ENGAGING STUDENTS AT EDGEWOOD
COLLEGE IN CREATING
ETHICAL BUSINESSES AND
AN ETHICAL SOCIETY
Professor Denis Collins
School of Business
Edgewood College
dcollins@edgewood.edu
http://business.edgewood.edu/dcollins/
My Philosophical Assumptions
Earth is spaceship circling sun for 4.5 billion years
• Started as a floating paradise
• Something happened
• Now a floating purgatory
• It is the planet where we are meant to practice how to
exercise kindness. Some people haven’t realized that yet.
Of 6.8 billion earth inhabitants:
• A small core are imperfectly good people creating a just
society or heaven on earth
• A small core are imperfectly good people doing really bad
things
• Many are imperfectly good people observing from the side
lines
Theological Assumptions
“Thy Will Be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”
• We are all children of God
• Everyone is my brother or sister (students as
younger siblings!)
• Earth is evolving toward a more “just” society or
heaven on earth
Assumptions About Students
• Emerging adults
• Fear failure
• Habituated to be educationally passive
• Idealistic
• Must be pushed out of their comfort zone
Activities for
Traditional Undergraduates
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Share a free meal at Luke House
Journaling about work-related ethical dilemmas
Consulting advice for non-profits
Good Samaritan Award
Purpose in life essay
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Truth
Justice
Compassion
Partnership
Community
– Manage campus-wide Eco-Olympics
EDGEWOOD COLLEGE
ECO-OLYMPICS WINNERS
2007 Winners
– Water Savings: Stevie Hall – 21% decline in monthly water use
– Electricity Savings: Marshall Hall – 15% reduction in kwh
– Heat Savings: Weber & Stevie Halls – 44% reduction in therms
2006 Winners
– Water Savings: Regina/Weber Halls – 57% decline in monthly
water use
– Electricity Savings: Siena Hall – 10% reduction in kwh
– Heat Savings: Stevie Hall – 22% reduction in therms
Real-Time Ethical Decision-Making
Create and discuss real-life ethical dilemmas
based on their own work experience
– Describe an incident at work that challenged your
conscience.
– Describe an incident at work that challenged the
company’s code of ethics.
– Describe an incident that seemed disrespectful
toward owners, customers, managers, employees,
suppliers, community or the natural environment.
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Students in Free Enterprise Competition –
Project Management
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Market Economics
International Business
Business Skills
Financial Literacy
Ethics
Ethics Bowl Competition
Entrepreneurship Club
ACTIVITIES FOR
MBA STUDENTS
Apply concepts to work experience
• Successful and Unsuccessful Work Teams
• Communication Successes and Failures
• Organizational Change Successes and Failures
Environmental Management Project: The Natural Step
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Reduce Fossil Fuel and Mineral Use
Reduce Chemical and Unnatural Substance Use
Reduce Encroachment on Nature (land, water, wildlife)
Waste = Food
Choose Low Hanging Fruit
Initiate Change
MBA Initiated Changes
• Recycle and reduce use of computer paper
• Provide healthier vending machine food options
• Install energy efficient lighting and motion sensors
• Eliminate hazardous chemical use in a research lab
• Conserve energy by turning off computers at end of the day
• Donate excess hospital supplies to developing nations
• Develop a ride share program
End Results
For the Next 40 Years …
Students are Active Participants in Creating:
• Efficient Organizations
• Effective Organizations and …
• Ethical Organizations
Students are Active Participants in Creating:
• Just Society/Heaven on Earth
Teaching Publications at:
http://business.edgewood.edu/dcollins/teaching_articles.htm
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Denis Collins (2008) “Creating Environmental Change Through Business Ethics and Society Courses,” pp. 243-263 in Diane
Swanson and Dann Fisher (Eds.), Advancing Business Ethics Education in the 21st Century, Information Age Publishers.
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Denis Collins (2006) “Taking Business Ethics Seriously: Best Practices in Teaching and Integrating Business Ethics Within a
Business Program,” pp. 319-349, in Robert DeFillippi and Charles Wankel (Eds.), New Visions of Graduate Management
Education in Research in Management Education and Development series, vol. 5, Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
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Denis Collins (1999) “The Dollar Game: Questioning the Ethics of Capitalism and Bargaining,” Journal of Management
Education, 23(3), 302-310.
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Denis Collins & Laura Page (1997) “A Socrates/Ted Koppel Paradigm for Integrating the Teaching of Business Ethics in the
Curriculum,” pp. 221-242 in Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, vol. 15, Supplement 2, special issue on
“Teaching Business and Society Courses with Reflective and Active Learning Strategies,” edited by Sandra Waddock.
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Denis Collins (1996) “Distributive Justice and Capitalism: A Rawlsian Exercise,” Journal of Management Education, 20(1), 8286.
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Denis Collins (1996) “Serving the Homeless and Low-Income Communities Through Business & Society/Business Ethics Class
Projects: The University of Wisconsin-Madison Plan,” Journal of Business Ethics, 15(1), 67-85.
Reporting Business Results
In February 2001, after fourteen years as Enron’s CEO, Ken Lay retired. He promoted Jeff Skilling, the founder of Enron’s innovative
Gas Bank Division, and Enron’s Chief Operating Officer since 1996, as Enron’s new CEO. It was a dream come true for the 48 year
old Skilling. But just six months later, in August 2001, Skilling unexpectedly resigns. He is replaced by Ken Lay, who had remained as
Chairman of the Board despite being in semi-retirement.
The accounting books for the third quarter close on September 30. Chief Accounting Officer Richard Causey informs Lay that Causey
and Chief Financial Officer Andy Fastow, with Skilling’s knowledge, had hidden losses totaling nearly $7 billion the past few years. As
CEO, Lay was responsible for these numbers, but he simply hadn’t been paying close attention, preferring to let others he trusted,
such as Skilling and Causey, manage the details while he lobbied politicians and potential customers around the world.
Third quarter results must be publicly released on October 16th. Wall Street analysts predict that Enron has about $2 billion in losses
because the United States is in a recession, some of Enron’s major customers in the dot.com industry are bankrupt, and the World
Trade Center tragedy occurred just three weeks ago.
Lay meets with several trusted Enron executives. They recommend that Lay should report only $1.2 billion of the $7 billion in losses
because that amount could be reasonably explained without damaging Enron’s already falling stock price too much. In addition,
beating Wall Street expectations might attract new investors.
They also point out that if Lay reports all $7 billion in losses on October 16 th, Enron’s stock price would collapse from a massive stock
sell off, causing Enron to default on its loans and a resultant government investigation that could quickly bankrupt the company. This
would be risking the jobs of 5,000 employees, many of whom have pension plans loaded with Enron stock. The employees had been
told many times to diversify their pension plans, but Enron’s stock price had been rising for about a decade, and nearly tripled in
value the previous five years.
DECISION CHOICE: If you were Ken Lay, how much of the hidden losses would you report to the public when you announce third
quarter results:
•$7 billion in losses and risk financial collapse
•$2 billion in losses to match Wall Street expectations or
•$1.2 billion suggested by other Enron executives
Why?