Business Ethics

Overview/Description
 Think about the last difficult decision you made. Was there more than one "right" course of action? Were there multiple perspectives to be considered? How confident were you in your final decision? Ethical decision making is a skill that will serve you in every aspect of your life. In this course, you will apply a four-step ethical decision-making process to realistic workplace scenarios. Learn how to choose the best course of action when there is more than one right answer. This SkillSoft product has been reviewed by the Employment Practice Group of Sheehan Phinney Bass + Green. As of the date reviewed, the content of this course is in compliance with federal law and court decisions. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the law, information in this course may become outdated.

Target Audience
 This course targets employees at all levels of the organization including managers, supervisors, account executives, customer service representatives, buyers, recruiters, and technical staff.

Expected Duration
2.5 hours

Lesson Objectives:

The Four Ethical Frameworks

  • recognize the benefits of using the four ethical frameworks to guide ethical decisions.
  • differentiate between two types of rules-based thinking.
  • identify how the rules-based framework applies to a case study.
  • differentiate between two types of outcome-based thinking.
  • apply outcome-based thinking to an ethical question.
  • define the four dimensions of justice-based thinking.
  • match the character traits of virtues-based theory (integrity and honesty) with their correct definitions.
  • identify how the ethical frameworks support steps 1 and 2 of the ethical decision-making process.

    • Core Values

  • identify how consulting an organization's core values helps them make the best ethical decision.
  • recognize that personal values are based on religious beliefs, cultural roots, family background, personal experiences, laws, organizational values, professional norms and political habits.
  • correctly identify the three types of business ethics statements commonly used by organizations.
  • examine sample ethics statements and identify the ethical framework(s) they seem to address.
  • identify reasons why it is beneficial to refer to your organization's ethics statements while making ethical decisions.
  • correctly identify the third and fourth steps of the ethical decision making process.

    • Course Number: HR0153