Dr. Sean Valentine, Professor and Chair in the Middleton School of Entrepreneurship & Management, research presented at the Dr. Sean Valentine, Professor and Chair in the Middleton School of Entrepreneurship & Management, research presented at the Symposium on Sustainability in Executive Business Education Programmes

Research Highlight: Dr. Sean Valentine, Professor and Chair in the Middleton School of Entrepreneurship & Management, research presented at the Symposium on Sustainability in Executive Business Education Programmes, Salford Business School Salford, UK, December 4-5, 2025.

Conference: Symposium on Sustainability in Executive Business Education Programmes, Salford Business School Salford, UK, December 4-5, 2025
Title: “Ethics Training and Codes as Executive Business Education Programs that Enhance Employee’s Perceptions of Organizational Sustainability”
Authors: Sean Valentine (University of North Dakota)

Abstract:
Employers recognize the importance of promoting ethical, socially responsible, and sustainable business practices that positively impact internal and external stakeholders. Such activities can include focusing on local economic development and important social issues, promoting environmental causes, and building a strong sense of sustainable purpose and strategic direction. This study explores employers’ use of ethics training and codes, key focal points of executive education in business, to enhance employees’ perceptions of their organization’s sustainability efforts. Using a self-report questionnaire containing multiple indicators of sustainability and organizational ethics and employing convenience and snowball sampling approaches, information was collected from individuals working for organizations representing multiple for-profit and nonprofit sectors. The results indicate that individuals’ perceptions of organizational sustainability are stronger in companies that 1) offered ethics training that teaches proper work conduct in the organization and 2) shared an ethics code that governs work conduct in the organization. The practical implications for the management of executive business education programs, primarily those developed internally in organizations to enhance employee ethics, will be discussed. The limitations of this research and multiple suggestions for future research will also be presented.