Ethical Leadership and Stakeholder Strategy

Upcoming Dates: February 28, 2025
Time: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Cost: $1,420
Location/Format: UH Campus

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Note: This course can be taken either independently or as part of the Responsible Leadership certificate program. If participants choose to register in both this course and the “Sustainability Leadership: People, Planet, and Profits” course, participants will earn a Certificate in Responsible Leadership.

Ethical leadership enhances an organization's bottom line by boosting its reputation and legitimacy in a competitive environment. However, many firms struggle with developing ethical leadership effectively. This course is designed to help professionals, strategic leaders, and business consultants understand how to integrate ethics into their decision-making processes to improve firm performance. Participants will gain a fundamental understanding of stakeholder management, learn strategies for analyzing solutions and alternatives, and implement ethical decision-making in a business context. The course will also cover various ethical issues and controversies related to technology, employees, and consumer stakeholders, as well as potential strategies for developing ethical leadership for the future of business.

• Module #1 Ethical Principles and Stakeholder Management

  Ethical leadership is crucial in creating responsible business strategies and activities that support better organizational performance and sustainability. This session will cover the key concepts and fundamental principles of management ethics. We will discuss examples of business ethics scandals and their implications for firm strategies and performance. You will learn strategies for making ethical judgments, developing positive ethical behaviors of moral leaders, and performing ethics checks and tests in your organization. Since business ethical issues often affect multiple stakeholders such as employees, customers, and investors, you will also learn the stakeholder management framework, as well as opportunities and challenges in managing firms' stakeholders effectively.

• Module #2 Ethical Reasoning Process and Crisis/Risk Management

  No single business solution can universally solve ethical dilemmas, as each situation is unique. In this session, you will learn a step-by-step process for conducting an ethical analysis of your organization using a stakeholder approach. We will discuss how to identify ethical issues and determine the key stakeholders involved, analyze potential conflicts and trade-offs between their interests, and develop strategies to address the ethical challenges in the organization. As ethical issues can pose a high level of risk and threaten a company's legitimacy and reputation, you will also learn practical strategies for effective crisis management. You will have the opportunity to apply the ethical reasoning process and crisis management techniques to a real business case.

• Module #3 Leading to Sustainability Ethics

  Strategic leaders have a responsibility to address the interests and demands of various stakeholders. In this session, you will learn about business ethics and the challenges related to the technological environment, including digital waste and transformation, data privacy, and cybercrime. We will also discuss biotechnology and bioethics and how they affect consumer stakeholders and the natural environment. Furthermore, we will examine business ethics related to employee treatment as well as marketing and advertising practices. We will use several business cases to illustrate ethical issues and discuss strategies to overcome those challenges to safeguard firms’ legitimacy and reputation.

By the end of the day:

Participants will have a greater understanding of the following:

• Key principles of ethical leadership and stakeholder management in the organization.
• Identifying situations in which unethical conduct might be likely.
• Learning a structured process for conducting an ethical reasoning analysis.
• Describing the process for dealing with an ethical crisis in the organization.
• Developing strategies for the ethical issues related to technology, employees, and customers.

Who Should Attend

• Seasoned executives, directors, and strategic leaders who want to understand the impact of sustainability and the future trends in ESG.
• Middle managers who want to learn how to integrate sustainability and ESG efforts in their organizations.
• Individual contributors, entrepreneurs, and small business owners who want to gain fundamental knowledge of developing an effective sustainability business model.

Instructor