Business Ethics in Practice

Course Overview

How to Match Behaviour with Values in the Workforce.

There is an increased focus on business ethics in both public and private sectors at the start of the 21 st century. The Enron scandal (and others around the same time) demonstrated shortfalls in behaviour of executives and staff when compared with the company's own value statements. Similar shortfalls can be seen in the action of third party advisers.

This course looks at ethical fundamentals and sets them in their proper business context. It demonstrates through practical examples and scenario discussions the importance of personal responsibility and introduces the important 'ethics toolbox'.

The course shows how you can take practical steps to reduce the risk of poor decision-making and better align the behaviour of your managers and staff with your corporate values.

Audience

The course is relevant to people from all sectors.

Course Outline

ETHICAL FRAMEWORK

• Business ethics - a contradiction in terms?
• The RICE model and its limitations
• Development of ethical principles
• Personal responsibility -threats and safeguards
• The honesty question
• Ethical awareness quiz
• Greed quiz

INSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS

• Key corporate governance drivers -tone set from the top and bought into by all employees
• Linkage between directors' integrity and corporate reputation
• Corporate policies and how to manage them
• The 'ethics toolbox'
• Value statements
• Codes of conduct
• 'Whistleblowing' hotlines
• Ethical training and development programmes
• Workplace deviancy exercise

CORPORATE SCANDALS AND WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM THEM

• Headline cases summarised
• Threats giving rise to inappropriate behaviour - what makes good people do bad things?
• Matching values and behaviour - the key management challenge
• The Enron scandal - video focus session

THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS TO MODERN GOVERNANCE

• Corporate governance agenda for the 21 st century
• Key governance issues
• Approaches to the ethical issue
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act
• Professional standards
• Public sector
• Benefits of ethical conduct and best practice governance regimes
• The ethics roadmap -how to combine rules and principles
• Ethical scenarios