Ethics and the Changing Role of Corporations in Society

This comprehensive course examines how the role of the corporate sector has changed—from a shareholder-centric business model to a multi-stakeholder business model. It provides CPAs and others with an in-depth understanding of why ethical practices are fundamental to the success of any organization today, regardless of the industry, type, or size of the organization. It describes how individual employees, teams, and corporations can navigate complex and challenging situations using an ethical mindset. Using plenty of real-life examples and several case studies, the course will demonstrate that there is a return on investment from ethical business practices and that our standards and expectations for business ethics are rising and rightly so.

Topics include:

• Global corporate scandals and lessons learned
• Balancing profit and purpose
• The 4th Industrial Revolution and its impact
• How business ethics is different from the law
• The return on investment from ethical business practices
• Importance of employees
• 6-step framework for ethical decision-making
• Mini ethical dilemma case studies
• Crisis response ideas and cases
• Emerging issues in accounting—AI, ESG
• Measuring social impact
• B Corp Certification