Business Ethics in Action

Welcome

Date: 19 January 2017

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Business Ethics in Action
Introductions
• Sanjiv Sachdev (Module Leader)
sanjiv.sachdev@uwl.ac.uk
• Vivek Chitran (Module Tutor)
vivek.chitran@uwl.ac.uk

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Business Ethics in Action
Course Overview
Corporate Responsibility is concerned with developing an
understanding of;
• subject areas of business ethics, corporate governance
and social responsibility
• deals with the issues raised for achieving effective
corporate performance
• organisation’s ability to manage values and beliefs
• formulate and apply norms and codes of ethical behaviour
to business operations and conduct

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Business Ethics in Action
Aim of the Module
• Understand the main conceptual frameworks that inform
ethical judgment.
• Enhance a contemporary outlook of ‘ethical’ debates that
surround the external and internal environments of
organisations.
• Develop a set of practical skills necessary to identify and
discuss ethical business dilemmas.
• Foster learning through discussing ethical behaviours.

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Business Ethics in Action
Learning Outcomes
1. Critically analyse the context of different sectors in which companies
operate and identify the main ethical issues of each particular industry.
2. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the complex
philosophical, moral and cultural concepts underpinning business
ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability.
3. Apply expertise to problem solving of contemporary ethical challenges
and to be able to implement tools such as ethical codes, policies and
the design of ethical training programmes.
4. Show evidence of critical understanding of the impact of business
ethics on different stakeholders and the implications for corporate
governance.
5. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the main virtues of a leader and
in particular about the role of prudence in decision-making.
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Business Ethics in Action
 Study Themes

Theme 1: The role of Ethics in Business legality, morality and beliefs (bribery, ‘pseudo-bribery’
co-op/green). The importance of trust in organisations.
Theme 2: Consequences of human actions. Decision making process. Triple Font theory.
Theme 3: Ethical judgement and evaluation of decisions. Role of Normative theories and
models.
Theme 4:. Understanding and explaining ethical decisions. Role of descriptive theories. Individual
and situational factors that influence decisions.

Theme 5: Wisdom in leading organisation. Ethical leadership. Virtue ethics. Role of prudence
and main virtues of a leader.
Theme 6: Organisational Ethics. Stakeholders. Managing Business Ethics. Corporate
governance. Ethical codes. Ethical training programmes.

Theme 7: Human work. Employees as stakeholders. Ethical issues in the workplace.

Theme 8: Corporate Social Responsibility. Non-profit sector. Corporate volunteering. Social
enterprises.
Theme 9: Frequent ethical issues in Business.

Theme 10: Marketing ethics. Ethical consumption. Sustainable consumption.

Theme 11: Sustainability. Environmental business ethics.

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Learning Resources
ESSENTIAL READING
• Mele D. (2009). Business Ethics in Action. Palgrave.

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Business Ethics in Action
Learning Resources
OTHER READINGS
• Beauchamp, T. Bowie, N. and Arnold, D. (2009) Ethical theory & Business Pearson
• Crane, A. and Matten, D. (2010) Business Ethics Oxford
• Fisher, C. and Lovell, A. (2009) Business Ethics and Values Prentice Hall
• Mallin, C. (2010) Corporate Governance (CG) Oxford
• Tricker, B. (2012) Corporate Governance Oxford
• Chryssides, G. and Kaler, J. (1999) “Essentials of Business Ethics” McGraw Hill
• De George, R. T. (2006) Business Ethics (6th Edition) Pearson
• Dienhart, J. W. (2000) Business, Institutions, and Ethics OUP
• McIntosh, M. et al (2003) Living Corporate Citizenship Prentice Hall
• Post, J., Lawrence, A. and Weber, J. (2005) Business & Society McGraw Hill
• Wicks, A., Freeman, R., Werhane, P. and Martin, K. (2010) Business Ethics Prentice Hall
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Business Ethics in Action
Learning Resources
ELECTRONIC SOURCES
• www.ibe.org.uk - Institute of Business Ethics
• www.eoa.org - Ethics Officers Association
• www.sustainability.co.uk - Company that developed ‘triple bottom line’
methodology
• www.worldbank.org - The World Bank
• www.weforum - World Economic Forum
• www.bsr.org - Business for Social Responsibility
• www.wto.org - World Trade Organization
• www.wtowatch.org - NGO oversight group
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Business Ethics in Action
Assessment

• Assessment for the module consists of coursework

weighted at 50% and a final assignment weighted at 50%.
• The pass mark for the module is 50%.
• Overall marks below 25% will require the student to re-
enrol.

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Business Ethics in Action
Assessment 1
• Identify and critically analyse the ethical issues confronting a business sector from list A. The analysis
should apply normative theories and provide policy recommendations.
• The assessment has two parts:
a) An ‘in class’ presentation outlining the scope and focus of intended review. This is not awarded
module marks, but must be approved by the module tutor(s) before progressing to the written
report.
b) A written report.
List A
Select a sector from the following:
• Car manufacturing;
• Financial sector and banking;
• Consultancy;
• Hospitality and Restaurants;
• Mass media;
• Food retailers (supermarkets);
• Pharmaceutical.

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Business Ethics in Action
Assessment 1

• Individual coursework
• Weighting: 50%
• Word count: 2,000
• Submission: Week 9 (16th March 2017) via
Turnitin

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Business Ethics in Action
Assessment 2
• The assessment has two parts:
a) A video presentation outlining the content of the ethical audit. Each
video should be a maximum of five minutes and constitutes 10% of
the final mark.
b) A written report.
• You are a group of ethical consultants. You are required to prepare
an ‘ethical audit’ of an organisation with which you are familiar.
This entails a critical evaluation of TWO of the following:
1. The organisations approach to Corporate Governance.
2. The organisations approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
3. A critical appraisal of the organisations systems and processes for the
management of Business Ethics.
4. The organisations approach to Sustainability.
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Business Ethics in Action
Assessment 2

• Coursework (group work: maximum of four students in

each group)
• Weighting: 50%
• Word count: 2,000
• Submission: Week 12 (6th April 2017) via Turnitin

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Business Ethics in Action
 Questions and Answers

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Business Ethics in Action
 Rebuilding Trust

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Business Ethics in Action