Ethics and religionin higher education

Evidence from United Arab Emiratesuniversities

Kamel Fantazy and Alaa-Aldin Abdul Rahim A. Al AthmayDepartment of Management, Marketing and Public Administration,

College of Business, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE

AbstractPurpose – The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of Islamic value on ethical behaviorincluding other factors identified in the literature. The focus of the paper is to investigate to what extentdoes Islamic value impact ethical behavior of United Arab Emirates (UAE) university students.Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a quantitative approach using aquestionnaire survey from 500 anonymous respondents covering five major universities within theUAE region. The identified constructs have been utilized to test a theoretical model using the structuralequation modeling (SEM) technique.Finding – The results revealed that education and code of ethics and Islamic values are dominantpredictors to elevate ethical behavior, as well as the role of religion has a positive impact on ethicalbehavior. The survey results revealed a reverse relationship between new technology and ethicalbehavior.Research limitations/implications – The measures of factors used to rate university students’perception of ethical behavior are a possible limitation of the research study.Originality/value – No empirical study was found in the literature that specifically investigates therelationships between Islamic value and ethical behavior in the UAE region. The paper fills animportant gap in the literature on ethics.

Keywords Ethics, Religion, Islamic value, Higher education

Paper type Research paper

1. IntroductionEthics, in general, has become a central topic in recent years and has received increasingattention by academic communities and professional bodies around the world (Brownet al., 2007; Robertson, 2008). This is because business ethics will determine not onlywhether the operating activities of a business organization are in conformity with theethical standards prevalent in the society but also whether the business organizationcan make a contribution to the generally accepted ethical values in the society (Zhangand Lin, 2011).

Hundreds, if not more, ethical scandals occur every year. Recent incidents of majororganizations such as Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen and Tyco involvingunethical employee behavior have brought increased public and government attentionto this situation (Jackson, 2006). Enron, for example, is one of the largest ethical disastersof the 21st century. Because of this increased awareness, governments and otherorganizations are pushing their employees to maintain a high level of ethical behavior.

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International Journal of Commerceand ManagementVol. 24 No. 2, 2014pp. 180-196© Emerald Group Publishing Limited1056-9219DOI 10.1108/IJCoMA-02-2014-0018

Furthermore, it is increasingly important to know the ethical perspectives of futurebusiness leaders so that their future behavior can be anticipated. Identifying andexamining the factors that have a direct impact on ethical behavior can be essential forall interested parties, such as employees in organizations, investors, students, regulatorsand so on. An examination of these factors from the perspective of university studentswill help businesses determine how their potential hires will make ethical businessdecisions when faced with difficult situations.

With a view to identifying the factors that influence ethical behavior, Desplaces et al.(2007) investigated the impact of business education and the academic environment onindividual ability to make ethical decisions. The authors reported that codes of ethicsand the way students perceive these codes can affect how they perceive the overallethical culture of the institution. The empirical research of Lau et al. (2011) examined theeffect of five factors that are related to college students’ perception of ethical behavior.These five factors are as follows:

(1) cheating in education;(2) student attitudes toward cheating;(3) the impact of technology;(4) the importance of ethics; and(5) the ethical environment of the campus.

The results revealed that ethical instructions and those who teach them are relevant andbeneficial to students. They also found that students tend to cheat less in colleges thanin high schools and in classes that are not their major. Furthermore, students admittedthat ethics is very important to them and they hold others to their same ethicalstandards. Singhapakdi (2004) analyzed the relative influences of perceived ethicalproblems and the perceived importance of ethics, idealism, relativism and gender on theethical intentions of students. The potential impacts of grade point average and theeducational level of students were also investigated. The results from a survey ofstudents in marketing classes from two major universities in the USA reveal thatperceived ethical problems and the perceived importance of ethics have positive impactson the ethical intentions of students. The survey results reveal a reverse relationshipbetween relativism and ethical intention. There is, however, no relationship betweenidealism and ethical intentions. As hypothesized, the results indicate that male studentstend to be less ethical in their intentions than female students. The findings indicate thatgrade point average and educational level are not determinants of the ethical intentionsof students.

However, research involving Islamic ethics is still very limited. In 1999, Yousef (1999)focused on the Islamic work ethics and its impact on the relationship betweenorganizational commitment and job satisfaction. This study used a sample of 425Muslim employees in several organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Theempirical results indicate that Islamic work ethics directly affects both organizationalcommitment and job satisfaction, and, further, that Islamic work ethics moderates therelationship between these two constructs. Beekun (1996) presented a conceptualframework that considered the importance of linking factors influencing ethicalbehavior in Islam. In this framework, Beekun (1996) identifies three exogenous variablesthat are believed to influence ethical behavior in the Islamic context. These variables are

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legal interpretation, organizational factors and individual factors. Legal interpretationsare based on contemporary and often transient values and standards; in an Islamicsociety these values and standards are guided by Shari’ah law and previous fiqhjudgments. Organizational factors include the degree of commitment of theorganization’s leader to ethical conduct. This commitment can be achieved through acode of ethics, policy statements, speeches and publications. Finally, individual factorsinclude stages of moral development, personal values and personality, family influence,peer influence, life experience and situational factors. The findings indicate that Islamiccode of ethics is enforceable at all times because its “Creator and Monitor is closer to manthan his jugular vein, and has perfect, eternal knowledge”. The empirical research ofHassan et al. (2008) focused on Islamic marketing ethics and their impact on customersatisfaction in the Islamic banking industry. The results revealed a positive relationshipbetween Islamic ethical behavior and all measures of customer satisfaction included inthe study.

Even though there has been a significant amount of research on the topic of ethics, thecurrent literature exhibits at least three weaknesses. First, researchers generally agreethat ethics are a multidimensional, difficult and controversial concept. However, theydiffer on what the underlying dimensions of ethics should be. Current guidelines areinsufficient in proposing the ethical dimensions that could be required by anorganization. Second, theoretical literature on ethics is extensive. Empirical research onethics has been scarce, specifically research that provides business managers withempirical evidence to help them formulate and implement effective ethical behavior.Numminen et al. (2011) highlight the fact that ethical codes have not been the focus of anextensive empirical research. Researchers are partially to blame for this dearth ofinformation, as the bulk of research fails to consider many of the practical problemsmanagers face when implementing an ethics program. However, the last two decadeshave shown an increasing interest in this area. Third, a few studies have highlighted theimpact of Islamic values on ethical behavior in the context of Islamic surroundings.More research effort is needed to study the impact of Islamic values in the context of anIslamic environment.

Based on this and our current literature search, the issue of ethics has beenprofoundly discussed in theory. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first totest the relationship between Islamic values and ethical behavior in the UAE context. Noempirical studies have thoroughly verified these critical factors considering Islamicvalues as major factors on ethical behavior in the Muslim environment. Taking intoaccount these three gaps, this research specifically addresses the issue of Islamic valuesand its relationship to ethical behavior in five Muslim universities. The rest of this paperis organized as follows. Section 2 describes the research model and hypotheses; Section3 provides a research methodology; Section 4 presents the results and data analysis;Section 5 provides research discussion and implications; and Section 6 gives conclusionsand limitations of the study and identifies opportunities for future research.

2. Research model and hypothesesFigure 1 represents the theoretical research model demonstrating the relationshipsamong the five factors and the level of ethical behavior. In this model, education andcode of ethics, new technology, teaching Islamic values, the role of religion and classawareness are linked with ethical behavior and posited as a primary influence on ethical

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behavior. The previous discussion indicates that these are some of the factors that affectethical behavior. Therefore, it may be appropriate to examine the relationship betweenthese factors and ethical behavior. As shown in Figure 1, these five factors have a directimpact on ethical behavior. Although other dimensions are of great interest – such as anethical campus environment, the importance of ethics and attitude toward cheating –they are not included due to the length of the survey and the concerns regarding theparsimony of this research. The numbers next to the lines correspond to the fivehypotheses specified in the research model. The five factors and their relevanthypotheses are discussed in the following sections.

2.1 The relationship between education and code of ethics and ethical behaviorSeveral researchers have noted that ethics teaching had disappeared from undergraduateeducation in general and higher education in particular. However, in the late 1970s, thisdisappearance started to receive significant attention from academic researchers (Hamer,2002; Callahan and Bok, 1980). Following this attention, several educational institutionshave begun incorporating ethical education into college and university curricula (Colby et al.,2003; Reuben, 2000, 1996). Most of these researchers have stressed adding the teaching ofethics into the university curriculum. Many ethical challenges related to educational andprofessional misconduct are encountered in the college/university setting (Valentine andKidwell, 2008), and recent studies suggest that universities have responded positively to thecalls of academics to add ethics education into the curriculum. In two related studies, Saxet al. (1999) studied faculty attitudes toward ethical education and Kuh (2002) studied theinfluence of colleges on character. Both studies revealed that colleges showed significantlymore interest and support than private and public institutions.

Part of an ethical education curriculum involves teaching students codes of ethics.Codes of ethics are formalized rules and standards that describe what a society expectsof its members and what a business expects of its employees. Langlois andSchlegelmilch (1990) defined codes of ethics as a statement that sets down corporateprinciples, ethics, rules of conduct, codes of practice or company philosophy withrespect to the corporation’s responsibility to employees, shareholders, consumers, the

Figure 1.Research model

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environment and the wider society external to the company. A common assumptionmade about codes of ethics (both in the past and present) is that they are tools of moralguidance, based on unchanging virtues of honesty, sacrifice and selflessness (Beth,2005). But when placed in their appropriate context, codes of ethics are dynamicdocuments that provide a unique window into the workings of inter-professionalconflicts and negotiations. The theoretical literature also provides suggestions fordeveloping teaching of codes of ethics. The understanding and use of the codes calls foradditional teaching in ethics (Numminen et al., 2011). Additional teaching in ethics canalso help to overcome any shortcomings in the codes and increase the level of ethicalbehavior (Hunt, 1997). According to the ethical behavior model presented in Figure 1,this research study proposes the following hypothesis:

H1. University students perceive that educational institutions and codes of ethicshave a positive effect on their ethical behavior.

2.2 The relationship between teaching Islamic values and ethical behaviorThe effect of teaching Islamic values and its relationship to ethics is another topic whichappears in the literature. Ethical behavior is at the heart of Islamic values. The ProphetMuhammad (Peace be upon him) remarked, “Whoever cheats us he does not belong toour community”. Islamic values support the idea of “social obligation” by believing thatall Muslims are family and it is important to help one another, e.g. by giving “zakat” inthe fasting month of every Muslim year (Asad, 1993). According to Beekun (1996),

[…] the conditions for perpetual success (or Falah) in Islam are the same for all Muslims –whether in conducting their business affairs or in carrying out daily activities in the university.

However, the concept of the Islamic ethic value has its origin in the Quran; for instance,the Quran often speaks about honesty and justice in trade, and it calls for an equitableand fair distribution of wealth in the society. Saeed et al. (2001) emphasized that Islamicteachings are deeply rooted in the principles of equity and justice in business practicesand offer a framework that creates values and elevates the standard of living of allparties involved in the exchange, while adhering to these principles and guidelines. Themoral teachings of Islam provide comprehensive ethical guidelines for the effectiveconduct and control of business practices (Abbasi et al., 1989).

Fair trade is employed to encourage a more balanced relationship and exchange betweenbusiness partners. The concepts of fairness, honesty and mutual respect for others areintrinsic in the moral teachings of Islam and so must be part of business practice too. Anindividual or organization should not accept an action or instigate a business transactionthat will cause greater damage than benefit to the community or environment. The basicprinciples of doing business from an Islamic perspective are justice, fairness and honesty.Given these considerations and according to the ethical behavior model presented in Figure1, this research study proposes the following hypothesis:

H2. University students perceive that teaching Islamic values has a (positive)appositive effect on their ethical behavior.

2.3 The relationship between the role of religion and ethical behaviorPrevious studies have looked at how socio-economic and political factors play a role inconsumer ethical positions, but few have considered the role of religion, which is a majordriver of ethics (Cornwell et al., 2005). Some researchers perceive ethics and religion as

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separate entities (Reidenbach and Robin, 1990), while others believe that, despitesecularization, many general spiritual principles and values are related to ethics(Skipper and Hyman, 1993; Jackson, 1999). As religion is a subset of culture, virtually allreligious systems serve to influence culture by providing the latent function ofstrengthening social bonds. High levels of religiosity can be indicative of a strong senseof community, belonging and ethical standards (Wiebe and Fleck, 1980). In somecountries, religion is seen as a much more important moral influence that has a majorimpact on people’s behavior. Prescott-Ezickson (2011) studied religion and ethics inhigher education and found that religion provides the foundation for moral instructions,which have a positive impact on ethical practices. In another study of religion and highereducation in Americans colleges, Sherkat (2007) found that religion provides students inhigher education with essential and career progress.

With regard to the influence of religion on ethics, however, one cannot deny theinteraction between national character and religion (Sood and Nasu, 1995). For example, asurvey of attitudes in the USA, conducted by Public Agenda (www.publicagenda.org),found that Americans equate religious beliefs with personal ethics and behavior.Seventy-six per cent of the individuals polled believed that it was bad to raise a child withoutany religion, but that it is less important which religion is involved. The bulk of research inthis area, however, has been left to business ethicists (Dalla Costa, 2000; Rosenthal andBuchholz, 2000), reflecting the strong conceptual link between religion and ethics. Theseauthors recognize the effects of religion on ethics and ethical systems, and this has becomethe major lens through which the relationships between religions and other ethics areviewed. According to the ethical behavior model presented in Figure 1, this research studyproposes the following hypothesis:

H3. University students perceive that religion plays an important role in developingethical behavior.

2.4 The relationship between new technology and ethical behaviorObviously, new technology, as well as knowledge, can be used for ethical or unethicalpurposes. In April 1995, the first international ETHICOMP conference on computerethics took place in Leicester, England, marking another milestone in the developmentof this field of research. In the case of new technology, the importance of the ethicalchallenge was acknowledged very early on, even before the power of the new technologycould be truly appreciated (Kocikowska, 2007). There are many unethical issues relatingto the new technology, such as online gambling, issues of false identity and cheating inexams. Lau et al. (2011) have investigated the impact of five factors, includingtechnology, on college students’ ethics. They found that cheating is easier when online/hybrid and when some kind of technology is used in a course. Another study byGearhart (2005) of the ethical use of technology and the Internet in research in highereducation found that “as use of technology and the internet has grown so has the needfor improving ethical behavior and supports the need for normative ethics” (p. 8). Aresearch conducted by Molnar et al. found that undergraduate students tend to thinkthat it is more tolerable for them to cheat when using IT than without using it.Furthermore, when IT is utilized, respondents perceived that it is more acceptable forthem than for others to cheat. Many students access free music and can get into serioustrouble for downloading illegally. Also, computers can be hacked and lose importantinformation, such as medical records and banking. Ethical decisions relating to new

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technology also must pay special awareness to the possibilities of the dangerous use ofnew technology. This is the bare minimum that is required to preserve a healthy balancein this technology’s assessment (Kocikowska, 2007). According to the ethical behaviormodel presented in Figure 1, this research study proposes the following hypothesis:

H4. University students believe that new technology has a negative effect on ethicalbehavior.

2.5 The relationship between class awareness and ethical behaviorEthical awareness is a necessary and integral part of ethical behavior. It is the degree towhich an individual recognizes the aspects of a situation that carry a reasonablelikelihood of moral good or wrong to other people (Zhang and Lin, 2011). In practice,Rozensher and Fergenson (1999) found from their survey of business school faculty that,although a limited amount of time seems to be devoted to covering ethics in a typicalmarketing course, the faculty tended to favor the approach of integrating ethics intoexisting courses as opposed to offering or requiring a separate course in marketingethics. In the 1980s, more attention was given to ethics, and some awareness programsbegan to offer ethics courses. Hamer (2002) in the Chronicle reported the supportprovided by two institutes to Duke University to promote trust among the students andfaculty and to make students aware of their ethical implications in the scienceprofession. The integration of ethical content continues to be the method for teachingethics in most university programs. Fry (1989) reported that university programsshowed a lack of well-defined ethics content and a lack of a systematic awareness ofethical behavior. It is not surprising, therefore, that Swider et al. (1985) found thatuniversity students felt uncomfortable and confused about their roles and taskresponsibilities in making ethical decisions. Krawczyk (1997) examined a sample of 181students enrolled in three New England programs. Program A included an ethics coursetaught by a professor of ethics; Program B integrated ethical awareness into all theorycourses; and Program C did not include ethical content in theory courses. The seniorstudents from programs A and B scored significantly higher than the senior group C inethical program. The conclusion of this study was that an ethics course or classawareness with group participation and a decision-making element significantlyfacilitated students’ development of ethical behavior. According to the ethical behaviormodel presented in Figure 1, this research study proposes the following hypothesis:

H5. University students perceive that class learning and awareness from theirlecturer have a positive effect on their ethical behavior.

3. Research methodologyThis section presents information about the research approach. First, it explains thedata collection and sample characteristics and follows this with a short note on themethodology and details regarding the measures underlying the key constructs.

3.1 Data collection, research instrument and sample characteristicsA survey methodology was used to collect data pertaining to the research hypotheses.The sample was randomly selected from five major universities in the UAE. A total of900 questionnaires were administrated under a designated representative from eachuniversity.

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After an extensive literature review, the questionnaire was developed by theresearchers. Based on the comments collected during the field study, items that were notclearly stated were revised and a complete questionnaire was developed. The field studywas used not only to identify the common problems with the design of the questionnairenot found in the pre-test but also to incorporate the respondent’s comments so that thequality of the questionnaire could be enhanced to serve the purpose of this study. Thefinal instrument used for this study was composed of five sections measuring educationand codes of ethics, teaching Islamic values, the role of religion, the influence of newtechnology and class awareness and the lecturer. All of these factors measured the levelof ethical behavior.

To increase the response rate, each targeted representative was personally contactedby telephone or e-mail regarding the research. This stimulated professional interest,improved survey participation and followed the advice of several researchers whostressed the importance of follow-up calls to those who did not return a questionnaire.Excluding questionnaires with incomplete data resulted in a final sample of 500anonymous respondents covering the five educational institutions; this was a responserate of 55.5 per cent. The rationale for selecting the five educational institutions was tocreate a diverse sample that would make generalizing the results easier. The overalldistribution from each institution is as follows: University of Sharjah-15 per cent, AbuDhabi University-13.33 per cent, Skyline University College-10.55 per cent, HigherCollege of Technology – 7.77 per cent and Community College – 8.88 per cent. Asummary of the research sample is presented in Table I.

3.2 Measures underlying key constructs3.2.1 Education and code of ethics (ED_EBH). A five-item instrument using a five-pointscale was designed to measure the impact of education and codes of ethics on ethicalbehavior with references (Lau et al., 2011; Ozan et al., 2010; Hamer, 2002). TheEDU_ETHI items were rated based on the respondent’s opinion with end points of“strongly disagree” (1) and “strongly agree” (5). The results for EFA loadings andinternal reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s �) for EDU_ETHI dimension are presentedin Appendix.

3.2.2 Teaching Islamic values (IS_V_ETB). A five-item instrument using a five-pointscale was designed to measure the impact of teaching Islamic values on ethical behaviorwith references (Kocikowska, 2007; Zhang and Ling, 2011; Beekun, 1996). The

Table I.The response rate by

university

Number Educational institutionTotal

survey

Percentageof totalsurvey

Totalresponse

Unusableresponse

Usableresponse

Percentageof usableresponse

1 University of Sharjah 300 33.33 200 15 185 20.52 Abu Dhabi University 150 16.66 75 5 70 7.73 Skyline University College 160 17.78 110 15 95 10.554 Higher College of

Technology150 16.67 75 5 70 7.77

5 American University ofSharjah

140 15.55 90 10 80 8.88

Total 900 100 550 50 500 55.5

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ISLAM_VA items were rated based on the respondent’s opinion with end points of“strongly disagree” (1) and “strongly agree” (5). The results for EFA loadings andinternal reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s �) for ISLAM_VA dimension are presentedin Appendix.

3.2.3 Role of religion (REL_ETB). A five-item instrument using a five-point scale wasdesigned to measure the impact of religion on ethical behavior with references (DallaCosta, 2000; Lantos, 2002). The ROLE_RE items were rated based on the respondent’sopinion with end points of “strongly disagree” (1) and “strongly agree” (5). The resultsfor EFA loadings and internal reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s �) for ROLE_REdimension are presented in Appendix.

3.2.4 Role of new technology (NEW_TE_ETB). A five-item instrument using afive-point scale was designed to measure the impact of new technology on ethicalbehavior with references (Lau et al., 2011; Kocikowska, 2007; Gearhart, 2005). TheNEW_TECH items were rated based on the respondent’s opinion with end points of“strongly disagree” (1) and “strongly agree” (5). The results for EFA loadings andinternal reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s �) for NEW_TECH dimension are presentedin Appendix.

3.2.5 Class awareness and lecturer (CL_AW_ETB). A five-item instrument using afive-point scale was designed to measure the impact of class awareness and lecturerresponsibility on ethical behavior with references (Lantos, 2002; Hamer, 2002). TheCLASS_AW items were rated based on the respondent’s opinion with end points of“strongly disagree” (1) and “strongly agree” (5). The results for EFA loadings andinternal reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s �) for CLASS_AW dimension are presentedin Appendix.

3.2.6 Ethical behavior (ETH_BEHA). A four-item instrument using a five-point scalewas designed to measure the ethical behavior with references (Kocikowska, 2007;Monson and Bock, 2000; Hamer, 2002). The ETH_BEHA items were rated based on therespondent’s opinion with end points of “strongly disagree” (1) and “strongly agree” (5).The results for EFA loadings and internal reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s �) forETH_BEHA dimension are presented in Appendix.

3.3 Structural model of ethical behaviorThe best structure equation model (SEM) obtained from the LISREL softwareaccepted for the study is illustrated in Figure 2, with a structural model determiningthe significance of the relationships between the independent and dependent variables.The SEM is a multivariate analysis methodology for empirically examining sets ofrelationships represented in the form of linear causal models (Joreskog and Sorbom, 2001).

3.4 Model identificationBefore analyzing the research structural model, it is important to check the modelidentification to obtain the correct estimate of the parameter values. The SEM isoveridentified with 26 observed variables – there are (29 � 30)/2 � 435 observations.The number of parameters to be estimated is 58, including the variances of 29 variables(25 exogenous and 4 indigenous variables that are the disturbance), 29 direct loading oneach latent variable and a total of five direct effects. Furthermore, ten error co-varianceswere set to free. Thus, the model degrees of freedom (df) are 435 � 58 � 10 � 5 � 362(see Figure 2, df � 362). Because the number of observations is greater than the number

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of parameters to be estimated, we conclude that the ethical behavior model isoveridentified and can be tested statistically.

3.5 Model goodness of fitThe literature mentions a variety of goodness-of-fit statistics to check the fitness of themodel with the data. The three most commonly used indices are root mean square errorof approximation (RMSEA), comparative fit index (CFI) and normed fit index (NFI).Another goodness-of-fit statistic is chi-square, which was used in many studies but hassevere limitations because it is affected by the size of the data; when the data go beyond200 cases, it usually gives a significant result. The best SEM obtained from the LISRELsoftware accepted for the research model is illustrated in Figure 2, with the structuralmodel determining the significance of the relationships between the independent anddependent variables. The research model presented in Figure 2 shows a good fit ofeducation and codes of ethics, teaching Islamic values, the role of religion, the influenceof new technology, class awareness and ethical behavior to the empirical data. Theobserved chi-square was �2 � 465.22, df � 362, p-value � 0.0002 and RMSEA � 0.024.Generally, a rule of thumb is that RMSEA � 0.05 indicates close approximate fit, and

Figure 2.Structural model of ethical

behavior

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values between 0.05 and 0.08 suggest a reasonable error of approximation (GFI � 0.99,AGFI � 0.93, NFI � 0.98, NNFI � 0.97 and CFI � 0.99); these all represent a good fit(Bentler and Bonett, 1980).

4. Results and data analysisTo test hypotheses H1, H2, H3, H4 and H5, the regression results and the standardizedpath coefficients representing the direct effects of each factor dimensions EDU_ETHI,ISLAM_VA, ROLE_RE, NEW_TECH and CLASS_AW with ETH_BEHA are shown inTable II. For hypothesis H1, the path coefficient for EDU_ETHI and ETH_BEHA was0.62, significant at the 1 per cent level and positively correlated. EDU_ETHI was asignificant predictor of ETH_BEHA. The positive sign of this coefficient indicates thatEDU_ETHI has a positive impact on ETH_BEHA. This means that when EDU_ETHIincreases by one unit, ETH_BEHA will be emphasized by the university graduates by 62per cent. This is consistent with the findings reported by Ling (2011) and Stead and Miller(1988). The importance for teaching and integrating ethics into the business curriculumis well recognized in the literature (Ling, 2011; Stead and Miller, 1988). Likewise, theAmerican Association of Collegiate Schools of Business (1984-1985; AACSB) explicitlyrecommended the inclusion of ethics and society in the business school curriculum.

For hypothesis H2, the path coefficient for ISLAM_VA and ETH_BEHA was 0.33; it wassignificant at the 1-per cent level and positively correlated. Also, ISLAM_VA was a secondsignificant predictor of ETH_BEHA after teaching ethics. This means that whenISLAM_VA increases by one unit, ETH_BEHA will be emphasized by the universitygraduates by 33 per cent. In other words, this means that an increase in teaching studentsIslamic values will have a direct and significant increase in their ethical behavior.

For hypothesis H3, the path coefficient for ROLE_RE and ETH_BEHA was 0.19; itwas significant at the 1-per cent level and positively correlated. This is not a surprisingresult. Several researchers have supported the notion of ethical behavior influenced byreligion. One of the most classic and comprehensive works involving ethics wasconducted by Baumhart (1968). His primary interest was in determining how managersview ethics in general and, more specifically, such items as lay-offs, dishonesty,competition and job pressures. His research findings were derived from three projects:20 unstructured interviews plus a standardized questionnaire (N � 100), a 6-page,29-question form mailed to a systematic sample of 5,000 subscribers to the HarvardBusiness Review (N � 1,512) and personal-focused interviews with 100 businessmen. Aswould be expected, the respondents were typically better educated, more affluent and of

Table II.Direct effects ofEDU_ETHI, SLAM_VA,ROLE_RE, NEW_TECHand CLASS_AW onETH_BEHA

Hypotheses relationship

Path coefficient Standard error t-statisticsEthical behavior(ETH_BEHA)

H1 EDU_ETHI 0.62** (0.15) 4.13H2 SLAM_VA 0.33** (0.10) 3.33H3 ROLE_RE 0.19** (0.08) 2.37H4 NEW_TECH �0.21* (�0.11) 1.90H5 CLASS_AW 0.27** (0.13) 2.07

Notes: * , and ** results are significant 1 per cent level

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a higher managerial level than the average population. When asked how managersdefine ethics, exactly one-half of the respondents replied in terms of “what my feelingstell me is right”. In other words, the managers were reacting to their conscience. Another43 per cent replied in accordance with their religious beliefs. However, for hypothesisH4, the path coefficient for NEW_TECH and ETH_BEHA was � 0.21; it was significantat the 1-per cent level and negatively correlated. The findings regard the negativecorrelation between new technology and ethical behavior, also supported by previousempirical findings. For instance, Lau et al. (2011) reported the negative effect oftechnology on ethical behavior. Lau et al. (2011) reported that more than half of therespondents agreed that it is easier to cheat in an online/hybrid class and whentechnology is involved. Finally, hypothesis H5, the path coefficient for CLASS_AW andETH_BEHA, was 0.27; it was significant at the 1-per cent level and positively correlated.This hypothesis is closely related to hypothesis H1, which is associated with ethicaleducation. This emphasizes the importance of ethics either in formal education or atleast by awareness during regular class.

5. Discussion and implicationsThe results of this study underline that teaching ethics and teaching Islamic values arethe two major predictors of inspiring ethical behavior in students. This finding can beconsidered as a major contribution of this study. These results revealed that improvingethical behavior requires enhancing both ethical education and Islamic values.Regarding the significant relationship among ethics education, Islamic values, the roleof religion and class awareness, these results are consistent with some previous studies(Abboushi, 1990; Ali et al., 1995b). Also, with respect to the negative relationshipbetween new technology and ethical behavior, the evidence reported by this study isalso consistent with the results of Kocikowska, 2007 and Lau et al., 2011.

The results of this study may have some implications for universities and colleges toelevate the level of ethical behavior of their students. For instance, the findings that theteaching of ethics and of Islamic values positively impacted the relationship with ethicalbehavior may influence those institutional educations to consider integrating ethicscourses and Islamic values in their curricula. To enhance the levels of ethical behavior,efforts should be directed first toward improving the syllabus of both business ethics, ingeneral, and support of Islamic values. In practice, the development of Islamic values inany society may be a complex matter linked to custom, family tradition, communityleadership, literature and individual judgment, and many Muslims find it difficult totalk about ethics outside the context of religion. In fact, ethics in Islam is generallyunderstood as a list of rules, duties and responsibilities whose authority derives directlyfrom the Quran and the hadıth (sayings and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad andhis companions). According to Halstead (2007), in the context of Islamic teaching andpractice, being an ethical educator involves two tasks:

(1) giving children and young people the knowledge of what they should and shouldnot do; and

(2) giving them the motivation or the will to behave ethically.

Furthermore, the finding emphasizes the importance of religions and class awareness ininfluencing ethical behavior. The problem is that society is attempting to instill ethicswithout religion and, until recently, without moral values (Lantos, 2002). This study

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emphasizes the importance of religion in inspiring ethical behavior. Here, we see thatalthough religion has some effect on ethical positions, it is not a great effect. As mostreligions believe in the value and dignity of others, it is important that educationalinstitutions help to enter into and encourage societal integration. This will enhancerelationships and take care of trust among those involved, and they will reciprocate withloyalty to the businesses. On the other hand, student awareness scored higher thanreligion. This indicates the importance of class awareness in increasing the level ofethical behavior among students. Literature also supported the importance of classawareness in elevating the level of ethical behavior. According to Jackson (2006), thismeans “infusing ethics awareness into all areas of business to remain relevant to the realworld, motivate students, and keep up with innovations”. Furthermore, Lindle (1996)presented a methodology for integrating ethics and raising ethical awareness amonguniversity students. The methodology focuses on the different levels of analysis that canbe used to understand ethical behavior in organizations. The author concluded that aclear challenge has been issued by the general public that students need to have betterethical awareness for business decisions.

Relating to the new technology, the results indicate that the presence of technologymay reduce ethical behavior among students. In other words, new technology does playan important role in academic cheating. The implication of this result is that educationalinstitutions should teach ethics in an electronic age by stressing that educationalinstitutions will not be able to survive in the 21st century with the ethics of the 20thcentury. This also implies that changing to the new technology has had its effect on theethics, or a lack thereof, of students, and there is a need to teach ethical behavior and theproper way to use new technology to the students at the UAE universities.

6. Conclusions, limitations and further researchIn conclusion, our study extends the literature in several ways. The statistical analysesof the results have revealed the emergence of teaching ethical issues in education ingeneral, as well as teaching Islamic values in particular. The finding related to Islamicvalues is obviously limited to Islamic surroundings. Our study is the first to provide anin-depth investigation of 500 students from the environment of Islamic universities.Using data collected from five major universities in the UAE, we empirically proved theimportance of teaching ethics and Islamic values in educational institutions. This studyhas, therefore, provided additional evidence verifying that the conceptual model is animportant process of empirical research and that further international studies on thedimensions of ethical behavior are needed. While this study increases ourunderstanding of ethical issues, it is our hope that it will also motivate future research.

Although we believe that this study takes a step toward better understanding anddevelopment of ethical perception dimensions, these can certainly be improved. Onepossible limitation of this study is the measures that were used for measuring ethicsdimensions. Because there is no general agreement in the literature on how to measurethis construct, we believe that it is possible to build upon the measures used in this studyto develop adequate ethics measures. The research study was limited to the UAEuniversities. It will be very interesting to see if there are regional variations such as inAsia, Middle East, Europe and the USA, when compared to the findings of this researchstudy. Another limitation of this study is related to the size of the sample and the use ofstudents as respondents. It is suggested that further research needs to be undertaken

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using a larger sample size and employing regular employees. Though the sample in thestudy represents several universities, the research study focused only on smalluniversities in the UAE. We recommend that users be careful in generalizing thefindings of this study to larger educational institutions, which could be included infuture research endeavors.

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AppendixLISREL measurement results are presented in Table AI.

Corresponding authorAlaa-Aldin Abdul Rahim A. Al Athmay can be contacted at: aathmay@sharjah.ac.ae

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Table AI.LISREL measurementresults

Constructs Items LoadingsStandard

error t-statistics �

Education and code of ethics (EDU_ETHI) EDU_ETH1 0.47 (0.098) 5.34 0.845EDU_ETH2 0.40 (0.095) 6.74EDU_ETH3 0.45 0.095) 7.11EDU_ETH4 0.52 (0.097) 5.57EDU_ETH5 0.41 (0.098) 5.34

Teaching Islamic values (ISLAM_VA) TE_IS_VA1 0.44 (0.085) 5.17 0.768TE_IS_VA2 0.46 (0.092) 5.00TE_IS_VA3 0.56 (0.084) 6.66TE_IS_VA4 0.62 (0.092) 6.74TE_IS_VA5 0.61 (0.098) 6.22

Role of religion (ROLE_RE) RO_REL1 0.46 0.10) 4.60 0.905RO_REL2 0.68 (0.10) 6.80RO_REL3 0.53 (0.10) 5.30RO_REL4 0.74 (0.099) 7.47RO_REL5 0.52 (0.10) 5.20

New technology (NEW_TECH) NEW_TEC1 0.43 (0.14) 3.07 0.877NEW_TEC2 0.51 (0.15) 3.4NEW_TEC3 0.44 (0.15) 2.93NEW_TEC4 0.56 (0.15) 3.73NEW_TEC5 0.71 (0.14) 5.07

Class awareness and lecturer(CLASS_AW)

CLASS_AW1 0.69 (0.099) 6.96 0.767CLASS_AW2 0.59 (0.14) 4.21CLASS_AW3 0.65 (0.15) 4.33CLASS_AW4 0.61 (0.13) 4.69CLASS_AW5 0.52 (0.098) 5.30

Ethical behavior (ETH_BEHA) ETH_BEH1 0.67 (0.13) 5.15 0.744ETH_BEH2 0.53 (0.14) 3.78ETH_BEH3 0.59 (0.098) 6.02ETH_BEH4 0.58 (0.098) 5.92

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