PHIL*2600 - Business and Professional Ethics

Course Description

This course examines ethical and evaluative issues relating to business and professional practices, and is intended for students registered in a science or professional program, but without a background in philosophy. Topics to be explored include the nature of values and ethical systems, duties and rights, private and public goods, the consumer movement, social marketing, corporate social accounting, private right and professional responsibility.

Note: This course can be taken individually or as a part of a certificate program.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the learner should be able to:

1. Analyze what characterizes a particular business situation as an ethical situation;

2. Assess the importance of business ethics in a global economy while respecting individual employees and their work-life balance;

3. Correctly apply terminology such as capitalism, globalization, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder theory, corporate accountability, corporate citizenship, civil society organizations in varied contexts;

4. Outline key normative ethical theories and apply these theories to real-world situations;

5. Evaluate the role that governments should play in regulating businesses;

6. Demonstrate the ability to identify multiple stakeholders in society and the extent to which businesses owe them moral consideration;

7. Explain the concept of corporate social responsibility along with how it can be implemented, measured and reported by businesses

Course Topics

• Introduction to Business Ethics: Business and society, and the theoretical basis of ethics
• Ethics, capitalism and stakeholder issues
• Ethics and social responsibility
• Influencing Canadian business
• Issues: The environment and globalization

Assessment

Note:

Additional Technical Requirements

This course will use the following:

• Respondus tool to invigilate one or more exams. 

Please view the Technical Considerations.

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

• Certificate in Leadership : Required Courses