Ethics

• Real-World Ethical Issues Probed by Business Scholars
• Conferences and Speaker Series
• Ethicist Robert Audi Named Gallo Professor of Business Ethics
• Courses Integrate Social Responsibility and Ethics
• Ambassador Tobias Speaks at Global Healthcare Conference

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Real-World Ethical Issues Probed by Business Scholars

The Institute of Ethical Business Worldwide at Notre Dame hosted an annual conference in 2003 and 2004 inviting distinguished scholars in mainstream disciplines like marketing, finance, accounting and management to identify real-world ethical questions that impact business and society today. The Journal of Business Ethics published issues covering the conferences that included insightful and provocative papers on topics such as:

• Should companies maintain retiree medical benefits and pensions at the expense of current employees, creditors and stakeholders?

• How do children respond to continuous advertising aimed at them?

• What do compensation systems say about the values of a company?

• How should the music industry respond to the competitive threats and promise of new technologies?

• What are the intended and unintended consequences of corporate governance reforms on executive compensation?

Conferences and Speaker Series

• Symposium on Rationality and the Good

• Workshop in Marketing Ethics

• Catholic Charities USA: “From Mission to Service: A Program on Mission-Based Leadership and Organization Development

• Vocation and Ambition: Conversations About the Choices We Make —Speakers: Brian Mahan, Richard Green, John & Catherine Ryan, Jimmy Dunne.

• Cardinal O’Hara Lecture Series in Business Ethics

• Quality Healthcare in Developing Countries: Sustainability, The New Imperative

• Cahill Lecture and Hesburgh Award for Ethics in Business

• Ethics Week Speaker Series

BusinessWeek ranks Mendoza #6 for addressing ethics inside and outside the classroom.

Ethicist Robert Audi Named Gallo Professor of Business Ethics

In 2003 Robert Audi joined the Mendoza College faculty as the David E. Gallo Professor of Business Ethics. Professor Audi’s areas of expertise include the Philosophy of Religion; the Philosophy of Action; Theory of Knowledge and Justification; and Ethics, Theory and Applications, especially in business. Professor Audi has published several articles and books, including Moral Knowledge and Ethical Character (Oxford University Press, 1997), Religious Commitment and Secular Reason (Cambridge University Press, 2000), and The Good in the Right: A Theory of Intuition and Intrinsic Value (Princeton University Press, 2004). In April 2005, Professor Audi hosted the international “Symposium on Rationality and the Good” during which participants—academia drawn from around the world—presented papers critically discussing his work.

Courses Integrate Social Responsibility and Ethics

Notre Dame’s commitment to educate MBA students to become thought leaders begins the moment they step onto campus. Orientation programs focus on community partnerships and social responsibility; MBA and undergraduate core courses examine social impact and stewardship; and elective courses integrate social responsibility, sustainability and ethics. Some of the more than 40 elective course offerings include:

• Business Ethics Field Project

• Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability

• Global Macroeconomic Environment

• Marketing Ethics

• Corporate Responsibility / Business Ethics

• International Business Ethics

• Spirituality and Religion in the Workplace

• Globalization and Multinational Corporate Responsibility

Ambassador Tobias Speaks at Global Healthcare Conference

Ambassador Randall Tobias, Global AIDS Coordinator for the U.S. Government and former Eli Lilly executive, joined with leaders of nongovernmental organizations from developing countries, representatives of major pharmaceutical companies, and scholars for the conference, “Quality Healthcare in Developing Countries: Sustainability, The New Imperative.” Participants in the conference, organized by Professors Oliver Williams and Lee Tavis of the Center for Ethics and Religious Values, discussed the effective delivery of healthcare to the poor suffering from HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other life-threatening illnesses. The group has said it hopes to gain the support of UNICEF and to obtain additional U.S. government funding to provide more medical care and much-needed drugs.