Specifics of ethics program application: company-size based analysis: On the example of Slovakia

The aim of this study is to find out to what extent businesses purposefully develop business ethics through an ethics program in Slovakia.The results are based on a statistical analysis of a part of the representative empirical research carried out in Slovakia in 2019. Main findings: 1. specific empirical data about the extent of ethics program implementation in companies inthe Slovak business environment;2.the size of a company is a factor that influences the implementation of elements of ethics program in an organization; and 3.the size of the organization is a factor which positively influences the participation of the company in a professional association and membershipin a professional association is a factor that influences the extent of the implementation of an ethics program in the organization.

Thinking ethics differently (challenges and opportunities for engineers education)

Ethics has many definitions, each depending on its domain. In the ancient times, ethics was based on the principles of good action and the search for the common good. Generally, Ethics is understood as a system of moral principles which affect our ways of living. Ethics are related with what is good for society and individuals and is described as moral philosophy. Ethics only makes sense if we put them in the context of human action understood as responsible, creative and communicative. Applied Ethics and Codes of conducts have appeared in the contemporary period. One of the key issues in the engineering education ethics program is the problem of margins/limits of autonomy that will enable future engineers to act ethically in accordance with universal ethical principles and the existing codes of ethics. Computer ethics adds the intellectual property rights, and also the use of personal data. The paper shows a general review of ethics, its history, its evolution, with an emphasis on engineering education. It also mentions the big data issue in ethics.

Meaningful Evaluation: a holistic and systemic approach to understanding and assessing outcomes

The concept and practice of Social Impact and Social Impact assessment has developed and matured over the last decade. Despite this growth, confusion still exists with respect to definitions of social impact as well as which tools and frameworks are most appropriate. Central to the concept and practice of social impact is a focus on outcomes. This paper argues that a discernible albeit problematic pattern and approach has emerged in outcomes measurement within the social impact field. After briefly reviewing some of the key problems with how outcomes measurement is practised, it presents some recent approaches from the evaluation field that attempt to address some of these concerns before introducing a new approach to understanding and evaluating outcomes – Meaningful Evaluation (ME). A pilot Meaningful Evaluation of volunteer ethics teachers in the Primary Ethics program in NSW is used to illustrate the approach. ME combines the Map of Meaning (MoM) with insights from next generation evaluation approaches to understand and assess outcomes. Informed by appreciative inquiry perspectives, it provides a means to bridge the divide between positivist and interpretivist approaches in evaluation. Key to ME is the assumption that it is more likely that immediate outcomes lead to medium and long-term outcomes (changes in behaviour) that are sustainable and lead to impact if participants experience program interventions as ‘meaningful’. Meaning is an important internal outcome that is essential if longer-term external outcomes are to occur. It also shifts the focus to capture unintended outcomes, key to developing holistic and systemic rather than linear and mechanistic Theories of Change.

Designing a Clinical Ethics Education Program for Nurses Based on the ADDIE Model

Background and PurposeThe ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) model enables educators to create programs using a systematic approach designed to meet learner's needs. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a clinical ethics education program for nurses to improve their ethical confidence, ethical competence, and moral sensitivity.MethodsThe study was conducted in three steps. In the first step, a seven-session ethics program was developed using the ADDIE model. The themes of each session were as follows: (a) sharing individual ethical issues in clinical settings; (b) understanding a process involved in ethical decision-making; (c) identifying ethical issues in end-of-life care; (d) identifying ethical issues in family caregiving; (e) learning communication skills; (f) developing ethical leadership skills; and (g) reflecting to build self-awareness of the significance of practicing clinical ethics. The second step involved the delivery of the program. In the third step, using a mixed methods design, the effects of the program were evaluated through a quantitative survey administered both before and after completion of the program and focus group interviews.ResultsThe seven-session ethics program based on the ADDIE model improved ethical confidence, ethical competence, and moral sensitivity in nurses.Implications for PracticeThe ADDIE model can be an effective tool in nursing education, offering an established structure for developing educational programs. In order to validate the effectiveness of the ethics program, it is necessary to conduct repeated measure studies and further studies at the institutional level.

The Puck Project: A Shakespeare Performance and Ethics Program for Kids

The Puck Project is a performance-based summer program for K-6 learners in partnership with a non-profit agency that supports homeless families in Atlanta, GA. The Puck Project’s curriculum focuses on the ethical toolkit individuals acquire when they embark upon a journey of performance. The project’s aim was to cultivate skills relevant to building a community, formulating and expressing ideas as a team, reading and responding to the emotions of others, and accessing and attending to emotions in oneself. Together these skills serve a larger aim of cultivating what Gretchen Case and Daniel Brauner have called “empathetic imagination.” Central to empathetic imagination is translation, a powerful framework for pedagogical aims such as “transfer” and “carrying over.” The Puck Project de-centers the dramatic text in favor of the learner’s lived realities. Using Rex Gibson’s theory that the ambiguities of Shakespeare’s plays provide the soil in which actors may create their own meaning and experience, the Puck Project encourages performers to provide their own translations of a script based on their unique histories. We discuss how young performers are able to make connections about embodied expression, emotional intelligence, and broader forms of literacy.

Company Cooperation and U.S. Sentencing Guidelines

The U.S. Sentencing Commission has changed how the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines calculate fines for certain defendant companies. The amendments, effective November 1, 2010, make more readily available a long-standing three-level offense-level reduction. This change shifts the inquiry away from (1) the (mis)conduct of the company’s high-level personnel and toward (2) the effectiveness of the company’s compliance and ethics program. This move will surely benefit corporate defendants. Therefore, it is something for which compliance professionals and in-house legal counsel need to both understand and prepare. As the benefits of incentivizing companies to adopt proactive compliance, ethics, and self-reporting programs gain wider recognition, other countries eager to beef up their anti-bribery efforts can be expected to follow suit.

Beyond silos: An interprofessional, campus-wide ethics education program

Background: Ethics education is essential to the education of all healthcare professionals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an interprofessional approach to ethics education to all students across an academic health science center. Research objectives: The objectives were to (1) compare student perception of ethics education before and after the implementation of the campus-wide ethics program and (2) determine changes in student ethical decision-making skills following implementation of a campus-wide ethics program. Research design: This study was a quasi-experimental design with seniors graduating prior to the intervention serving as the control group. Participants and research context: The setting was a comprehensive health science center in the southwestern United States. All students enrolled in the university participated in the intervention; however, 976 graduating students were used for evaluation of the intervention. Ethical considerations: Study materials for each survey were submitted to the university’s IRB, and the project was approved as exempt by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. Student participation in the surveys was voluntary. No names or other identifying information were collected, and responses to the survey questions were kept confidential. Findings: Students’ perception of the adequacy of time spent on the ethics content in course instruction and practical training decreased from the baseline to the fifth-year survey. Students’ overall comfort level with their abilities to deal with ethical issues increased from the baseline to the fifth year. Student ethical decision-making skills were higher at the third-year evaluation for all indicators. For the fifth-year survey, responses were also higher scoring on all four indicators. Discussion: After participation in an interprofessional campus-wide effort on health professions ethics, students demonstrated higher ethical decision-making scores according to the Health Professional Ethics Rubric. However, their scores still did not reach the proficiency level identified in the rubric. Conclusion: Examination of the effectiveness of each part of the intervention is needed.