A growing concern about ethical behavior in business suggests that profes
sional communicators, often major players in the business community, ought
to be aware of the ethical dimensions of their writing. Teachers can prepare fu
ture professional communicators to consider the ethical dimension of their
writing activities by using Lawrence Kohlberg's hierarchy of moral develop
ment. When Kohlberg's hierarchy is applied to fictional business settings, stu
dents have the opportunity to investigate the relationship between action
morality and agent morality. This type of investigation is an essential part of
teaching professional communication because the written language used in
business transmits values.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bear, George G., and Herbert C. Richards . "Moral Reasoning and Conduct Problems in the Classroom." Journal of Educational Psychology73.5 (1981): 664-70.
2.
Buchholz, Rogene A.Business Environment and Public Policy: Implications for Management and Strategy Formulation. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1986.
3.
Conroy, Anne R., and John K. Burton. "The Trouble with Kohlberg: A Critique." The Educational Forum45.1 (1980): 43-55.
4.
Doheny-Farina, Stephen. "Legal and Ethical Aspects of Technical Communication : A Special Issue ." IEEE Transactions on Professional CommunicationPC-30.3 (1987): 119-20.
5.
Dunfee, Thomas W.Integrating Ethics into the MBA Core Curriculum. Unpublished report. Trustees of the U of Pennsylvania, 1986.
6.
Garver, Eugene. "Teaching Writing and Teaching Virtue." The Journal of Business Communication22.1 ( 1985): 51-73.
7.
Girill, T.R. "Technical Communication and Ethics." Technical Communication34.3 (1987): 178-79.
8.
Golen, Steven, Celeste Powers, and M. Agnes Titkemeyer . "How to Teach Ethics in a Business Communication Class—Committee Report of the 1983 Teaching Methodology and Concepts Committee, Subcommittee 1." The Journal of Business Communication21.1 (1985): 75-83.
9.
Hashimoto, I. "Persuasion as Ethical Argument." Rhetoric Review4.1 (1985): 46-53.
10.
Hersh, Richard H., John P. Miller, and Glen D.Fielding. Models of Moral Education: An Appraisal. New York: Longman, 1980.
11.
Hoffman, W. Michael. "Developing the Ethical Corporation." Bell Atlantic Quarterly3.1 (1986): 31-41.
12.
Hysom, John L., and William J.Bolce. Business and Its Environment. St. Paul: West, 1983.
13.
Johnson, Conrad D. "The Morally Educated Person in a Pluralistic Society." Educational Theory31.3-4 ( 1981): 237-50.
14.
Kohlberg, Lawrence.The Philosophy of Moral Development: Moral Stages and the Idea ofJustice. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1981 . Vol. 1 of Essays on Moral Development . 2 vols. 1981-83.
15.
___. "Moral Education: A Response to Thomas Sobol." Educational Leadership38.1 (1980): 19-23.
16.
Krohn, Franklin B. "A General Semantics Approach to Teaching Business Ethics." The Journal of Business Communication22.3 (1985): 59-66.
17.
Luthans, Fred, Richard M. Hodgetts, and Kenneth R.Thompson. Social Issues in Business: Strategic and Public Policy Perspectives . 5th ed. New York: Macmillan, 1987.
18.
Oldenquist, Andrew, ed. Readings in Moral Philosophy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin , 1955.
19.
Parsons, Gerald M. "Ethical Factors Influencing Curriculum Design and Instruction in Technical Communication." IEEE Transactions on Professional CommunicationPC-30.3 (1987): 202-07.
20.
Readence, John E., David W. Moore, and Sharon Arthur Moore . "Kohlberg in the classroom: Responding to literature ." Journal of Reading26.2 (1982): 104-08.
21.
Rentz, Kathryn C., and Mary Beth Debs. "Language and Corporate Values: Teaching Ethics in Business Writing Courses." The Journal of Business Communication24.3 (1987): 37-48.
22.
Speck, Bruce W. "A Simulated Approach to Business Writing." The ABCA Bulletin46.4 (1983): 38-41.
23.
Velasquez, Manuel G.Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1982.
24.
Wagner, Barbara A., and Barbara Novak. "Morality Reasoning Among High School Students." The Clearing House55.2 (1981 ): 73-79.
25.
Wahrman, Israel S. "The Relationship of Dogmatism, Religious Affiliation, and Moral Judgment Development." The Journal of Psychology108, first half (1981): 151-54.
26.
Walker, Lawrence J. "The Sequentiality of Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development." Child Development53.5 (1982 ): 1330-36.
27.
Welty, William M. "Ethics and Business: Do We Need to Build a New Foundation?" Business and Its Environment: Incidental Papers. New York: Pace and Pace, n.d.
28.
Wilson, Thomas C."Schools and Moral Development: Interpersonal Relations, Behavior, and Organizational Change." Group and Organizational Studies6.3 (1981): 323-33.
