Ethics in Finance

The financial crisis and countless corporate scandals have shed light on the significant financial, social, and environmental costs of unethical and illegal behaviour. Why then does such misbehaviour still happen at the frequency we see and what can organisations do about it?

This course will provide the participants with an understanding and a ready-to-implement toolbox to improve ethical awareness and decisions in their organisations.

In particular, the learning objectives of the workshop are to:

1. Recognise whether an issue has ethical implications

2. Solve professional ethical dilemmas

3. Be able to voice and defend their own values

4. Assess the values of the organisation in which they work

5. Implement effective CSR activities

• Session 1: What is ethical? How to solve an ethical dilemma?

  • The value of business ethics

  • Difference between ethics and compliance

  • Difference between an ethical dilemma and a moral temptation

  • The 7 steps to solve any ethical dilemma

• Session 2: Why do good people make unethical / illegal decisions?

  • The ethical decision-making process

  • Individual and psychological factors that influence the decision-making process

  • Situational and contextual factors that influence the decision-making process

• Session 3: Become an ethical leader: Speaking-up and Organisational Culture

  • Organisational culture and ethical leadership

  • How to speak-up and give voice to values (GVV)

• Session 4: CSR, sustainability and firm performance

  • Shareholder Value Maximisation vs. Stakeholder Perspective

  • The CSR pyramid: Economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities

  • Sustainability and firm performance

The course targets middle and senior managers working in the financial sector.