Business Ethics

Teachers

Included in study programs

Teaching results

The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the various theories and approaches to the formation of business ethics and provide the basis for the successful application of acquired knowledge in business practice. Following this, to enable students to develop a framework to address the ethical challenges that arise in and between different countries. The content of the course is to answer questions about the role and position of ethics and ethical standards in business practice. Defines the organization's code of ethics, manager's code of ethics, business and diplomatic code. It complements and deepens students' knowledge, skills and competences with examples of corporate social responsibility. At the same time, it allows students to acquire the ability to reflect and analyze the acquired skills from a corporate perspective.
Knowledge:
• on theoretical aspects of business ethics,
• describe the development of business ethics as an independent scientific discipline,
• define basic concepts in the field of business ethics,
• understand the techniques of moral reasoning and argumentation that are needed to analyze moral problems in business,
• understand intercultural variations and similarities in organizational practices in the field of social responsibility and business ethics,
• understand the major challenges facing modern managers.
Skills:
• identify ethical issues from the entrepreneur's point of view,
• compare, criticize and find innovative solutions to ethical issues in business practice,
• diagnose sources of organizational ethical culture and deviant behavior,
• consider how ethics and morals can be understood from different cultural perspectives, as well as in relation to social responsibility of society and society,
• discuss ethical issues related to rapid business change, including information technology and environmental degradation,
• apply the basic concepts of management through a comprehensive analysis of organizational settings by processing a semester project.
Competences:
• implement ethical principles in managerial decisions,
• take and justify own opinion on an ethical issue in business practice,
• design ethical programs designed to achieve specific goals in organizations,
• develop ethical leadership skills,
• apply knowledge, skills and personal, social and / or methodological abilities in work or study situations and in professional and personal development.

Indicative content

Seminars:
1. Business ethics and its development as an academic discipline.
2. Definition of the term business ethics, ethical-business culture, corporate culture.
3. Functions of business ethics.
4. Overview of ethical problems in the economy in Slovakia, Central and Western Europe.
5. Ethical development of the organization.
6. Integration of ethics into corporate culture.
7. Intercultural differences in the management of organizations.
8. Corporate social responsibility.
9. Codes of ethics of organizations, their meaning, content, functions and types.
10. Code of ethics of the manager.
11. Ethical dilemmas and factors influencing their solution.
12. Ethical audit.
13. Presentation of the semester project.

Support literature

Elementary literature:
1. TREVINO, L. K. – NELSON, K. A. 2021. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. John Wiley & Sons. 384 s. ISBN: 978-1-119-71100-1.
2. SZABO, S. – BOBENIČ HINTOŠOVÁ, A. – DEMJANOVÁ, L. 2013. Etika a etiketa pre manažérov. Košice : Technická univerzita v Košiciach, Letecká fakulta, 2013. ISBN 978-80-553-1659-8.
Supplementary literature:
3. CIULLA J.B. 2020. Business Ethics as Moral Imagination. In: The Search for Ethics in Leadership, Business, and Beyond. Issues in Business Ethics, vol 50. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38463-0_7.
4. BELÁS, J., KHAN, K. A., MAROUŠEk, J., & ROZSA, Z. 2020. Perceptions of the importance of business ethics in SMEs: A comparative study of Czech and Slovak entrepreneurs. Ethics & Bioethics, 10(1-2), 96-106.
5. BOWIE, N. E. 2013. Business Ethics in the 21st Century. Minneapolis, USA : University of Minnesota, Springer, 2013. 229 s. ISBN: 978-94-007-6223-7.
6. KLIMSZA, L. 2014. Business Ethics. Introduction to the Ethics of Values. 1st edition, bookboon.com, 88 p. ISBN 978-87-403-0690-3.
7. REMIŠOVÁ, A. 2015. Súčasné trendy podnikateľskej etiky. Od teórie k praxi. Bratislava : Walters Kluwer, 2015. 260 s. ISBN 978-80-8168-213-1.
8. CRANE, A. – MATTEN, D. 2016. Business Ethics. Oxford University Press. 4th Edition. 632 p. ISBN-13: 978-0199697311.
9. BOBENIČ HINTOŠOVÁ, A. 2010. Vybrané aspekty riadenia nadnárodných spoločností. Bratislava : Vydavateľstvo EKONÓM, 2010. 102 s. [7,038 AH]. VEGA 1/0149/08. ISBN 978-80-225-2905-1.

Syllabus

Seminars: 1. Business ethics and its development as an academic discipline. 2. Definition of the term business ethics, ethical-business culture, corporate culture. 3. Functions of business ethics. 4. Overview of ethical problems in the economy in Slovakia, Central and Western Europe. 5. Ethical development of the organization. 6. Integration of ethics into corporate culture. 7. Intercultural differences in the management of organizations. 8. Corporate social responsibility. 9. Codes of ethics of organizations, their meaning, content, functions and types. 10. Code of ethics of the manager. 11. Ethical dilemmas and factors influencing their solution. 12. Ethical audit. 13. Presentation of the semester project.

Requirements to complete the course

Elaboration and presentation of a semester project 40 %
Written exam 60 %

Student workload

78 hours total, of which:
26 hours participation in seminars
13 hours preparation for seminars
16 hours processing of semester assignment
23 hours exam preparation

Language whose command is required to complete the course

Slovak

Date of approval: 10.03.2022

Date of the latest change: 17.12.2022