Business ethics

Richard | May 20, 2026May 20, 2026

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this ESL lesson on business ethics are to:

• discuss business ethics from multiple perspectives;
• read and talk about ethical dilemmas;
• watch a video excerpt on approaches for sustainable business ethics.

Students discuss fundamental ethical issues, explore the definition of ethics and work with different areas of businesses. They debate ways to build an ethical company culture, watch part of a video (01:00‒04:13) about strategies to develop an ethical business and talk about corporate responsibility. Students read about ethical dilemmas, share their opinions on business decisions and create a code of conduct for a business of their choice. They can also do an extra vocabulary exercise to review useful vocabulary (e.g. a question of conscience, a moral dilemma, torn between).

WARM-UP AND DISCUSSION

This ESL lesson on business ethics starts with a warm-up. Students look at questions that ethics seeks to address (e.g. How can we live a good life?). They then use them and their own knowledge to complete the definition of ethics. At this point in the lesson, students can do an extra vocabulary task. They read situations related to challenges at work and complete phrases connected to ethics (e.g. a grey area, a conflict of interest, a tough call). Then, students choose three dilemmas and say what they would do. Afterwards, they examine areas of a business (e.g. customer service, finance and accounting, human resources). Students analyse, rank and evaluate ethical issues related to them. Moving on, they look at more areas of a company (e.g. leadership and management). Students discuss how each can contribute to promoting ethical behaviour and building an ethical company culture.

VIDEO AND MORE DISCUSSION

In this part of this ESL lesson on business ethics, students watch a video about three strategies that help build an ethical business. They discuss them using specific criteria (e.g. the practicality of each idea) and justify their choices. Afterwards, students discuss questions about corporate responsibility and ethical standards. Moving on, they read about two ethical dilemmas. Then, students discuss decision-making and organizational accountability related to them. Following that, they look at pairs of decisions businesses could take. Students decide which ones pose the more serious ethical threat. They then read about more dilemmas and discuss the pros and cons of different decisions. Students say if they can think of  better solutions. Finally, they choose a business (e.g. language school, pet grooming business, food delivery service) and create a code of conduct for it. Students discuss corporate priorities and complete sentences regarding a code of conduct.

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