Running head: NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY

National Louis University

Jeoffery Walton
International College of the Cayman Islands (ICCI)
BE/SO-425: Seminar on Business and Society

NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY

In the afternoon of May 18th, 2016, I visited National Louis University which is located at
122 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60603. The session started off with an overview
academic presentation of the University. According to Professor James Nowotarski, the
University started in 1886 and today serves approximately 7,500 students. The University aids
the community through offering various programs for undergraduate and graduate students.
Classes are held in the evening at various campuses and are also offered through online
programs. During the 70s and 80s, the University expanded their business programs (Professor
J. Nowotarski, personal communication, May 18, 2016).
Professor Nowotarski then expanded his presentation on the topic of Ethical
Consideration of Emerging Technologies. I found his presentation to be very interesting, as he
gave a case study regarding Targets approach to advertising using personal data. As the
professor explained, with the emerging of new technologies it is important to understand what is
ethical or unethical. The advantage is that technology is allowing consumers to benefit in so
many ways. For example, businesses are able to maximize their profits using technology.
However, with so many different technologies it is easy for corporations to exploit opportunities.

In the case of Target, I learned that from personal data collected, the retail giant was able to build
profiles of their consumer shopping habits. With the data collected, they are able to target
consumers and lure them into purchasing goods from their stores. Professor Nowotarski further
explained that there is a greater dark side to technology, as cyber criminals are able to benefit
through identity theft (Professor J. Nowotarski, personal communication, May 18, 2016).
The authors Lawrence, A.T., and Weber, J. (2014) further support this, as they suggest
that technology is the most complex and rapidly changing area of business ethics. They also
suggest that the challenges emerge from evasion of privacy to the collection and storage of

NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY

personal and business information. This is achieved through various transactions, such as ecommerce, emails, copyrights, music, and intellectual properties (Lawrence, A.T., and Weber, J.
2014).
With this said, the implications in the Cayman Islands are no different, as we operate an
economy that is heavily based on international business and trade. Having over five hundred
offshore banks and thousands of international registered companies, the risk of cyber crime and
other unethical behaviors are very much present. This, of course, poses a serious risk to our
economy; therefore, laws and policies are being developed to help manage the various risks
previously identified.
Professor Michael Fontaine then spoke on the topic of Exploring Ethics through Fiction.
Although a bit confusing, this presentation peaked my interest because I never heard of ethics
being explained through fiction before. Professor Fontaine claims that fiction is like taking
management and leaders to the movies. To better explain, Professor Fontaine based his theories
on a few novels that he had written is the past. As he rationalized, it was somehow confusing
and soon my interest in his presentation was lost. However, I did gravitate to some of his
presentation in curiosity as I soon learned that from management and leadership certain
behaviors become part of an organizations culture, and therefore become difficult to manage.
Professor Fontaine informed that surveys have concluded that while unethical behaviors are
decreasing among low-level employees, it is on the increase among managers. For example,
unethical leadership behaviors were the direct result of the downfall of Enron, MCI, and Martha
Stewart. Dr. Fontaine concluded that his research has determined that empathy can assist with
the character of unethical behavior (Fontaine, M., personal communication, May 18, 2016).

NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY

From this presentation, I learned how technology could assist businesses in maximizing
profits, but at the same token, society can be negatively impacted through the use of technology.
Additionally, management and leaders need to understand that organizational culture is driven by
their behaviors. Therefore, to improve such unethical behaviors organizations need to build their
mission core values that would develop models to help manage the risks.

NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY

5
References

Lawrence, A.T., & Weber, J. (2014). Business and Society: Stakeholders, ethics, public
policy (14th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill