INTRODUCTION
For many years the phrase business ethics was an oxymoron. "Buyer
Beware" was the more common saying. Fortunately, times are
changing, and successful businesses are finding that being ethical is
not only the preferable way to live, it also translates into satisfied
employees and customers and thus flourishing businesses.
Many Business Departments in colleges are now teaching Business
Ethics classes, showing their agreement with the Socrates statement
printed on the Main page of this webquest.
In writings from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa
Clara University, psychologist James Rest states:
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Dramatic changes occur in young adults in their 20s and 30s in terms of the
basic problem-solving strategies they use to deal with ethical issues.
The extent to which change occurs is associated with the number of years of
formal education.
Deliberate educational attempts to influence awareness of moral problems and
to influence the reasoning or judgment process have been demonstrated to be
effective.
Warning! This webquest is a deliberate attempt to influence your
awareness and reasoning!
TASK
As an upcoming business executive (or person of any profession, for
that matter), it is important that you be able to understand the
concept of ethics, be able to apply that concept to various decisionmaking tasks, and be able to explain and defend your ethical
decisions.
Therefore, you will review some ethics sites of colleges and
organizations to learn the definition of ethics and what ethical
behavior involves, learn a framework for making ethical decisions,
apply that knowledge and framework to some case studies, and finally
write a Code of Ethics for our school store.
PROCESS
There are a number of activities in this webquest. You are instructed
to do them all in order. All the activities will be group work. You will
be assigned to one of four groups. How you work within the group will
be the group's choice; for example, each member has an individual
task and the results are put together, or the whole group works on
the same task at the same time, etc. When you are told to hand
something in, there should just be one assignment handed in with all
your names on it. You will all get the same grade for the assignment,
with an additional individual grade given later for your work within the
group.
1. Personal Case Studies
o Each group needs to click on all the names to be linked to
a personal case study. The case study may be printed out,
if desired.
 Group One
 Group Two
 Group Three
 Group Four
o
o
Your group will discuss the case and come up with a group
decision. The decision will be typed out, along with your
reasons. Any format may be used.
Be prepared to have a member of your group read the
case to the class, present your decision, and give the
reasons for your decision. Also be prepared to defend your
decision.
2. Researching "Ethics"
o Your next task is to gather information about the topic of
"ethics." Much has been written by a variety of people and
organizations.
o Answer the following questions (question and answer should
be typed - copy, paste may be used when possible. This
first set of questions can be found in readings from the
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara
University
1. Define Ethics and tell what it is and what it isn't
2. What are the stages of moral development?
3. What is "common good" and what hinders us from
making decisions for the "common good?"
4. What are 4 approaches to ethics?
This next set of questions can be found in readings from the
Josephson Institute of Ethics, "Character Counts - Making Ethical
Decisions" 2000
0. What are values and what are morals?
1. What are the 6 Pillars of Character?
2. Using one of the 6 Pillars or one of the Common
Rationalizations, write up a short children's-type
story demonstrating the point it is making.
3. Framework for Decision-Making
o Print out, and review, a copy of the Framework for Ethical
Decision-Making from Santa Clara University
4. Business Case Studies
o Each group needs to click on their respective name to be
linked to a business case study. The case study may be
printed out, if desired.
 Group One
 Group Two
 Group Three
 Group Four
o Read your case study; refer to the Framework; go down
the list of questions on the framework and answer the
applicable questions; make your group decision.
o Prepare a typed report for your group. It should include
answers to the following questions:
1. What is the moral issue?
2. What are the relevant facts?
3. Who will be affected by your decision?
4. What are your options?
5. What is your decision and why?
5. Codes of Ethics
o Skim the following business's codes of ethics:
 Boeing
 Monsanto
 Ford Motor Company
 IBM
 Walmart
o Watch for key words, phrases, and ideas - and similarities
between them.
o Write a Code of Ethics for Nerinx's bookstore!!!! There is
no required number of words. I am looking for a concise
document containing all the items you feel are important.
It should be well written and thoughtful.
6. Personal Essay
o Click on this Personal Essay Link to get the instructions for
this essay.
REFERENCES AND RESOURCES
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Gentile, Mary. "Teaching Business Ethics," The World and I, December, 1990
Goree, Keith. "Integrating Ethics Into Business Education," Business Education Forum,
February 1992
Illinois Institute of Technology, Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions,
http://www.csep.iit.edu/codes, last updated October, 1999.
Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University
www.depaul.edu/ethics/bentedu.html
Institute for Global Ethics, Business Statistics http.//www.globalethics.org last
updated in March 2000
Josephson Institute of Ethics, "Character Counts - Making Ethical Decisions" 2000
www.josephsoninstitute.org/MED/medintro.htm
Keying In - The Newsletter of the National Business Education Association, January,
1997, Volume 7, Number 3
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University
www.scu.edu/SCU/Centers/Ethics/practicing/decisions
McDonald, Dr. Michael, "A Framework for Ethical Decision-Making," Centre for Applied
Ethics, University of British Columbia, www.ethics.ubc.ca/mcdonald/decisions.html
McGarvey, Robert. "World of Wisdom - Right vs. Wrong," America West Airlines
Magazine, March, 1994.
"What Would You Do?" Business Ethics Magazine, January/February, 1996
Codes of Ethics were also referred to for Ford, Monsanto, IBM, Walmart, Boeing
EVALUATION
Throughout all the activities (found in the Process section) I am
mainly looking for evidence of ethical thinking and decision making. My
expectations are that you will do all the activities assigned, follow
directions, be a valued member of your team, and write a thoughtful
personal essay.
There will be two grades given to each student for their work on this
webquest. One grade will be for the team's work, and each student
will receive the same grade. The other grade will be an individual
grade given for the work of each individual team member and for the
personal essay.
The team grade will consist of 10% for the personal case study, 25%
for the research questions and children's story, 30% for the business
case study and 35% for the Bookstore code of ethics.
Your individual grade will consist of 50% for your work/attitude as a
team member and 50% for your personal essay.
Rubric forTeam Grade
Rubric for Individual Work
Conclusion
The purpose of this webquest was just to make you think!
You have already had to make many decisions in your life. I
hope you realize that ethical decisions do not stop at the door of
our private, Catholic school. Many times you (and a lot of the
rest of us) tend to "compartmentalize" your lives - your decisions
and actions depend on your surroundings at the moment rather
than an inner code of behavior (for example, it's ok to throw trash
in the halls of the school because there is a janitor to pick it up,
but you are violently opposed to littering along the highway).
You are also in the process of exploring the type of person you
want to become.
I can't teach morals and values - these are very "individual," are
usually learned at home, and have mostly been formed already.
But, hopefully, you now have more tools to help you make ethical
decisions and have developed a heightened awareness of the
impact of your decisions.
Mrs. Winters