Kansas State University

Internal Outreach

The initiative serves as an institutional umbrella for internal outreach activities aimed at disseminating information about business ethics education to constituents at Kansas State University.

In consultation with members of a local advisory committee and speakers bureau, the initiative sponsors a campus-wide seminar in professional ethics, guest lectures in business, government, and society classes, and ethics resources.

External Outreach

The initiative also serves as an institutional umbrella for external outreach activities aimed at improving national standards in business ethics education. In collaboration with members of our national advisory committee, the initiative sponsors a special research team, whose members are collecting data for benchmarking best practices in ethics education in business programs across the country.

Local Advisory Committee

Advisory Committee Chair

C. Clyde Jones, Manhattan, KS, former Dean of the College of Business Administration at Kansas State University
Statement on the History and Philosophy of Business Ethics Coursework at Kansas State University

Advisory Committee Members

• Mike Bonella, Manhattan, KS Manhattan Aquarium Co.
• John Carlin, Manhattan, KS
• Cora Cooper, Kansas State University; Professor of Music, College of Arts and Sciences
• Ralph Diaz, Manhattan, KS; Gaia Salon
• Sara Kearns, Kansas State University; Instruction Coordinator for the Libraries
• Jinna Long, Manhattan, KS; Purrfect Paws, Inc.
• Migette Kaup, Kansas State University; Associate Professor of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design, College of Human Ecology

National Advisory Committee

Advisory Committee Chair

Dr. William C. Frederick, University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania)
Professor Emeritus of Business Administration

Advisory Committee Members

• Adele Barsh,  University of California at San Diego;Economics and Business Librarian
• Melissa Baucus. Xavier University; Associate Professor, Management and Entrepreneurship
• Robbin Derry, University of Lethbridge, Alberta; Associate Professor of Management
• Laurie N. DiPadova-Stocks, Park University; Dean, Hauptmann School for Public Affairs
• Dann Fisher, Kansas State University; Associate Professor of Accounting, Deloitte & Touche Faculty Fellow
• Laura Hartman, DePaul University; Associate Vice President, Academic Affairs, Professor of Business Ethics
• Barrie E. Litzky, Penn State Great Valley; Associate Professor of Management and Operation
• Jeanne M. Logsdon, University of New Mexico; Regents Professor and Jack & Donna Rust Professor of Business Ethics Editor, Business & Society
• Tammy Mac Lean, Suffolk University; Associate Professor of Management
• Mildred Myers, Carnegie Mellon University; Principal Lecturer and Media Expert
• Marc Orlitzky, University of South Australia Business School, Australia; Associate Professor of Management
• Mark Pagell, York University; Associate Professor of Operations and Management Information Systems, Schulich School of Business
• Sue Ravenscroft, Iowa State University; Professor of Accounting
• Bill Sodeman, Hawaii Pacific University Associate Professor
• Alan Strudler, University of Pennsylvania Professor of Legal Studies, Director of the Ethics Program at the Wharton School
• Philip Trocchia, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg; Associate Professor of Marketing
• Sandra Waddock, Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship;Professor of Management and Senior Research Fellow; Editor: Journal for Corporate Citizenship
• Steve Wartick, University of Northern Iowa, Professor of Management
• Jim Weber, Duquense University, Professor of Management, Director of the Beard Center for Ethics at the Palumbo School of Business
• Duane Windsor, Rice University, Lynette Autrey Chair of Ethics, Professor of Business
• Donna Wood, University of Northern Iowa, Professor Emeritus of Management and Philosophy and Religion; The David W. Wilson Chair in Business Ethics
• William Zawrotny, Partner, Jones Day, Atlanta

Curriculum

While all of our coursework has a solid ethics base, the College of Business Administration in conjunction with the Business Ethics Education Initiative offers several courses focused more specifically on business ethics.

Business, Government, and Society (MANGT 596)
K-State's tradition of requiring ethics courses of its business students began in 1967 when this course was embedded in the undergraduate curriculum. This course focuses on the interactions of business in social, political, economic, and technological domains that shape managers' legal and ethical responsibilities to corporate stakeholders.

Legal and Social Issues in Business (MANGT 860)
This MBA requirement builds on the undergraduate course. In this course, students integrate concepts from core areas of management to formulate ethical and strategic responses to issues posed by environmental factors.

Professional Ethics (MANGT 897)
In addition to required courses in legal and social issues, Professional Ethics is offered as an elective to students in the MBA and Masters in Accountancy programs. Through directed research and case studies, students in this course apply ethics to various professions.

Other Business Courses
Ethics material is also integrated into other business courses, including Management Information Systems, Accounting, Strategy, Organizational Behavior, Leadership, and Small Business Consulting.

Extracurricular Activities
Extracurricular activities, such as the Business Ethics Speaker Series, enhance ethics in our curriculum. Students are also providing leadership as members of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), one of the K-State student organizations in the CBA. These students have worked with two KSU professors to develop a set of radio clips on business ethics. This organization also delivers ethics material in workshops given during the K-State SIFE High School Symposiums.

Continuing Education

Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Corporate Social Responsibility - Dr. Swanson also teaches in Benedictine University Center for Values-driven Leadership's Executive PhD/DBA program. 

Credit Managers - Swanson teaches a course called Ethics in Business and Society in the Graduate School of Credit and Financial Management sponsored by the National Association of Credit Management and held on the campus of Dartmouth College in June.

Accounting Ethics - Dann Fisher, PhD, CPA, and Swanson have designed an accounting ethics seminar that meets Kansas requirements for CPA license renewal. For more information, please contact either Swanson or Fisher.