Unit Synopsis
In today’s complex and interconnected world, ethical leadership and sustainable business practices are more important than ever. This unit offers a dynamic exploration of personal and business ethics alongside the evolving concept of business sustainability. You will critically analyse how socio-cultural environments shape business operations, with a focus on the significant variations across global cities and countries. Through engaging case studies and real-world examples, you’ll examine ethical decision-making frameworks used by managers and how these are influenced by diverse stakeholder groups. You’ll explore the key debates surrounding sustainable development and consider its implications for organisations operating at both local and global levels. This unit also investigates the vital relationship between personal values and organisational ethics, equipping you with tools to navigate ethical challenges posed by technological change, societal expectations, and cultural diversity. By the end of the unit, you’ll not only be prepared to identify and respond to ethical dilemmas in business settings but also to lead with integrity and purpose in a rapidly evolving professional landscape.
Details
| Level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 9 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 4 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
There are no pre-requisites for the unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Reflective Practice Assignment | 50% |
| 2. Presentation and Written Assessment | 30% |
| 3. Take Home Exam | 20% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 83.33% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 20.69% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: Teaching team; self-reflection.
News, real-life examples, and industry reports/articles.
Increase the use of news, real-life examples, and industry reports/articles posted on the Moodle site.
Industry reports, and real-life examples were posted on Moodle throughout the term. Assessment tasks were also aligned with current industry challenges, encouraging students to apply reports and market data in their submissions.
Source: Feedback in class.
Students appreciate the experience and knowledge sharing of the teaching team.
The recommendation is that the teaching team remain the same to ensure consistency of delivery across campuses.
In Progress
Source: SUTE Commets 2025/1.
Should involve more interactive sessions rather than just watch videos.
The recommendation is to include more interactive sessions with short, engaging quizzes and polls in classes. Having some live lectures could be included.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Examine the interconnections among business ethics, morality, law, sustainability, and globalisation, and evaluate their influence on business practices and societal outcomes.
- Explain and assess key elements of corporate social responsibility and sustainability, including the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and analyse their impact on business strategy and operations.
- Apply major ethical theories and decision-making frameworks to real-world business scenarios to enhance ethical reasoning and strategic outcomes.
- Evaluate how ethics is managed within organisations by applying tools and concepts such as corporate social responsibility initiatives, codes of ethics and conduct, and anti-bribery strategies to promote ethical behaviour in both business and broader civil society.
- Apply widely accepted professional ethical standards in workplace practices and interpersonal interactions.
The unit does not link to any specific external professional accreditation.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Reflective Practice Assignment | • | • | • | ||
| 2 - Presentation and Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - Take Home Exam | • | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | • | • | • | • | |
| 2 - Communication | • | ||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | • | ||||
| 4 - Research | • | ||||
| 5 - Self-management | • | • | |||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | • | • | • | • | • |
| 7 - Leadership | • | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |