Teaching Business Ethics

1. Teaching Business Ethics Laura Pinto

2. Ethics: Context in Contemporary Business • 85% of Canadian organizations surveyed by KPMG practice formal ethical standards • Approximately 75% of major U.S. corporations are actively trying to build ethics into their organizations (Harvard Business Review)

3. “Like Nailing Jell-o to a Wall” • What is business ethics? • The discipline of applying ethical principals to solve complex moral dilemmas • An area that requires reasoning and judgment based on individuals’ principals and beliefs in making choices that balance self-interest against social claims and responsibilities

4. Why Practice Ethics? • To anticipate laws and the market in order to: • Forestall “punitive social regulation” • Prevent fraud or other organizational wrongdoing • Long-term market rewards through positive reputation • To increase employee morale and productivity • Because business is part of the social system in which we all must live

5. What Do Ethical Corporations Do? • Obey laws • Adopt codes of ethics that focus on stakeholder interest over shareholder interest • Participate in socially responsible initiatives

6. Examples • Bank of Montreal • The Body Shop

7. Why Teach Ethics? • To develop students’ critical thinking skills by: • Stimulating moral investigation • Analysing key concepts • Dealing with ambiguity and disagreement • Prepare students for issues they will face in business careers • Stimulate students’ sense of social responsibility

8. Levels of Business Ethics • Individual • Organizational • Association • Societal • International

9. Stakeholders • Customers • Employees and labour unions • Individual citizens • Shareholders • Environment • Government

10. Ethical Obligation Vs. Legal Obligation • Because something is legal, it does not necessary make it ethical, and vice-versa • Being ethical implies more than simply complying with existing laws

11. Ethics Vs. Social Responsibility • Social responsibility is best described as a subset of ethics • Social responsibility represents the duties of an individual or organization to be accountable for its decisions

12. Ethical Frameworks • Two general categories of reasoning used to solve ethical dilemmas -- deontology and utilitarianism • Arguments and decisions can be made by using either or a combination of both

13. Deontology • Value-based • Using personal or individual beliefs of right and wrong to solve and ethical dilemma • Follows the logic that people ought to do what they believe is right, and refrain from doing what they believe is wrong • Does not take consequences or long-term outcomes into account

14. Utilitarianism • Outcome-based • Using the potential outcome of an action to solve and ethical dilemma • Follows the logic that people ought to base their decisions on the action that will result in the greatest good for the greatest number • Does not take personal beliefs or values into account

15. Links to Courses • Information Technology • Introduction to Business • Science • Law • International Business • Marketing • Administrative Studies

16. Teaching Methods • Vary teaching methods based on: • Age of students • Ability of students • Topic covered • Effective strategies include: • Case studies • Literature • Role play • Investigation

17. Case Studies • Provide real-life or simulated situations to which students can apply their knowledge • Can be constructed by teachers and students using internet web sites and newspaper/magazine articles

18. Literature • Using literature to provide a context for business ethics is a method rapidly gaining popularity in universities • Provides a richer context in which students experience more creative thought • The Lorax(Dr. Suess) is an example of literature that can be used with students of all ages

19. Role Play • Builds on case studies and literature • Allows students to experience and internalize theory and situations • Takes form of debate or dramatization • Students play the role of either ethicist or manager in working through an ethical dilemma

20. Investigation • Applies authentic learning to the ethics curriculum • Students examine local businesses and rate them for the degree to which they practice ethics • Alternately, students examine companies from which they purchase goods or services using the internet and periodicals

21. Let’s Look at an Ethical Dilemma ….

22. Internet Resources • Business Ethics Links www.ethics.ubc.ca/resources/business/ • Canadian Centre for Ethics & Corporate Policy www.ethicscentre.com • Online Journal of Ethics www.depaul.edu/ethics/gerde.htm • Ethics in Action www.ethicsinaction.com • KPMG Canada Ethics & Integrity Service www.kpmg.ca/ethics/home.htm

23. Print Resources • Business Ethics Magazine • Business Ethics: A Managerial Stakeholder Approach (Joseph W. Weiss, Wadsworth: Belmont, CA, 1994) • Practical Ethics (Gordon Shea, AMA Membership Publications: New York, 1988) • Business and Society: Ethics, Government, and the World Economy (Alfred A. Marcus, Irwin: New York, 1993)

24. Conclusion • There are always those who think they know what is your responsibility better than you do. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson