Caveat Academy course · Grades 10 to 12 and adults

Business Ethics

How to reason about right and wrong at work: four ethical frameworks and a decision process, why ordinary people cut corners, honesty in ads, books and deals, fair treatment, privacy and whistleblowing, duties to stakeholders and the planet, and how leaders build cultures that hold up under pressure. Realistic workplace cases, at your own pace, with a certificate at the end.

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$19one-time · every device you sign in on
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Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Career and trades courses, $79 for 18 items.

6 modules · 18 lessonsabout 13 hours$19

Six modules, eighteen lessons

Each module ends with a practice set that tracks mastery, an explain-it-back prompt, a short written response and a module exam. The final opens when every module is proficient; passing it earns a certificate with a verification code.

  1. Module 1: Foundations of ethical reasoning

    Distinguish ethics from law and compliance, map the stakeholders of a decision, and apply utilitarian, duty, virtue and justice frameworks and a step-by-step decision process.

    • What business ethics is
    • Four ethical frameworks
    • A process for ethical decisions
    about 2.1 h

  2. Module 2: Why good people do wrong things

    Analyze workplace wrongdoing with the fraud triangle, identify and manage conflicts of interest, and explain how incentives and group pressure shape behavior.

    • Pressure, opportunity and rationalization
    • Conflicts of interest
    • Incentives, obedience and culture
    about 2.1 h

  3. Module 3: Honesty in markets

    Evaluate advertising claims, accounting practices and gifts against standards of honesty, and explain the purpose of the FTC deception standard, Sarbanes-Oxley and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

    • Truth in advertising and sales
    • Honest numbers: accounting and reporting
    • Bribery, gifts and fair competition
    about 2.1 h

  4. Module 4: Fairness and rights at work

    Analyze workplace rules for disparate treatment and disparate impact, judge monitoring plans by transparency and proportionality, and plan a responsible report of wrongdoing.

    • Fair treatment and discrimination
    • Privacy and monitoring
    • Whistleblowing
    about 2.1 h

  5. Module 5: Responsibilities beyond the company

    Compare the shareholder and stakeholder views, evaluate supply chain and environmental claims, and decide on product safety actions with a severity and likelihood grid.

    • Shareholders or stakeholders
    • Supply chains and the environment
    • Product safety and responsibility
    about 2.1 h

  6. Module 6: Building ethical organizations

    Design improvements to a compliance and ethics program, describe leadership behaviors that build psychological safety, and compute and interpret pass rates when reviewing an automated decision tool.

    • Codes of conduct and compliance programs
    • Leadership and culture
    • Ethics of data and automated decisions
    about 2.1 h

Try it before you start

This is how every lesson works: step through a worked example at your own pace, then answer a check and get the reason right away. Nothing here is saved; the course keeps your progress.

Module 2 · Pressure, opportunity and rationalization

Worked example: diagnosing a case with the fraud triangle

  1. Case: a store manager inflates inventory counts so her store appears to meet its profit goal.

A lesson check from each module

The checks need JavaScript turned on. The course itself works the same way.

What you get

Vocations · Job Skills$19 · included with the Academy pass and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A finished course in business ethics: you can map the stakeholders of a decision and test options with utilitarian, duty, virtue and justice reasoning, diagnose a case with the fraud triangle, handle a conflict of interest, judge an ad claim, a revenue entry or a gift, spot disparate impact in a hiring rule, weigh a monitoring plan, plan a responsible report of wrongdoing, choose a product safety response, and review an automated screening tool by its pass rates. Passing the final earns a Caveat certificate of completion.
Who it is for
Students in grades 10 to 12 taking business, marketing or career and technical education courses, students in business clubs and competitions, and adults starting or changing careers who want a grounded course on ethical decisions at work. It explains general federal rules in plain terms and is not legal advice.
Format
An online self-paced course: 6 modules and 18 lessons with worked examples you reveal step by step, 144 practice and exam items (multiple choice, numeric, fill-in and ordering), an explain-it-back prompt and a rubric-checked short response in every module, module exams with one retake, a 24-question final and a certificate with a verification code. About 13 hours in all; works on a phone or a computer.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the course opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Career and trades courses ($79) and the Vocations Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Progress is saved in this browser on this device, and the certificate page lets you download your record.
Where it lives
The Job Skills space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Access, a receipt, a refund or a correction to the course: team@caveatacademic.com.

How it works

  1. Open the course and start Module 1. Each lesson takes about 25 to 35 minutes; two or three a week finishes the course in about a semester.
  2. Answer the checks as you read. Every answer shows the reason, and a miss links you back to the lesson that covers it.
  3. Finish each module with its practice set and exam. Proficient on every module opens the final; 70 percent passes it.
  4. Print or download your certificate and record from the certificate page.

Start the course

Sources and accuracy

The lessons are original writing by Caveat Academic Services. Facts were checked against these free, open references, which are also good places to read further.

  1. Federal Trade Commission, advertising and marketing basics and the policy statement on deception: ftc.gov
  2. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the laws it enforces: eeoc.gov
  3. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the whistleblower program: sec.gov; U.S. Department of Justice, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: justice.gov
  4. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, A Framework for Ethical Decision Making: scu.edu
  5. Milton Friedman, The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits, The New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1970; Business Roundtable, Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, 2019

Business Ethics is a self-paced course from Caveat Academic Services. Public cases are described from the published record with their dates; workplace scenarios and their numbers are examples written for practice. It explains general federal rules and is not legal advice; laws vary by state and change over time. It does not replace a school course and awards no credit. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.