Using challenge course activities to teach organizational ethics

Few learning experiences give students immediate feedback on ethical and unethical behaviors and provide opportunities to repeatedly practice effective behaviors. This article describes how the authors have used challenge course activities to stimulate students to observe their own and others’ ethical and unethical behaviors. Specifically, these exercises are used to (a) increase student engagement; (b) illustrate how culture emerges, particularly ethical or unethical norms; (c) generate discussion of pressures that lead to unethical behavior; (d) offer suggestions for creating groups with ethical norms; (e) develop students’ abilities to apply concepts and analyze behavior; and (f) increase student retention of organizational ethics concepts.