Students at a Calgary-area school are the first in the country to help launch a new business ethics curriculum which deals with everything from non-disclosure clauses to morals-based decision-making.
“Given everything that’s going on in the business world, I think it’s a suitable topic to be discussing,” says Erlynn Gococo, manager of high school programs for Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta (www.jasouthalberta.org).
JA is piloting the 12-week program at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir, a private high school near Okotoks which offers an International Baccalaureate (IB) class in Economics.
Since September, 16 students in the IB class have been following the adventures of a fictional company, Serial Cereals, which is marketing a new breakfast product that changes colour when milk is added.
Problem is, the psychedelic cereal has already made several people ill. Should the young summer interns at the company who have been hired to test the product speak out publicly? Why does the company’s lawyer offer a settlement to the family of a sick child but make them promise not to tell the media? And what role should the board of directors play after it learns about the tainted cereal?
The program, called Global Business Ethics, is being tested in several countries, including Argentina, Japan, Kazakhstan, Russia and the U.S. Participating students have the opportunity to discuss the unfolding intrigue at Serial Cereals with their peers around the world.
Before now, ethics has never been a part of any of the high school programs offered by JA, which include courses on banking and entrepreneurship. “It wasn’t that it was overlooked, but it’s a hot topic right now, and it’s something that JA wants to offer to work hand in hand with our other business programs,” Gococo says.
The idea for the course was started by the John Templeton Foundation, a U.S. philanthropic organization which promotes ties between science and spirituality. Corporate sponsor is ExxonMobil. The primary goal of the program – whose curriculum has been developed by the Ethics Resource Center in Washington, D.C. – is to help students understand how to make conscientious, ethical business decisions.
Carolyn Sterenberg, a JA volunteer instructor teaching the program at Strathcona-Tweedsmuir, thinks it’s a good idea for students to learn values- oriented lessons as they unravel the mysteries of traditional economics.
“Giving people a framework to make ethical decisions is important at any level, and the more tools we have, the easier it will be for them and they can integrate them into their own decision-making processes,” says Sterenberg, a part-time marketing sales and management instructor at Mount Royal College.
Her observation of the program so far is that the curriculum may not be a perfect fit for a IB-level class, and perhaps is better suited for younger grades.
Strathcona-Tweedsmuir economics teacher Gerry Blais agrees, but says the opportunity to discuss ethical issues with students around the world over the Internet is a huge benefit for his class. “It allows us to broaden our discussion to incorporate perspectives from other places around the world,” Blais says.
“We’re interested in current affairs and how economics plays a role in current issues,” he adds. “And, of course, the big issue over the last few years is the fraud and the ethical problems many companies have run into.
“Things aren’t just all supply and demand and profit motivation, but there are other considerations, and (we look at to) what degree ethics should play a role in the economic decision-making that takes place.”
Gococo says the program will be formally evaluated by early next year, and a decision will be made whether to offer it in the public school system, where several JA programs are already established.
“I’m hoping if we do go forward with this ethics program, and we offer it as part of our suite of high school programs, that certain schools will make it mandatory and will offer it every year. That’s our hope,” she says.
Meanwhile, WestJet founder Clive Beddoe spoke to more than 400 business leaders last week at JA’s annual fund-raising dinner in Calgary.
“Junior Achievement makes a significant contribution to preparing our youth for the complex workplace awaiting them and effectively instils entrepreneurial spirit,” said the WestJet CEO.
Shirley Philips, president of JA of Southern Alberta, said Beddoe’s management style “reflects the values and team-oriented approach that Junior Achievement wants to instil in students.”
Junior Achievement’s Canadian network of 32 chartered offices (for Edmonton, go to www.janorthalberta.org) reaches an estimated 1.2 million young Canadians in about 400 communities. A volunteer base of 11,000 people helps deliver various programs – including entrepreneurship, workforce readiness skills and the economics of staying in school – to elementary, junior high and high school students.
