Macquarie University

Business and Professional Ethics - PHIX201

This unit provides students with an introduction to some of the main ethical issues raised by the activities of businesses and corporations as well as an introduction to some central topics in professional ethics. In the first part of the unit we examine the roles and responsibilities of corporations in relation to society and the environment. We ask whether corporations have moral responsibilities to stakeholders other than shareholders and examine competing accounts of economic justice related to this question. Other topics in this section include business and the environment and the ethics of advertising and marketing. The second part of the unit includes a discussion of ethical issues that arise in the context of relations between industry and the professions, focusing on justice in health research and conflicts of interest in medicine. Other topics in this section include ethics and globalisation, the influence of corporations on government, affirmative action, and whistleblowing. This unit is relevant to students in accounting and business as well as those in the humanities and social sciences.

All enrolment queries should be directed to Open Universities Australia (OUA): see www.open.edu.au