Administration

Communications

C-SC observing Business Ethics Week
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

CANTON, Mo. – The Culver-Stockton College business division is celebrating the fourth annual Business Ethics Week September 21-25.

During the week, business faculty will use their classes to highlight ethical scenarios that students may encounter in the real world. Marketing students will create a display outlining their opinions on the ethical marketing of children’s cereals and tobacco products. Students in “Principles of Accounting” will analyze true cases of fraud in the workplace and discuss the punishment of the perpetrators. Finance students will view “The Smartest Guys in the Room,” which tells the story of Enron—one of history’s greatest business scandals.

Business faculty and the business student groups, Students in Free Enterprise/Phi Beta Lambda (SIFE/PBL) and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), have developed a display focusing on ethics in the workplace. The display is located in the foyer of the Herrick Foundation Center. The groups also will highlight various organizations’ codes of ethics.

“Given the events of the last few years, the importance of a good moral business plan in the workplace has become quite evident,” said Jim Cosgrove, professor of business administration. “Businesses have many responsibilities to their constituents, including shareholders, customers, suppliers, community members, creditors , employees, and even the government. While Milton Friedman would argue that the ethical responsibility of a company is to make a profit, others might just as forcibly argue, that while a company is in business to make a profit, there needs to be careful, deliberate and diligent attention paid to just exactly how that is done.”

“While everyone may not agree on what constitutes good ethical behavior in a given situation, to ignore the topic is not good business practice,” he added. “Neither is it good practice from a personal perspective. The objective of Business Ethics Week is to recognize the importance of ethical decision-making in the workplace and maintaining a strong personal code of ethics. A course in ‘Business Ethics’ has been a part of the business curriculum for many years. The members of the Business Division ask the college community to join in celebrating the importance of the freedom to discuss our ethical beliefs, reflect upon, and study ethical business practices.”