerged as we read articles, and the purpose of this paper is to describe the recent findings in the category of Teaching Ethics.

Twenty-seven articles were written on teaching ethics between 1990 and 2005, averaging between 1 and 2 articles per year, until 2005 when six articles appeared. The literature tells us again and again that we must teach ethics in our hospitality programs. An article appearing in the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education reiterated this need stating that “it is imperative for hospitality programs to offer ethics education and training for their hospitality students” (Yeh, Moreo, Ryan, & Perry, 2005). There is general agreement that it is most likely best to incorporate ethics across the curriculum using a case study approach (Yeh, et al., 2005; Jaszay, 2001).

The results of numerous surveys have been reported in the literature, all pointing to the need to teach ethics (Jaszay, 2001, 2003, 2005). The results of the Yeh, Moreo, Ryan, and Perry study “imply that many hospitality programs have not incorporated and implemented ethics education into their curricula, however faculty members tend to think that they have” (Yeh, et al., 2005).

Hotel executives, hotel human resource specialists, and alumni ranked ethics to be the most important content area to be taught in hospitality programs. A survey of I-CHRIE members, however, showed that ethics education was not a focus in hospitality programs, that while everyone agreed ethics should and can be taught, consistent ethics education programs simply have not been incorporated in university hospitality curricula (Yeh, R., Martin, L.J., Moreo, P. J., Ryan, B., & Perry, K.M., 2005). The authors of the study recommend ethics instruction, utilizing case studies, be integrated across hospitality curricula.

Three-hundred-twenty-eight hospitality industry professionals responded to a survey which indicated the development of personal and professional ethics and analyzing ethical dilemmas were topics that needed to be included in hospitality curricula. They also agreed that ethics, along with other course content areas such as communication, diversity, and leadership, etc., should be embedded in the required courses across the curriculum rather than as specific courses (Gursoy, D. & Swanger, N., 2005).

Three-hundred-ninety-five college students from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas were surveyed to determine the effect culture has on their ethical decision making. It was found that there were cultural differences between the students that affected ethical decision making. However, classroom interaction between students of different cultures over long periods of time can bring their ethical decision making into alignment with the ethical principles of the educating institution (Brymer, R. A., March, L., Palmer, M., & Schmidgall, R. S., 2005).

Faculty influence on students, both in and outside of class, is profound. Instruction in ethics must carefully guide students to look at their cultural beliefs and attitudes in terms of developing a framework of ethical orientation (Brymer, R. A., March, L., Palmer, M., & Schmidgall, R. S., 2005). Our students will go out and manage the biggest industry in our country. If our students are steeped in ethics, they can have a profoundly positive effect on their employees, which in turn can have a profoundly positive effect on our society.

Thirty-nine ethical issues were ranked in terms of importance by 308 hospitality industry practitioners. While all of the issues should be addressed in hospitality curricula, the first five, theft, sexual harassment, hazardous waste, bribes, and quality service, should be given priority (Yeung, S., 2004).

While many of the same topics are discussed year after year, there is positive movement away from simply identifying unethical behaviors, to changing them through developing codes of ethical behavior and ethics training programs. Ethical behavior is recognized as resulting in good business with increased profits and reduced turnover.

Sixty-nine percent of corporations are now providing employees with ethics training. Most of these companies use a combination of e-learning and live training which includes discussions and hands-on training in ethics (Kovaleski, 2005). Culinary students need to be taught ethics in order to be able to do the right thing when faced with on-the-job situations where unethical actions may be the norm (La Lopa, J. & Ghiselli, R., 2005). La Lopa and Ghiselli (2005) included a lesson plan with ethical scenarios for teaching culinary students.

We know we need to teach ethics. The literature strongly supports teaching ethics using an integrated case study approach across hospitality curricula. Most hospitality educators, however, have neither the time nor the ethics expertise to take on the task of developing consistent ethics instruction.

Marion Isbell, the founder of Ramada Inns, gave the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Northern Arizona University an endowment in 1988 to establish a hospitality ethics research center with a mission to encourage applied research in hospitality ethics and to address real-world ethical dilemmas in the hospitality industry.

We at Isbell Hospitality Ethics have designed a complete hospitality ethics curriculum (Jaszay, 2006) that is available on-line (www2.nau.edu/~clj5/ethics/) and without charge to any program that wishes to use it. It is in a format that can be downloaded, modified, saved, and/or put into a preferred web class platform. It can be utilized on-line or live. We are using the program at the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Northern Arizona University as required supplemental on-line instruction corresponding to each of our core courses. We did not have to add an ethics course to our curriculum, and none of the faculty has to teach it. The only administrative cost is for a graduate student grader. We are happy to share how we do this with any program interested in using the curriculum (Christine.Lynn@nau.edu).)

Just as someone can be an excellent piano teacher without being a concert pianist, we do not have to be philosophers to teach ethics. If we are good teachers and have good instructional materials, we can be very effective ethics teachers. Our curriculum is based in Utilitarianism – that is, choosing the decision that results in the least pain for the most people. Because this is a pragmatic approach, allowing students to consider various decision options and selecting the decision option that has the fewest negative consequences for themselves and others, we, also, do not have to be saints to effectively teach ethics. The supplemental on-line approach that we are utilizing enables us to teach ethics without making any changes to our current program.

The literature in the category of teaching ethics tells us we must teach ethics to our hospitality students. The literature specifies the content areas, the best teaching strategies, and even provides some sample lesson plans (La Lopa & Ghiselli, 2005). We have read the literature and taken the steps to go beyond just talking about the importance of teaching ethics. We are now actually teaching ethics, and it is our mission to share our curriculum with all hospitality programs.

References

Brymer, R. A., March, L., Palmer, M., & Schmidgall, R. S. (2005). Cultural influences on

ethical decisions of students enrolled in European hospitality programmes. Tourism & Hospitality Research. 5(4), 346-357.

Gursoy, D. & Swanger, N. (2005). An industry-driven model of hospitality curriculum

for programs housed in accredited colleges of business: Part II. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education. 17(2), 46-56.

Jaszay, C. (2006). Hospitality Ethics Curriculum. Prentice Hall: New Jersey.

Jaszay, C. (2001). Review of hospitality ethics research in 1990 to 2000. Isbell

Hospitality Ethics, www2.nau.edu/~clj5/ethics/.

Jaszay, C. (2003). Review of hospitality ethics research in 2000 and 2001. Isbell

Hospitality Ethics, www2.nau.edu/~clj5/ethics/.

Jaszay, C. (2005). Review of hospitality ethics research in 2002 and 2003. Isbell

Hospitality Ethics, www2.nau.edu/~clj5/ethics/.

Kovaleski, D. (2004). Companies stay clean with ethics training. Corporate Meetings &

Incentives. 23(10), 22.

La Lopa, J. & Ghiselli, R. F. (2005). Back of the house ethics: Students must be taught

not to give into the unethical behavior they may see or be asked to do during

internships or in their careers. Chef Educator Today. Spring 2005, 25-27.

Yeh, R., Martin, L., Moreo, P. J., Ryan, B., & Perry, K. M. (2005). Hospitality

educators’ perceptions of ethics education and the implications for hospitality educators, practitioners, and students. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education. 17(2), 25-35.

Yeung, S. (2004). Hospitality ethics curriculum: An industry perspective. International

Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 16(4), 253-262.

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