Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls in the Tech Industry
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Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls in the Tech Industry
This course is part of Ethical Decision-Making in the Tech Industry Specialization
Instructor: Daniel Moorer
Included with
Recommended experience
Recommended experience
What you'll learn
Understand “the gray” where ethical managers often find themselves.
Understand rational thinking as it relates to ethical decision making.
Understand the danger of gradual descent on the slippery slope.
Details to know
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There are 3 modules in this course
This course focuses on what went wrong. That is, it focuses on the difficulty every manager experiences and how some make the mistake of following an incorrect ethical path.
Examined are operating “in the gray”, whether we are driven by rational thinking or intuition, and the possibility of the deliberate infliction of a negative act. Each of these is not an uncommon occurrence. Indeed, operating in the gray is a topic that comes up often in conversations with managers and leaders at every level. The goal of this course is to understand how things can go wrong and how those ethical mistakes affect one’s team, the company, and the society at large. These possible errors are not easily seen and sometimes, for leaders and managers, appear without warning. Stopping them is, many times, a function of ethical awareness and the courage to act. This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Engineering in Engineering Management (ME-EM) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The ME-EM is designed to help engineers, scientists, and technical professionals move into leadership and management roles in the engineering and technical sectors. With performance-based admissions and no application process, the ME-EM is ideal for individuals with a broad range of undergraduate education and/or professional experience. Learn more about the ME-EM program at https://www.coursera.org/degrees/me-engineering-management-boulder.
This module addresses the difficulties that technical leaders may have with ethical situations – the areas of work where the ethical path is not clearly defined, what may be termed “The Gray”. When operating in such conditions, it is easy to rationalize any path – this too is considered and discussed. Lastly, we discuss how one may find the correct ethical path even in the midst of “The Gray”.
What's included
3 videos9 readings3 discussion prompts
3 videos•Total 15 minutes
- The Higher We Go, the More Difficult the Ethical Decisions•5 minutes
- A Human Being’s Greatest Strength•5 minutes
- Is there a way out of the gray?•5 minutes
9 readings•Total 81 minutes
- Course Updates and Accessibility Support•1 minute
- Non-Credit Students: Welcome and Where to Find Help•10 minutes
- Sometimes The Line Between Right and Wrong Is Not as Clear as We Would Like•10 minutes
- Navigating In the Gray•10 minutes
- The Difficulty of Staying on the Right Path •10 minutes
- Does Rationalization Have a Place in a Leader’s Ethical Decision Making Process? •10 minutes
- Ethics Of Others in the Gray •10 minutes
- Ethical Decision-Making in the Gray •10 minutes
- Surviving Working in the Gray •10 minutes
3 discussion prompts•Total 180 minutes
- Ethical Leadership Discussion•60 minutes
- Rationalization Discussion•60 minutes
- In "The Gray" Discussion•60 minutes
This module compares and contrasts rational thinking and intuition with the goal of determining which is better to use in ethical decision making.
What's included
3 videos6 readings3 discussion prompts
3 videos•Total 15 minutes
- Leaders Don’t Have to Fail Ethically, They Choose To•7 minutes
- “Gut feelings” Serve a Purpose!•4 minutes
- In Ethical Decision Making, Success Depends on Which You Use: Heads You Win, Tails You Lose!•4 minutes
6 readings•Total 60 minutes
- Is Ethical Education Important? •10 minutes
- Losing One’s Bearings vs. Staying Grounded.•10 minutes
- The Dangers of Intuition •10 minutes
- Understanding What Causes Ethical Failures•10 minutes
- The Rational Mind•10 minutes
- Rational Ethics •10 minutes
3 discussion prompts•Total 180 minutes
- Leaders and Ethics Discussion•60 minutes
- Intuition Discussion•60 minutes
- Rational Thinking Discussion•60 minutes
This module addresses the motivations of the leader and some of the ways that they may fall prey to ethical difficulties.
What's included
3 videos7 readings1 peer review3 discussion prompts
3 videos•Total 17 minutes
- Seriously, As a Leader, Who Should You Work For?•6 minutes
- The Most Common Means of Ethical Failure, Personally and Professionally.•6 minutes
- Out of Sight, Out of Mind?•5 minutes
7 readings•Total 70 minutes
- The Most Important Role of a Leader•10 minutes
- Why Are We, As Aspiring Leaders, Here Anyway? •10 minutes
- Start Small; Finish Spectacularly! •10 minutes
- It Starts Innocently and Is Driven by Rationalization•10 minutes
- What is Proximity Bias?•10 minutes
- How to Spot and Stop Proximity Bias•10 minutes
- Overcoming Proximity Bias in a Hybrid Workplace•10 minutes
1 peer review•Total 120 minutes
- Reflections on Avoiding Ethical Pitfalls in the Tech Industry•120 minutes
3 discussion prompts•Total 180 minutes
- Who Do You Work For? Discussion•60 minutes
- Slippery-Slope Effect Discussion•60 minutes
- Proximity Discussion•60 minutes
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This course is part of the following degree program(s) offered by University of Colorado Boulder. If you are admitted and enroll, your completed coursework may count toward your degree learning and your progress can transfer with you.¹
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