BUSI 385 - Business Ethics

Credit Hours: 3
Lecture Hours: 3
Laboratory (or Other) Hours: 0

Prerequisite(s): BUSI 200 or HOSP 105 or permission of the instructor
Corequisite(s): None
Restriction(s): None

The purpose of this course is to enable students to reason about the role of ethics in business administration utilizing fundamental theories of ethics. Students will be encouraged to think deeply about the nature of business, the responsibilities of management, and how business and ethics can co- exist. Cases without easy answers that raise a range of problems facing managers will be used. Discussion will focus on developing a framework for analyzing the issues in moral terms, making a decision, and then developing a set of reasons for why the decision was justified. The course is designed to encourage student not only to foster integrity and responsible decision-making, but also to push students to take leadership roles in dealing with complex and difficult choices they will face in their careers. Students will address a range of themes in the class, including basic concepts in ethics, responsibilities to stakeholders, corporate culture, causes of ethical breakdowns in organizations, managerial integrity, and personal values.

Student Learning Outcomes of the Course:

Distinguish how personal goals, values and character mature, and how you can affect that development
Analyze the ethical cycle
Apply the ethical cycle to the general operating and internal environments in business
Analyze how one’s character and integrity affect self, organization, family and society
Construct an ethical examination of an ethical case