Ethics in Business 2600-IADdzEBkf

The course "Ethics in Business" provides an interdisciplinary perspective on ethical issues in management, combining the fundamentals of philosophy with business practice. Its aim is to develop critical thinking and ethical analysis skills in the business decision-making process and to emphasise the importance of a responsible and sustainable approach to management.
The main objective of the course is to familiarise students with business ethics issues and their importance for contemporary organisational management. By participating in the course, students will gain an awareness of the role of ethics in management practices and tools for identifying and counteracting unethical behaviour in organisations. The course analyses key philosophical and moral concepts related to economic activity, including theories of morality, concepts of social justice in a business context, and critical ethical analysis of decision-making processes. The course content also covers issues related to codes and ethical programmes, environmental ethics, socially responsible investment, corruption, financial fraud, as well as workplace bullying and discrimination.
The course programme covers both the theoretical foundations of business ethics and their practical application in organisations. Students will learn about descriptive and normative ethics and various approaches to business ethics, including cognitivism and non-cognitivism, utilitarianism, Kantianism and relativism. Particular emphasis will be placed on the relationship between the free market and justice, profit-making and the ethics of capitalism, as well as an ethical approach to management.
The course also covers practical aspects of business ethics, such as codes of ethics, anti-corruption programmes and ethical investing. The series of eight meetings will analyse both the environmental aspects of ethical management, in the form of the impact of sustainable development and ecology on business strategies and activities, as well as social aspects, in the form of ways to counteract problems such as corruption, mobbing and discrimination in the workplace.

1. Introduction to business ethics
The course begins with a discussion of basic issues related to ethics, business ethics and its place in management. Students will learn about the relationship between ethics, philosophy and business, and the distinction between descriptive and prescriptive ethics. The relationship between ethics and religion will also be presented, as well as selected ethical trends, including utilitarianism, Kantianism and ethical relativism.

2. Stakeholder theory and moral dilemmas and decision-making in an ethical context
The module begins with a discussion of R.E. Freeman's stakeholder theory Freeman's stakeholder theory and the most important contemporary concepts of stakeholder relationship management. These form the starting point for an in-depth analysis of issues of morality, moral judgement and major ethical theories, such as cognitivism and non-cognitivism, as well as consequentialism and non-consequentialism. The module also presents the decision-making process in an ethical context, placing it within the framework of the theories discussed and illustrating its practical application in the activities of an organisation.

3. Market, business and justice
This module focuses on analysing the relationship between ethics and profit, as well as the ethical aspects of economic management. Students will learn about John Rawls' theory of justice and Milton Friedman's approach. The module will also discuss different visions of capitalism in an ethical context, including the unitary, separatist and integrative visions. In addition, issues of employee rights, mobbing and discrimination, as well as environmental protection as an element of responsible management will be addressed.

4. Good practices, codes and ethical programmes
This module focuses on value systems in organisations and the role of codes of ethics in shaping responsible business. Students will learn about different types of codes, their structure and content, and the process of designing and implementing ethical programmes in companies. Issues related to values and their systems in organisations will also be discussed, as well as the importance of non-financial reporting in the context of transparency and corporate responsibility.

5. Globalisation and sustainable development in an ethical context
This module concerns the impact of globalisation and sustainable development on business ethics. Issues related to environmental ethics are discussed, including eco-ethics, ecology and environmental protection, Arne Naess's deep ecology, Henryk Skolimowski's ecological humanism, and Florian Znaniecki's social ecology. Students analyse the consequences of globalisation for ethical challenges in business, the concept of sustainable development, the circular economy, and ecological and social awareness.

6. Financial markets and ethics
In this module, students learn about the ethical aspects of investing and the development of the concept of socially responsible investment (SRI). The course covers the analysis of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) factors, green investing, and investments based on religious systems. Students will also learn about the functioning of socially responsible stock market indices and key EU guidelines on non-financial reporting.

7. Corporate social (ir)responsibility and whistleblowing
This module discusses the phenomenon of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and irresponsibility (CSRI). Students analyse examples of unethical business practices, including child labour, 21st-century slavery and violations of workers' rights. An important topic in this module is whistleblowing, i.e. the role of whistleblowers in exposing irregularities and corruption in organisations.

8. Corruption and value-based management
The last module of the course is devoted to the issue of corruption and abuse in business. Students learn about corruption mechanisms, anti-corruption programmes and difficulties in tendering procedures. Pyramid schemes and money laundering issues are also discussed, including countermeasures and the activities of supervisory organisations such as the UN, the EU and the Financial Action Task Force. Finally, students will learn about the concept of value-based management and the challenges of building a responsible organisational culture.