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Ethics vs. IT Ethics: Do Undergraduate Students Perceive a Difference?

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Abstract

Do undergraduate students perceive that it is more acceptable to ‹cheat’ using information technology (IT) than it is to cheat without the use of IT? Do business discipline-related majors cheat more than non-business discipline-related majors? Do undergraduate students perceive it to be more acceptable for them personally to cheat than for others to cheat? Questionnaires were administered to undergraduate students at five geographical academic locations in the spring, 2006 and fall 2006 and spring, 2007. A total of 708 usable questionnaires were returned including 532 from students majoring in business-related disciplines and 139 from students majoring in non-business related disciplines (37 were undecided). It appears that in terms of intellectual property violations, undergraduate students in general find cheating using IT more acceptable than cheating without the use of IT. It also appears that undergraduate students perceive that it is relatively more acceptable for them to personally cheat when using IT than for others to cheat when using IT, although this is reversed when IT is not involved. No significant differences on these issues were found between undergraduate students having business discipline-related majors and those having non-business discipline-related majors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Business Administration, St. Norbert College, 100 Grant St, DePere, WI, 54115, U.S.A.

    Kathleen K. Molnar

  2. Department of MSIS, William S. Spears School of Business Administration, Oklahoma State University, 406 Business Building, Stillwater, OK, 74078, U.S.A.

    Marilyn G. Kletke

  3. Department of MSIS, William S. Spears School of Business Administration, Oklahoma State University, 406 Business Building, Stillwater, OK, 74078, U.S.A.

    Jongsawas Chongwatpol

Authors
  1. Kathleen K. Molnar
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  2. Marilyn G. Kletke
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  3. Jongsawas Chongwatpol
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Correspondence to Kathleen K. Molnar.

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Molnar, K.K., Kletke, M.G. & Chongwatpol, J. Ethics vs. IT Ethics: Do Undergraduate Students Perceive a Difference?. J Bus Ethics 83, 657–671 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9646-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-007-9646-3

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