Business Ethics Training in Human Resource Development: A Literature Review

In view of corporate wrongdoings like Enron’s accounting fraud and Volkswagen’s emissions scandal, the need to prevent unethical decision-making in the business sector has become widely accepted. Human resource development is of high relevance in this regard: a multiplicity of companies utilizes ethics training programs to teach their managers and employees business ethics and to develop their ethical competences. However, knowledge about the efficacy of these training programs is still rather fragile. In the present study, we (a) develop a framework of relevant design categories to consider in creating ethics training programs; (b) consolidate empirical insights by reviewing 92 studies about the effectiveness of standalone business ethics training programs regarding their impact, dependent variable and measurement methods, design, and conceptual foundation; and (c) identify remaining research gaps and provide theoretical-conceptual considerations for further investigation.