Overview of Course

Ethical behavior and social responsibility in organizations is critical to the long term success of businesses in the United States and in countries around the world. With increasing competition globally and pressures for greater productivity, employees often feel pressured to do whatever it takes to make a profit. However, organizations have a responsibility to go beyond making money and respond with integrity. Organizations have to balance satisfying their customers, shareholders and employees, while also considering the impact of their business’s actions on the local community, the global community and the environment. Topics include corporate social responsibility, environmental sustainability, technology and privacy in the workplace, employer responsibilities, employee rights, and issues in the developing world.

This course will provide students with a comprehensive yet accessible introduction to business ethics and allow students to apply an ethical decision-making model to interesting, real-world examples. Some of the international, ethical issues that will be covered, include fair trade and the dark side of chocolate; the Chevron environmental disaster in the Amazon; sweatshops in Bangladesh; the Foxconn factory conditions and suicides; child labor in cobalt mines in the Republic of Congo; Google in China, the ethics of global drug pricing; pharmaceutical testing in India; and problems with palm oil and deforestation in Malaysia and Brazil.