The word ethics usually evokes a strong emotional reaction or opinion from most business students, particularly as it has moved to center stage in the business curriculum. Respecting all these emotions is a key focus throughout this course. Having a keen eye and observing your own reactions alongside the reactions of others in a nonjudgmental manner will serve you best as you pursue the objectives of this course.
In this course, you will begin to define the stakeholders, issues, and current perceptions surrounding business ethics and engage in the analysis of ethical dilemmas and your own beliefs to understand the challenges organizations must address as they approach ethics. You will also learn to identify issues and put them in a context or framework to facilitate management decision-making.
Central to the approach to studying business ethics is realizing that it is a gray area. As conditions, environments, people, and organizations change, their behaviors and the regulations that attempt to build fair standards in the world of business also change. No single approach is considered best for all situations, but studying the approaches and learning how to apply them to different ethical problems ultimately makes you a valuable voice at the table when participating in the solution.
You are strongly encouraged to question the material offered in this course and your own experiences and understanding. It is through questioning ourselves and our beliefs that we learn the multitude of gray areas that make up business ethics. As you uncover these hard-to-define zones, your perceptions and skills for analyzing the best solutions to ethical dilemmas increase.
In this assessment, you will direct your attention to personal ethical choices in the workplace. Motives are a key consideration in ethical decision-making. As you explore the various models and rationales used to make decisions on ethical dilemmas, think about the one that most suits you, your personality, and your own moral standards. In particular, refer to the four ethical approaches:
Utilitarian.
Deontological.
Virtue.