Pioneering in teaching business ethics: the case of management accounting in universities in Palestine

A large proportion of students in Palestinian higher education now study business administration and management accounting. Although Palestinian universities might be expected to aim to produce well-rounded graduates, there has been perception that commerce faculties have tended to take narrow view of business administration studies, paying little attention to ethical issues. A significant majority of management accounting lecturers does not claim to address ethical issues in their teaching, though personal interest and a belief in the importance of teaching ethics are found to be profound. When they do address ethical issues, they tend to express stronger beliefs in the responsibility and the ability of universities to improve the ethical attitudes and behavior of their students. A telephone-postal survey was therefore conducted to investigate the teaching of business ethics at the undergraduate level in Palestine. Although provision is still limited, signs of growth are not evident, with no significant proportion of commerce faculties offering at least some business ethics teaching, either within a “mainstream” subject or as a separate module. This provision would appear to be a topic worthy of future in management accounting with the supply of suitably qualified lecturers in the Palestinian universities who reflect primarily a true mirror image of Arab universities.