Business Ethics

Explore how to apply a variety of practical and ethical approaches with interactive practice exercises.
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Online

34 online lessons

5 practice exercises

CPD Accredited

Digital certificate

2.5 hours of learning

Course Outcomes

  • Grasp why business ethics is essential to business success
  • Apply the habits of business ethics to your daily life
  • Make well-informed decisions when faced with a moral dilemma
  • Recognize your own ethical and moral strengths.
  • Participate in crucial conversations about business ethics with colleagues
  • Contribute to a healthy workplace environment
  • Help your company exceed its bottom-line goals

Maintaining a high level of ethical standards

In this course, you'll learn about ethics, morality, and business ethics in ways that you haven't before. You'll be guided to reflect on your ethical character and moral attributes so that you can apply what you learn to both your professional and personal life.

You will experience moral dilemmas first-hand through simulated and embodied experiences and have the opportunity to choose what you think would be the right decision if you were faced with these dilemmas in real life.

Part One

In this part, we establish some clarity about the meanings of ethics and morality, and why the principles and practice of business ethics are so crucial for you and your team to create and maintain long-term business success.

We explore the similarities between the five ethical approaches we will be adopting, as well as the differences between them:

We will then consider the practical significance of ethics and morality by considering their relation to both the legal system as well as corporate by-laws. We will examine how our individual ethical behavior relates to, fits with, and is governed by an organization's code of ethics, as well as the establishment of the protocol.

Finally, we will accentuate the importance of this formal structure and emphasize the importance of, and need for, teamwork and collaboration whenever we are faced with complex moral dilemmas in the workplace.

We are calling these five approaches:

Ethics as Excellence
Ethics as Responsibility
Ethics as the Greatest Happiness or Pleasure
Ethics as the Production of Good Consequences
Ethics as Empathic Care

Part Two

In Part Two, you will have the chance to practice what you've learned by applying these principles to a few, complex, simulated moral dilemmas. You'll experience 5 different scenarios of common moral problems that often contribute to unhealthy workplace environments:

Harassment: Bullying in the Workplace
Sexual Harassment
Embezzlement
Misappropriation of Funds
Taking Credit for Another's Work
In each scenario, you will have the chance to make a number of difficult decisions, and each decision you make will take you down a certain path and lead to a unique ending.

Online learning, done differently

This course combines online learning with practice exercises for a unique learning approach. At certain points throughout this Business Ethics course, you'll be prompted to experience what you've learned.

Online classes

Learn through a series of videos, quizzes, and case studies online - available to access at any time.

Practice exercises

Practice what you learn with interactive exercises. Deepen your understanding of ethics by being put in the situation and see how you react.

Improve with feedback

Receive feedback on your performance to help identify ethical areas you need to learn more about.

Course Content

1. Introduction
Welcome | A Tale of Ethics | What to Expect
2. Understanding Ethics
Beyond Belief and Opinion | Five Approaches to Ethical Thinking and Practice | Ethics and Morality: What are the Differences that Matter | Business Ethics: Case Study Examples
3. Ethics as Excellence
The original meaning of "ethics" | Habit, happiness, and doing well | Virtue as Excellence | Two Roadblocks on the Path to Greatness
4. Ethics as Responsibility
The Need for a Strong Foundation for Ethics | Goodness as Good Will and Intent | Some Imperatives | The Categorical Imperative
5. Ethics as the Greatest Happiness
The Ethics of Epicurean Life | Is Hedonism Ethical? | The Calculus of Happiness | The Levels of Pleasure or Why Are Not all Pleasure is Pleasing
6. Ethics as the Production of Good Consequences
In this section, we provide frameworks and examples for how to write and structure a speech, with a particular focus on the introduction.
7. Ethics as Empathic Care
What is Empathy? | A Pluralistic Account | Empathic Care | Morality and Development
8. Establishing Expectations and Expecting Exceptions
Introduction | Morality and Ethics versus Legality | Following Protocol or an Established Code of Ethics | Peer Pressure and Whistleblowing | Difficult Situations and Unique Contexts: On Making a Judgement Call | Teamwork and Collaboration
9. Practice Experiences
Harassment: Bullying in the Workplace | Sexual Harassment | Embezzlement | Misappropriation of Funds | Taking Credit for Another's Work
Your Instructor

Dr. Mark Fagiano

Dr. Mark Fagiano is an internationally recognized author and scholar in the subjects of philosophy and ethics. His 2019 essay describing his unified theory of empathy was awarded the Papazian prize and was published in the International Journal for Philosophical Studies. He is currently finishing his book on empathy and will be publishing it with Bloomsbury Press.

After teaching at four different universities for the last 10 years, Dr. Fagiano launched his own education company in Los Angeles California, Elevate Ethics, which creates and distributes visceral and embodied experiences of common moral dilemmas and empathic situations.

This Business Ethics course has been designed based on Mark's research into neuroscience, psychology, and the history of ethics.

Practice exercises

Experience different ethical situations with immersive videos. At key points during the online course, you'll be prompted to experience what you've learned in one of these exercises.

Bullying
Sexual harassment
Embezzlement
Misappropriation of funds
Taking credit for another's work

CHRISTOPHER MURPHY

"The combination of ethical scenarios and online classes is highly effective because you get to experience difficult situations, see how you react in a risk-free context, and then learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the ethical theories that your reactions resemble. It's a chance not only to experience and practice handling difficult situations but also to understand what sort of reasoning is behind your preferred way of handling those situations."
What's included in this course:
  • 2.5 hours of learning
  • 3 case studies
  • 5 practice exercises
  • All exercise features
  • Quizzes and assessment
  • Earn a digital course certificate
  • Flexible, self-led format
  • Access to updated content
CEU - Continuing Education Units

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

CPD Credits / Hours: 2.5

Certificate No: A031906

Access all courses

US $45

(per month)

All training in the course catalogue

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Frequently Asked Questions

1How do I access the online classes and practice exercises?

You can access the classes through the VirtualSpeech website, on any standard web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.

The practice exercises can be completed online or in virtual reality (if you have a VR headset).

2When do I get access to the training?

When you enroll in the course, you'll get 24/7 access to the course (including tutorial videos, case studies, practice exercises, VR, and more) through the VirtualSpeech website and in VR.

3What equipment do I need for the practice exercises?

Both the online classes and exercises run in your browser, no additional software or download is required.

If you have a VR headset, you can also access the practice exercises in VR. Here's a list of our recommended VR headsets.

The online exercises have been tested across multiple browsers and run smoothly on Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Edge.

4How can I pay?

We accept payment via Credit Card, Debit Card or PayPal directly through the VirtualSpeech site. If you'd like to pay with an Invoice or using another payment method, please contact us.

5Can I buy this course for multiple people / my team?

Yes you can. After pressing the 'Buy Now' button on this page, select the number of users (maximum is 25).

After the payment, you'll be made course admin and can add users to the course from the admin dashboard.

6Can I get a certificate when I complete this course?

Yes, when you've completed this course, we'll send you a Certificate of Achievement, which you can share in the Certifications section of your LinkedIn profile, on printed resumes, CVs, or other documents.

7What is the refund policy?

If the course does not meet your expectations, you can get a full refund within 7 days of purchasing the course.