Business Ethics and Corporate Governance syllabus

Business Ethics and Corporate Governance

• 1 Introduction to Business Ethics and Corporate Governance (6 LHs)

  • Concepts, myths and theories of business ethics
  • Causes and consequences of ethical problems
  • Corporate governance concept, evolution and good-governance elements
  • Similarities and differences between business ethics and corporate governance
  • Significance of business ethics and corporate governance
• 2 Ethical Issues in Business (8 LHs)

  • Ethical awareness and foundational values: integrity, honesty and fairness
  • Ethical issues and dilemmas in business
  • Ethical issues in marketing, sales, finance and IT
  • Environmental ethics and whistleblowing
  • Making ethics work in organizations
• 3 Ethical Decision-Making (5 LHs)

  • Concept of ethical decision-making
  • Ethical decision framework: issue intensity, individual and organizational factors, opportunity, intentions, behavior and evaluation
  • Using the ethical decision-making model
  • Normative considerations
• 4 Corporate Governance Theories and Models (6 LHs)

  • Agency, transaction cost, stewardship, stakeholder and resource dependency theories
  • Anglo-American, German, Japanese, Indian and Asian family-based models
• 5 Corporate Governance Structures (6 LHs)

  • Scope of corporate governance
  • Roles of board, auditors, management, shareholders, government, regulators and other stakeholders
  • Governance failure cases and lessons
  • Emerging governance trends
• 6 Business Ethics and Corporate Governance Codes and Standards (7 LHs)

  • Code of ethics: concept, importance and content
  • FNCCI business code of conduct 2061 and NBI code of conduct 2070
  • Nepal Company Act and NRB Unified Directives provisions
  • UN Global Compact, SA 8000, ILO standards, OECD governance principles and ISO 37000
• 7 Framing Business Ethics from Corporate Responsibility Perspective (6 LHs)

  • Law, ethics, governance and CSR: similarities and differences
  • CSR concept and importance
  • Friedman shareholder theory, Freeman stakeholder theory and Carroll CSR pyramid
  • Triple bottom line and creating shared value
  • Nepal legal provisions on CSR
• 8 Business Ethics and Corporate Governance in Nepal (4 LHs)

  • Business ethics issues and improvement in Nepal
  • Governance in family-owned businesses, BFIs and other sectors
  • Governance issues and challenges in Nepal
  • Ways to improve Nepalese corporate governance