Modular Learning Objectives

Welcome to Module 5!

Organizational culture has been variously defined, but most would agree that culture is a set of understandings that are shared by the members of an organization. Culture includes shared beliefs and values that give the organization meaning; culture provides its membership with guidelines by which they should act and behave.  Organizational culture includes traditions, stories, symbols, rites, and artifacts. While an organization’s culture is tacit in nature – that is, it often goes unnoticed by its members – it is still one of the most centrally important characteristics of the organization. This is why ethical behaviors – whether good or bad – are so closely tied to culture (indeed, we might say that ethics are embedded within an organization’s culture). In Module 5, we turn to a discussion of business ethics and its integral relationship to the culture of the organization.

We'll use the Session Long Project to write a short paper intended to critically evaluate a business ethics article using the formatting, writing, and referencing guidelines that we've learned throughout the course. These guidelines will need to be used throughout the balance of your graduate program.