PHIL243, Business Ethics, introduces students to ethical issues in business and the ethical concepts, theories, and methods they can apply to them. There are numerous examples of unethical behavior on the part of individual businesspersons, departments, and entire business organizations. Some of these are big enough to make the news media, but most are ethical missteps that negatively impact managers, employees, and customers without making the headlines. This course explores the causes and characteristics of ethical issues and problems in business, as well as ways to resolve them.
Topics will include:
· Theories about what makes an ethical decision correct.
· The role of such ethical theories in business.
· A decision procedure for thinking about and resolving ethical issues in business.
· Practice in applying the ethical theories and decision procedure to cases about issues such as honesty in business, fair and equitable treatment of employees, the environmental responsibilities of business, product safety, doing business in other countries, and corporate social responsibility.The central learning outcome for the course is a set of tools – concepts and methods – that students can use in taking an ethical approach to their business lives.