Business Ethics

I did my paper over an article I found in NewsWeek about what colleges are doing to teach students about ethics in the classroom. Some are taking drastic measures while others are taking a more traditional approach. In this paper I’ll give you my opinion on what is going right and what is going wrong in the world of business ethics and whether or not these programs are working.

Many colleges around the world are taking the tradition approach in teaching business ethics to their students. All Harvard MBA students are required to take a first semester course called “Leadership, Values and Decision Making.” And in wake of the recent scandals, such as Enron, a second semester course has been added called “Leadership, Values and Corporate Accountability.” In my opinion

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I’d like to think that if I every owned my own corporations and was offered something that was unethical I would turn it down.

I believe that these courses and field trips that colleges offer do a good job in showing students exactly what can happened and what has happened to people who practice bad ethics. But I can honestly say it would be hard to turn down possibly millions of dollars. However, I don’t believe you can actually teach a student what to do in certain situations. At the University of Maryland all MBA students are required to take a field trip to a minimum security prison where they have a chance to meet former CEO’s now in jail for white-collar crimes.

Another approach that colleges are taking is a little more drastic. These courses in ethics teach the students to become more aware of their decisions and how helpful or harmful they can be if faced with certain problems concerning ethics.

In my opinion, money makes the world go ‘round. And I always think of his famous quote, “Greed is good…” This is the way I believe many people feel but I really hope that these classes can change the way people feel and show that to do the right thing is always the best thing. It’s sad to say that but I believe it is true. It’s impossible to cover everything that can happen and every situation that can arise. You have tell students about the problems of ethics today in the business world and make them aware that there are certain guidelines you should follow. It can show students exactly what can happen if they make the wrong decisions in situations that can arise. When these students are put in a position of getting an inside stock tip or something else that is unethical the money is something that’s really going to draw them in.

Approximate Word count = 535
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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