IB3E6-12 Ethical Issues in Contemporary Business
Introductory description
- Introduce students to basic theories of ethics and politics.
- Engage students with a range of ethical challenges faced by contemporary business and other organisations in the practices of their activities and operations.
- Enable students to apply theories of ethics to contemporary issues faced by business and other organisations.
- Enable students to engage with and critically reflect upon ethical choices and dilemmas by engaging in a team based project work which requires them to deal practically with ethical concerns.
Module aims
- Introduce students to basic theories of ethics and politics.
- Engage students with a range of ethical challenges faced by contemporary business and other organisations in the practices of their activities and operations.
- Enable students to apply theories of ethics to contemporary issues faced by business and other organisations.
- Enable students to engage with and critically reflect upon ethical choices and dilemmas by engaging in a team based project work which requires them to deal practically with ethical concerns.
Outline syllabus
This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.
Introduction to business ethics and contemporary ethical dilemmas
How narratives, habits and non-reflectiveness affect ethics in organizations
Utilitarian ethics and organizations
Kantian ethics and organizations
Virtue ethics and organizations
Freedom and rights: liberalism and egalitarianism
Marx, commodity fetishism and inhumane working conditions
Feminist Ethics
Ethics and Emotions in Organisations
The future of work; effective labour
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of core theories of ethics.
- Understand key contemporary ethical issues faced by businesses and organisations.
- Utilise critical thinking skills in analyzing ethical dilemmas elicited/explored with the research project
- Understand/have an experience of teamwork and research skills/activities -
Indicative reading list
Sandel, M. (2010). Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? London: Penguin Books.
Gibson, K. (2012). Ethics and Business: An Introduction Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sandbu, Martin (2011) Just Business: Arguments in Business Ethics. London: Pearson Hall.
Subject specific skills
Apply ethical theories to analyse critically contemporary ethical issues faced by businesses and other organisations.
Understand current organizational responses (practices, procedures, etc.) to ethical dilemmas.
Transferable skills
Demonstrate improved verbal communication skills.
Demonstrate improved written communication skills.
Study time
| Type | Required |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 10 sessions of 2 hours (17%) |
| Seminars | 9 sessions of 1 hour (8%) |
| Private study | 33 hours (28%) |
| Assessment | 58 hours (48%) |
| Total | 120 hours |
Private study description
Private Study.
Costs
No further costs have been identified for this module.
You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.
Assessment group A2
| Weighting | Study time | Eligible for self-certification | |
|---|---|---|---|
Assessment component |
|||
| Individual Assignment | 70% | 38 hours | Yes (extension) |
Reassessment component is the same |
|||
Assessment component |
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| Group Presentation | 20% | 11 hours | No |
|
Group video presentation & summary (500 words) |
|||
Reassessment component |
|||
| Individual Assignment | Yes (extension) | ||
Assessment component |
|||
| Participation | 10% | 9 hours | No |
|
Participation in activities on a weekly basis via my.wbs and seminars |
|||
Reassessment component is the same |
|||
Feedback on assessment
Feedback via My.WBS
Courses
This module is Core optional for:
-
UIBA-N201 BSc in Management
- Year 3 of N201 Management
- Year 3 of N20B Management
- Year 3 of N230 Management with Finance
- Year 3 of N232 Management with Finance
- Year 3 of N250 Management with Marketing
-
UIBA-N202 BSc in Management (with Intercalated Year/UPP)
- Year 4 of N210 Management (Undergraduate Partnership Programme)
- Year 4 of N202 Management (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of N20C Management (with Placement Year)
- Year 4 of N231 Management with Finance (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of N251 Management with Marketing (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 3 of UIBA-NN35 Undergraduate Accounting and Finance
-
UIBA-NN36 Undergraduate Accounting and Finance (with Intercalated Year/Undergraduate Partnership Programme)
- Year 4 of NN36 Accounting and Finance (Intercalated)
- Year 4 of NN37 Accounting and Finance (Undergraduate Partnership Programme)
This module is Optional for:
-
UIBA-N203 BSc in International Management
- Year 4 of N203 International Management
- Year 4 of N203 International Management
- Year 4 of N238 International Management with Finance
- Year 4 of N256 International Management with Marketing
- Year 4 of N236 Management with Digital Business (with Placement Year)
-
UIBA-N4N7 Undergraduate Accounting and Finance (with Foundation Year and Intercalated Year/Undergraduate Partnership Programme)
- Year 5 of N4N7 Accounting and Finance (Foundation Year and Intercalated)
- Year 5 of N4N8 Accounting and Finance (Foundation Year and UPP)
- Year 4 of UIBA-N4N4 Undergraduate Accounting and Finance (with Foundation Year)
- Year 3 of UCSA-I1N1 Undergraduate Computer Science with Business Studies
- Year 4 of UCSA-I1NA Undergraduate Computer Science with Business Studies (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 1 of UIOA-EEU Undergraduate EU Exchange
-
UIOA-ESO Undergraduate European Exchange
- Year 1 of UESO Undergraduate European Exchange
- Year 1 of UESO Undergraduate European Exchange
- Year 4 of UGEA-RN21 Undergraduate German and Business Studies
-
UIPA-L8N1 Undergraduate Global Sustainable Development and Business
- Year 3 of L8N1 Global Sustainable Development and Business Studies
- Year 3 of L8N1 Global Sustainable Development and Business Studies
-
UIPA-L8N2 Undergraduate Global Sustainable Development and Business Studies (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of L8N2 Global Sustainable Development and Business Studies (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of L8N2 Global Sustainable Development and Business Studies (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 4 of UIBA-N1R1 Undergraduate International Business with French
- Year 4 of UIBA-N1R2 Undergraduate International Business with German
- Year 4 of UIBA-N1R3 Undergraduate International Business with Italian
- Year 4 of UIBA-N1R4 Undergraduate International Business with Spanish
-
UIBA-N20G Undergraduate Management (with Foundation Year and Intercalated Year/Undergraduate Partnership Programme)
- Year 5 of N20G Management (Foundation Year and Intercalated)
- Year 5 of N20H Management (Foundation Year and UPP)
- Year 5 of N23B Management with Finance (with Foundation Year and Intercalated Year)
- Year 5 of N23C Management with Finance (with Foundation Year and Undergraduate Partnership Programme)
- Year 5 of N25B Management with Marketing (with Foundation Year and Intercalated Year)
- Year 5 of N25C Management with Marketing (with Foundation Year and Undergraduate Partnership Programme)
-
UIBA-N20A Undergraduate Management (with Foundation Year)
- Year 4 of N20A Management (with Foundation Year)
- Year 4 of N23A Management with Finance (with Foundation Year)
- Year 4 of N25A Management with Marketing (with Foundation Year)
- Year 3 of UMAA-G1N4 Undergraduate Mathematics with Business Studies
- Year 4 of UMAA-G1N5 Undergraduate Mathematics with Business Studies (with Intercalated Year)
-
UIOA-EOS Undergraduate Overseas Exchange
- Year 1 of UEOS Undergraduate Overseas Exchange
- Year 1 of UEOS Undergraduate Overseas Exchange
- Year 4 of UPXA-F3ND Undergraduate Physics and Business Studies (with Intercalated Year)
- Year 3 of UPXA-F3N2 Undergraduate Physics with Business Studies
- Year 1 of UIOA-EUS Undergraduate USA Exchange