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Reid, L A; Weber, C M --- "Using technology-enabled active learning tools to introduce business ethics topics in business law courses: a few practical examples" [2009] LegEdDig 9; (2009) 17(1) Legal Education Digest 29


Using technology-enabled active learning tools to introduce business ethics topics in business law courses: a few practical examples

L A Leib & C M Weber

25 (2) J Legal Stud Educ, 2008, pp 283–305

Business schools have a unique responsibility to advance their students’ ethical awareness and ethical reasoning skills, as well as to increase the students’ understanding of the core ethical principles that will help to guide them as they navigate the evolving legal and compliance environment that is today’s business world. As such, there is an onus on business school faculty to develop curricula to inspire today’s students to be cognisant of the countless ethical considerations in business. Beyond recognition, it is incumbent upon business faculty to provide students with tools that will assist them in forming an effective response to the ethical dilemmas that arise in the workplace, on both personal and organisational levels. This responsibility is further challenged by the increasing proliferation of asynchronous learning environments, wherein direct interpersonal contact between student and instructor is minimal at best.

We have found business law courses to be an excellent occasion to raise and explore ethical issues inherent in business situations. Many laws have a moral content, and many serious legal problems begin as ethical problems.

The study of ethics in the context of business law takes on a global perspective in an examination of the difference in outcomes of the antitrust cases brought against Microsoft in the United States and the European Union. On a more individual level, the effect of e-commerce on ethical issues is brought home by examination of the global ramifications of eBay, and the necessity of dealing with the ethics and mores of customers and vendors in an environment of global diversity and international law; one recalls the difficulties encountered by an American seller with respect to advertising memorabilia from Nazi Germany on eBay, thus violating French law, and the censorship controversy that arose when Google agreed to block Web access by Chinese customers to online content deemed ‘objectionable’ by the government of the People’s Republic of China.

Significantly, however, ethics is not simply prescribed or proscribed conduct to be learned from a code or set of rules. Rather, it is an active decision-making behaviour based on duties and consequences. Learning ethics requires taking part in this active decision making. A student’s recurring exposure to diverse business ethics issues is as important in the business world as is the student’s knowledge of the specific laws acquired in a business law course. It is our contention that a more effective method for developing future business leaders is to challenge students to consider the ethical, along with the legal, ‘bottom line’, by addressing real life situations and dilemmas in ‘real time’, that is, as contemporaneous challenges that are encountered in the decision-making process on an ongoing basis rather than simply as an exercise in historical review.

When ethical dilemmas or challenges are encountered in the business world, they are not mere theoretical discussions; there are consequences to be foreseen, and courses of action to be chosen. At that point, the focus is on what needs to happen next. As we expect our students to learn to make sound decisions, we need to cultivate recognition of potential consequences and effective decision making in a context akin to that which will be encountered in the ‘real world’, where action is required. What better way, then, to inculcate students with the necessity of including the consideration of ethics as an integral aspect of decision making in business, than to utilise active learning?

The challenge becomes finding the tools and techniques that will encourage the student to move from passivity to active learning. We have found that the challenges associated with understanding the complexities of ethics in business lend themselves particularly well to technology-enabled active learning tools. Such tools can be employed to teach students to identify various stakeholders’ interests (which are often conflicting) and to recognise that different actors have different ethics and ethical standards, and that these standards must be accommodated or confronted, depending on their relationship to societal standards. This recognition can also be applied to the standards of diverse societies, to foster understanding of how businesses and individuals reach accord so as to allow for an effective ongoing business relationship, or to terminate the relationship where the dichotomy is so great as to render a relationship inadvisable. Of course, these tools can be used to examine the consequences of unethical behaviour, and to consider means to correct improprieties before they become liabilities.

The most common resource available to students and instructors alike, of course, is the textbook. Current business law textbooks routinely devote a chapter to ethics and often position that chapter prior to material on substantive law. Typically, this chapter discusses the following areas: the meaning of ethics in general, and business ethics; establishment of an ethical tone; examples of the consequences of ethical shortcomings; ethics and the law; approaches to ethical reasoning; and global applications of ethics.

There are limitations to this format, however. Not the least of these problems is the academic background of the typical business law instructor who has a law degree. These instructors tend to rely on the law schools’ approach to teaching, that is, the use of the case book. In studying case law, the student is expected to learn the basic principles of law, and how those principles are typically applied in individual cases. In the context of an undergraduate business law course and textbook, the case approach is subject to editing of the case that is often severe, and that may obscure the underlying ethical challenge, including its origins.

If the case is not heavily edited and appears in its original language and length, it may be so daunting as to discourage careful consideration; the undergraduate student will shy away from reading the case.

A further drawback arises from the fact that the cases in the textbook are appellate court cases. The courts consider only those issues presented to them by the litigants; these typically will be arguments involving questions of law. The underlying causes of the ethical lapses remain obscure at best, and often are unreferenced in the appellate decision. An appellate court decision specifically discussing ethics is almost unheard of, as the decision is based on interpretation of the law itself.

The broad coverage of an undergraduate business law textbook presents difficulty vis-à-vis consideration of the ethical component of a business decision. Typically, the textbook covers foundations of law, torts, criminal law, contracts, business organisations and their formation, securities law, antitrust, property, intellectual property, and international law.

In covering all of these subjects, key legal elements must be discussed. This leaves little room for discussion of ethical ramifications, which must be addressed as integral factors in business decision-making. It is incumbent upon the instructor, therefore, to introduce the ethical considerations involved in business disputes.

Three other problems present themselves in the reliance on appellate court decisions in the teaching of business ethics. The cases used tend to be clear-cut, or at least currently are clear-cut, as they are established law. It would be beneficial to examine scenarios wherein the conduct in question is less obvious: while most of us would agree that embezzling $1 million is wrong, how would we react to taking home a box of pens without permission? Or, in an example near and dear to the hearts of the authors’ students, what is so bad about downloading music without the artists’ permission?

A related problem is the language of court decisions, in that these decisions are drafted by legal scholars. While the language is familiar and relatively comfortable for legal scholars, it can be problematic for those outside of the legal profession. Especially in introducing the analysis of ethical topics in business, it is beneficial to use language more accessible to students. Such language is likely to come from sources that are more specifically business related than law related.

Finally, appellate court decisions, while creating law, are retrospective in terms of analysis, that is, they focus on the past. The goal of addressing ethics in a business law course, or any academic course for that matter, is for students to be able to identify ethical issues and to use that knowledge to take appropriate action, both during the course and in their professional endeavours. While the case outcome does emphasise the consequences of unethical behaviour, we are explicitly informing the student that the case involves unethical behaviour and are specifying what that behaviour is. We do little to prepare the student to recognise an ethical challenge at its inception, let alone equip the student to select a course of action that will resolve the dilemma. The companion element of this disadvantage to using the textbook is that while the case creates updated and upgraded standards of conduct, the case is itself completed, under most circumstances. We miss the element of impact: what was the result to the business or individual involved in the ethical dilemma? It would be beneficial to see how the problem was ultimately handled and whether the business or individual’s conduct changed as a result. The textbook, while an integral element of the teaching and learning process, is inadequate to be the sole teaching tool in discussion of ethics and ethical behaviour, and the selection of a proper mode of conduct.

Engaging students in higher-order thinking requires a variety of techniques to enhance the varied learning styles of students. Our students are undoubtedly the most technologically advanced generation to date, so the use of technology is at once familiar to our audience and by its immediacy gives access to current situations in the business world. Visual media, such as films, videotapes, demonstrations, television, and the Internet, have the advantage of being easy to deliver in most classroom environments and are inherently interesting to the current generation of students. We use simulations and role plays, media resources, interactive games, discussion forums, and Web logs.

The tools we employ, though varied, comport with the philosophy of active learning and the parameters of the Framework for Ethical Decision Making developed at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics: Recognise an Ethical Issue; Get the Facts; Evaluate Alternative Actions From Various Ethical Perspectives; Make a Decision and Test It; Act, Then Reflect on the Decision Later.

Through these active learning tools, we seek to encourage students to integrate ethical considerations into business decision making by utilising the aforementioned framework to address a business challenge in an environment wherein a student can explore alternatives and select the best practice absent ‘real’ consequences.

Putting theory into practice, simulations and role plays offer students the opportunity and challenge to demonstrate what they have learned in a controlled environment. As a group exercise, they provide a vehicle whereby students can move from enlightened self interest to consideration of the needs and interests of other stakeholders, and the organisation in toto.

You Be the Judge is an online interactive product from McGraw-Hill. Access to the product is via a password bundled with McGraw-Hill business law texts or purchased separately. It includes enactments of 18 hypothetical business law cases, all of which are based on real cases within the accompanying business law texts, the underlying bases of which include contract law, tort law, employment law, property law, and consumer protection law.

Each enactment allows the students to view interviews of the plaintiff and defendant before the courtroom argument, see the courtroom proceedings, review relevant evidence, read actual cases relating to the issues in the case, and create their own rulings, as judge or jury. After the decisions are generated (or one ‘verdict’ is decided upon, if it is a group exercise), the students view what the actual judge ruled (unscripted) in the case. The students then get the chance to defend or change their ruling. It generally takes only one or two students with envelope-pushing legal arguments to get more conservative-thinking members of the group to join in the discussions. The goal of the product is to teach critical thinking and analysis. Our experience is that student-group use provides additional stimulation to discuss and debate the resolution of the legal and ethical issues presented.

Shaping our Culture is an online ethics awareness training exercise Lockheed Martin uses to sensitise its employees to ‘ethics, diversity, and full spectrum leadership’ issues. The exercise consists of introductory remarks by Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Stevens, as well as minicases that deal with seven ethical dilemmas.

After viewing each case video, students are asked to answer online questions about the issues involved and how the situation may be resolved. Not all answers are clear-cut; some are partially correct. We encourage our students to share their own similar experiences, and to discuss them in context of the videos. Through group interaction and discussion, the exercise enables students (or, in the Lockheed Martin case, employees) to gain a better understanding of what constitutes an ethical issue and how to resolve it. We find these vignettes to be modern and realistic examples of what our students might expect to encounter in the workplace.

Drama of the Law I is a series of light and entertaining video dramatisations published by South-Western/Cengage Learning that helps students realise that ethical and legal issues are all around them. The main characters are Vinny Garcia, an employee at Kowalski’s Supermarket; Oscar Schmidt, the supermarket manager; and Maria Fuentes, a customer. Points of law address major concepts covered in business law courses, including agency law, contract law, and personal property and bailments. Each scenario is approximately seven to ten minutes in length and provides a wealth of material for class discussion, or to test students on concepts. Drama of the Law II takes place at a car dealership; students are introduced to Tony and Shelly, two car sales representatives, and Herman, the owner of the dealership. The segments cover such topics as consumer protection, employment law, intellectual property, environmental regulation, and free speech.

We generally assign groups of students to consider and represent the legal and ethical interests of the respective parties depicted in the vignettes. As the students view the videos, we guide them to consider the needs of their ‘client’, and the ramifications of their actions vis-à-vis other actors and society at large, including potential civil and criminal liability. Afterward, we encourage the students to engage in discourse, utilising the ethical framework, particularly to propose and test possible resolutions. By doing so, students’ horizons are broadened by the insights of their classmates. They often find that there are facets of the depicted problem they had not recognised, as well as multiple solutions.

While these videos are a bit dated, having been published in 1992 and 1994, respectively, they nevertheless serve as an effective springboard for lively group discussions and related individual assignments.

Business Reality-Principles of Business Ethics is a Web-based software application that can be used as an ethics training and teaching support vehicle for students within any basic business class. Employing an interactive software format, the exercise attempts to mirror the parameters and constraints associated with the reality of business.

Via the Web, students engage in interactive play as they progress through their own game of business reality from the age of 23 to retirement at age 63, during which they face numerous legal and ethical dilemmas. At the start, the simulation software allows the student to join an ethical, semiethical, or unethical company. Based in theory, each company has been programmed with its appropriate outcome probability. Each ‘year’ of the game, the student answers a different business ethics vignette. Depending on the company the student has chosen, different consequences will result. Outcomes range from getting fired, to experiencing financial loss, or to simply receiving a negative employment report.

As they react to different situations, students reap different rewards or penalties based upon realistic probabilities built into the software. If the student does not make a decision within the time allowed, the software makes the choice for him or her. Success or failure in the game depends upon a number of variables: (1) how well the student retains business principles, (2) how the student defines his or her basic set of values, (3) what decisions the student makes concerning the time at work versus home, and (4) how much ethical content the student retains at the end of the game. At the game’s end, the student’s values and goals are contrasted with financial achievements and home life. What one student might deem adequate performance, another might perceive as failure. Each game is unique and semiunpredictable. Student participants may be graded in a variety of ways, including: (1) by comparing the differences between pre and post exam scores on business ethics content, (2) by comparing the student’s value and moral philosophy structure to his/her behaviour in the game, or (3) by counting the number of illegal decisions the student made.

If various students choose to engage in similar scenarios, at the same ethical level, they can, upon completion of their ‘electronic careers’, compare experiences with their peers, learning what crises were encountered and what solutions were chosen.

Many news organisations, MSNBC.com, CNN.com, BBC.co.uk, WSJ.com, and Reuters.com, to name only a few, provide online multimedia and extras that serve as excellent resources for current examples of business ethics issues. While it is not always feasible to integrate these resources in the classroom, when it is possible, they can be quite effective. During our discussion of the issue of corporate liability for the criminal acts of employees and the related theories of vicarious liability and respondeat superior with our students in fall of 2006, the Hewlett-Packard spying scandal unfolded. Related news videos of less than a minute or two in duration lent themselves readily to inclusion in an otherwise tightly scheduled class. News videos may be easily found online. MSN Video, for example, provides a tool that allows the user to search MSN and other Web source videos using searcher supplied terms. Using ‘HP’ and ‘spying’ as search terms, our search resulted in 53 links to relevant online video clips from numerous news sources.

Other online resources include blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds and interactive features. WSJ.com, for example, incorporates all of these.

The Wall Street Journal also publishes The Weekly Review, a weekly email that specifically addresses discipline needs by directing professors to relevant WSJ articles. The weekly, discipline-specific emails (formerly known as Educators’ Reviews) are written by professors and are designed to help instructors easily integrate WSJ content into their classes. Each email highlights three to five recent WSJ articles and includes summaries, discussion questions, and WSJ.com links. One of the weekly reviews is a business ethics review. The reviews are emailed to subscribers every Friday. Stimulating, discipline-oriented discussion questions accompany each review. A six-year archive is also available online, so instructors can easily find past pertinent articles for the current week’s classes.

Now firmly established as a technology-enabled learning tool, a Web log is a Web site where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. Abbreviated as ‘blog’, these Web sites often provide commentary or news on a particular subject, such as politics, local news, or even business ethics. Better than hard copy readings that must be reserved, copied, or scanned, we regularly assign blog articles that our students can access free of charge, from any place with an Internet connection, and on their own time.

Two of our favourite sources are Chris MacDonald’s Business Ethics Blog, and Allison Garrett’s International Corporate Governance. Neither pro- nor antibusiness, MacDonald points out the factual ethical concerns underlying the current headlines.

Business Ethics Jeopardy is an interactive game, designed using Power-Point to motivate students to actively participate in class and assume more responsibility for learning. The template for building the computer-based game board is available online from numerous sources.

This game follows the format of the popular game show televised around the world: teams of students select answers of varying point value and difficulty from several categories. When they believe they know the question that correctly corresponds to the answer displayed, they signal with a clicker, buzzer, bell, or other similar device to have the opportunity to ask the question. The team that ‘buzzes in’ first is allowed to ask the question. That team is awarded points for a correct response or loses points for an incorrect response. There is a final question on which the respective teams may wager up to their entire point total. The official winner is the team with the most points. By hearing the correct responses and collaborating with teammates, everyone benefits. On occasion, small prizes, such as candy, have been awarded to the winners.

We attempt to create categories of answers that will appeal to all learning types: for example, ‘Name that Perp’ for visual learners, and for those adept at memorisation, ‘Restate the Restatement’. We encourage the kinesthetic learners to control the buzzer. Just as often, we encourage groups of students who describe themselves as retiring and noncompetitive to come up with the questions and answers for the game. We generally find that this group of students, who might not otherwise willingly participate in the exercise, benefit greatly from their ‘hands-on’ assignment and learn as much as, if not more than, the student ‘contestants’.

Even as this article is written, we recognise that it is not fully current, as with the growth of clicker/polling technology, which is not addressed herein. Just as new ethical dilemmas constantly occur, the tools for consideration and resolution of ethical dilemmas, and formation of ethical behaviour are expanding. This expansion provides the opportunity for educators to keep abreast of changes almost as rapidly as they occur, in a format that is fresh, vibrant, and more likely to maintain students’ interest than more traditional forms of instruction. However, it is just as important to remember that as ethics and moral conduct still follow certain traditions, we still find that the more traditional tools have their place: we are adding to the palette, rather than eliminating tried-and-true approaches.


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