ONLINE FIRST
published on October 15, 2014
Adam Potthast
How to Teach Business Ethics
In this article, I discuss the problems and promise of teaching business ethics for both philosophers and non-philosophers. I emphasize the importance of teaching skills of ethical thinking (as opposed to ethical theories), especially Mary Gentile's Giving Voice to Values curriculum. I also survey the typical topics covered in business ethics courses and give some tips on what to emphasize when covering each topic. Throughout the article, I urge instructors to consider the needs of students going into business and not to underestimate the amount of business knowledge necessary to teach the course. While covering the ethical problems with business, I also urge instructors to incorporate positive cases and to consider showing how profitable business and ethical behavior can coincide by managing for stakeholders.