Nonprofit leaders have an opportunity to foster the ethical culture within their organizations through in-service training and education. However, ethics education is not limited to in-service organizational training. College programs are beginning to implement ethics education into the curricula across many disciplines. The basic ethical principles learned in business education can be applied to the same types of ethical decision making within nonprofit organizations.
Ethics Education
The goal of implementing ethics education in business schools is to produce students that not only know how to make good business decisions, but also know how to make ethical business decisions. Ethics education in academia should develop students that know how to make ethical decisions, behave ethically, and have the strength to do the right thing (Cooper, 2000).
Business ethics education at the academic level should provide students with tools to guide them through ethical decisions in for-profit business or if they choose a career in the nonprofit sector. This can be accomplished through discussions about ethical dilemmas, ethical behavior, decisions and reasoning.
Nonprofit Ethics Training
Similar to academic learning about ethics, nonprofit ethics training seeks to prepare individuals for ethical decision-making, but in a practitioner setting. The training enhances an individual’s moral reasoning previously shaped by their culture, beliefs, and experiences. Furthermore, ethics training is one way to address current ethical issues within organizations and deter future problems (West & Berman, 2004). Nonprofit organizations that have implemented ethics training as a part of their workplace training requirements increase trust among donors and improve credibility among volunteers and external clients.
Because in-service ethics training is taking place within the organization, the approach to ethics theory takes a practical approach. This type of approach is necessary because employees face ethical decisions in their everyday work experiences and may need guidance within the moment. There are two theories of ethics training and management:
- The compliance approach (low road ethics) - teaches employees about the organization's ethics codes or external legislation such as Sarbanes Oxley.
- The integrity approach (high road ethics) - focuses more on the individual and his or her own internal value system
Comparison of Ethics Education and Nonprofit Ethics Training
The way in which ethics material is presented is very important in both nonprofit training and in academic ethics training. In academia, ethics can be integrated within any course topic, such as an ethics unit of a nonprofit finance class. A stand-alone course in ethics, such as a nonprofit business ethics class, is a separate development where only ethics issues are discussed.
Ethics training in organizations can take on many different forms. Training can be reactive, in response to a certain event, either external or internal. The training can be voluntary or involuntary by upper management (West & Berman, 2004). But similar to ethics education, it can be integrated within other training activities or job responsibilities, or a stand-alone training program.
The use of case studies is a very common method in both nonprofit training and in academic settings. Other methods for academic learning are group discussion, guest speakers, lectures, and multimedia. Although ethics in-service training can use some of the same methods, the challenge is to keep the learner engaged in what is being taught.
Ethics education and training within nonprofit organizations will need to be adapted to the needs of mature learners. Trainers and educators will need to give trainees time to process information, stimulate participation, and integrate learning with workplace situations (West & Berman, 2004). Consequently, the presentation of learning materials in ethics training can be expanded beyond case studies and includes realistic case materials, live instruction, reference materials, and trainee evaluation.
Sources
- Cooper, T. L. (2000). Handbook of administrative ethics (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Marcel Dekker Inc.
- West, J. P., & Berman, E. M. (2004). Ethics training in U.S. cities. Public Integrity, 6(3), 189-206.
Michele Whitney - Over 10 years of diverse professional experience, PhD candidate in Public Service with an undergraduate degree in Marketing and an MBA.
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