Business Ethics : Myth or Reality? 2/3 Day seminar

1st Day

Morning:
Introductions
General Discussion on : What is ethics ? Does ethics exist in business ? What is meant by an "ethical issue" ?
The basis of business is to make profit : Carr's theory "Poker game analogy" and Friedman's theory : manager as an agent responsible to shareholders and employees
Debate : Is the company a moral agent ?

Afternoon:
video on an ethical issue - discussion (Cloning)
Ethical theories : Utilitarianism, de-ontology, NORM theory
discussion of the various ethical theories applied in business : why is business ethics important today ?

2nd Day

Morning:
Ethics & Environment - video
examples : (case study) Bhopal, Total - discussion (analysis of various ethical theories applied to examples) - discussion

Afternoon:
Ethics & Finance - corruption, bribery (doing business globally)
"massaging the numbers" to meet sales objectives (Heinz case study) - discussion

3rd Day

Morning:
Ethics & Advertising "Truth"
obligations to tell the truth ?
discussion

Afternoon:
Ethics & Internet
child protection, piracy, intellectual property, privacy
discussion
Corporate codes of Ethics - The use of codes of ethics pros and cons - debate
Conclusion 

Two areas could be modified :
1) the subjects themselves as ethics covers so much territory (child labor, Aids, privacy in the workplace, corporate surveillance of staff, etc)
2) exercises could be changed depending on the group to writing about a subject and presenting it to the group, also discussions could be in some cases developed as debates in which there are two groups defending different positions