Short Course 4: Ethics Philosophies for Application in Business

Members of many professional accounting bodies are required to adhere to the Code of Professional Conduct (CPC) issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), which deals with the ethical behaviours expected from such accounting professionals. Like finance and accounting, ethics has become an essential business function and organisations establish business ethics to promote integrity among their employees and gain trust from their shareholders. While accountants are well versed in the Code of Professional Conduct from a professional point of view, this course explores the various philosophies that have contributed to ethics in business.

As part of this course, ethics or morality will be looked at in concept, and examined systematically and theoretically. The course considers the governance of ethics, the impact of ethics on value creation and the consequences of a poor ethical environment. This understanding will further contribute to the skillset of the Chief Value Officer aimed at bolstering ethical, economic, environmental and social performance for organisations.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

On successful completion of the course, participants will be able to:

• understand the underlying philosophies of ethics and morality, including the strengths and pitfalls of these philosophies

• explain the governance of ethics, with reference to King IV, including its interconnection with integrated thinking and value creation

• understand and analyse the broader role of an ethical approach in responding to emerging global and local issues such as climate change and other social issues.

HOW IS THIS COURSE STRUCTURED?

This online course follows a traditional business school approach. It is designed to provide participants with a conceptual and theoretical appreciation of ethics in the context of integrated thinking and the role of the CVO. Participants will be exposed to a mix of technical and professional publications, complemented by relevant academic readings and presentations by the academic staff, practitioners and other experts.

The module comprises seven topics with video content and optional prescribed readings. Additional resources are provided to aid the learning process. These include research articles, extracts from websites and short commentaries.

Throughout each topic, participants are prompted to reflect on key issues and important learning outcomes. Optional ‘knowledge checks’ are provided. For participants registering for the short course by competency, assignments dealing with the content covered in the module must be completed.

The module is designed to run online with some flexibility to work through prescribed material.

WHAT IS THE EXPECTED DURATION OF THE COURSE?

The course duration is three (3) weeks from the date of registration to completion.

Prescribed assessments must be completed as part of the course. The pass mark is 50%.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENT:

The course is offered to all Chartered Accountants [CAs(SA)] who are registered and in good standing with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and who have enrolled for the Post Graduate Diploma in Specialised Accountancy in the field of Integrated Thinking and Value Creation.

REGISTRATION:

Course fee for the certificate of competence

• Cost: R5 200 (excl VAT)

COURSE INTAKE:

The course is scheduled to start on 13 February 2023.

Please direct all technical course inquiries to the WITS course co-ordinator: ***@wits.ac.za

Please direct all registration enquires to Digital Campus: ***@digitalcampus.co.za