BSc Management (Marketing) with Industrial/Professional Experience

This course provides a comprehensive understanding of business ethics in modern work organizations. Students will explore key concepts and theories, focusing on ethical and unethical behaviours within organisations. They will gain awareness of how organizations strive to manage their workforce and environments responsibly and sustainably. The course covers non-mainstream elements of organizational life, including organizational misbehavior and corporate crime. Students will develop skills to analyze and solve organizational ethical problems using business ethics knowledge. Additionally, they will understand the increasing importance of ethics, corporate responsibility, and sustainability for organizations today. Through lectures, discussions, and real-world examples, students will be equipped to contribute to ethical decision-making and promote ethical behavior in their future careers.

Available as option for BSc Mgt/Mgt Specialism, IM and IMABS. Core for BSc Management with SEB Specialism.

Available as option for BSc Mgt/Mgt Specialism and IM.

This course aims to explore key ideas about ethical and unethical behavior in organizations, including how organisations manage corporate social responsibility and sustainability. The course also examines lesser-known topics like unethical behaviour at work and provides tools to analyse and address ethical problems. Through lecture, discussions, and real-life case studies, students will gain skills to understand ethical decision-making and ethical behaviour in their future careers. 

Lectures in this module may cover topics such as, but not limited to:

• Normative ethics

• Ethical decision-making models and theories

• Individual and organisational factors of ethical decision-making
• Ethical leadership
• Corporate social responsibility

• Sustainability

• Ethical consumerism
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 

For this module, class contact is divided between lectures and seminars. These will use a mix of traditional lecturing, case studies, discussions, and interactive tools to gather live feedback (e.g., Mentimeter).  

We will communicate with students through Blackboard/Canvas, including a discussion forum where students can communicate between themselves and with staff about lecture topics and coursework. This can be done asynchronously.  

• Acquire awareness of ethically responsible and sustainable management practices in organizations 
• Demonstrate knowledge of how individual and organisational characteristics influence ethical and unethical behaviours at work 
• Understand key topics related to business ethics and behavioural ethics, such as (but not limited to): corporate social responsibility, ethical decision-making theories, sustainability, leadership.  
 

• Understand the significance of ethics, corporate responsibility, and sustainability 
• Analyse and address organizational ethical problems 
• Apply academic and theoretical concepts to real cases of ethical business

• Use library and online resources, in an informed way, to enhance understanding of ethical concepts 
• Integrate both academic and non-academic texts to formulate evaluations  
 

• Appreciate and understand alternative ethical views and actions in the real world. 
• Develop presentation skills to clearly communicate complex topics, like ethics, to an appropriately informed audience 
 

Formative Assessment:

• Anonymous feedback surveys
• Group discussions (lecture and seminars)

Summative Assessment:

• Group presentation (20%)
• Individual reflective essay (80%)
 

Formative:

• General feedback given in lecture 
• Feedback will be delivered verbally by lecturer (in lecture) or by GTA (in seminar)

Summative:

• Feedback will be provided to the group as a whole within 15 days of submission 
• Individual feedback is provided within 15 days of submission

• Core text: Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2015). Business ethics (4th ed.). Oxford: OUP Oxford. 
Note: Both the 3rd and 4th editions are acceptable 
• Supplementary text: Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrel, L. (2022). Business Ethics: Ethical decision making and cases (13th ed.). Cengage. 

Other texts and journal articles will be used in conjunction with these texts. Reading lists will be provided with lecture content prior to class. 

Pre-requisites: None
Co-requisites: None
Dependent courses: None

Programme Restrictions: BSc Management and Management (Specialisms), BSc International Management.

BMAN24261 is available to study abroad and exchange students admitted through the University of Manchester’s International Programmes Office

For Academic Year 2025/26

Updated: March 2025

Approved by: March UG Committee