ETH 501: Making Ethical Management Decisions

Overview

Can a corporation have a conscience? Should it? Ethics has been called the soft side of business, but in fact, the hardest and most painful questions you will ever face are probably ethical ones. Why? Ethical questions involve choices and the weighing of consequences and responsibilities –not an easy discernment process. Further, business ethics involves choosing the best response to a gray situation among different legal choices.

This course will feature the EthicsGame: Core Theory™, a web-based simulation that incorporates four traditional ethical theories:

• Kant – Rights and Responsibilities
• Mill – Results
• Rawls – Relationships
• MacIntyre – Reputation

These theories are applied to actual business scenarios within the game so students will have both an understanding of ethics and the decision-making processes in the real world.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Recognize the predominant ethical theories which have affected business in a historical and cultural context
• Demonstrate critical thinking skills required for ethical analysis and problem solving
• Integrate ethical theory with work-force policy application while utilizing a solid decision-making process in order to be an ethical and effective member of the business community
• Identify ethical solutions to difficult and diverse situations
• Evaluate ethical models with an understanding of their global, cultural, economic, and political contexts.
• Articulate a personal and organizational code of ethics

Course Requirements

The materials for this class must be purchased through the JIU bookstore, MBS Direct. Please be aware that a "Game Key" is needed in order to complete course assignments. This will appear as “Core Values Game Key” on the MBS site.

Required Texts
ETH 501 texts are available from the JIU/MBS bookstore