Chicago, Illinois
June 18, 2006
June 18, 2006
June 21, 2006
2153-5965
Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation
22
11.1209.1 - 11.1209.22
10.18260/1-2--1266
https://peer.asee.org/1266
1296
June Ferrill, PhD, founder of ChangeMakers, Inc., developed an entrepreneurship program for undergraduates at Rice University that includes a course entitled "New Ventures Communications," an entrepreneurial club, and mentoring from Rice alumni and others. She teaches workshops on entrepreneurship as well as ethics within senior engineering design courses; in addition, in the Engineering School, she teaches “Ethical Decision-Making for Engineers.” She has provided consulting to Bank of America, Siemens, Ernst & Young and Texas Society of Professional Engineers, among others. Previously, she worked at McKinsey & Company assisting project teams in defining and conceptualizing client studies and communications. While employed at Halliburton, she developed a training program for engineering project managers.
Lisa Getzler-Linn is the Associate Director of Lehigh University’s Integrated Product Development (IPD) program, the multi-phased program in which business, engineering and arts & sciences students work together to produce and market new products, as well as Director of Academic Projects for IPD and the Integrated Business & Engineering honors program. Currently she is leading the initiative to establish both an Entrepreneurs Network and a student run Entrepreneurship Club at Lehigh. Along with teaching the product development process her interests and research focus on intellectual property issues for student entrepreneurs, ethics in entrepreneurship, and assessment of student performance in multi-disciplined, team-based courses.
Teaching Ethics Specific to Entrepreneurship
Abstract
Entrepreneurship students need the tools for ethical decision making. We have created ethical
studies with elements specific to entrepreneurship (not merely a hybrid of business and
engineering ethics) and a curriculum for teaching these ethics that educators can use in fulfilling
this teaching obligation. We address some of the issues and rationale behind facilitating this
educational experience and present a course outline using the Seven Layers of Integrity™
framework.1
Introduction
By embedding ethics training in college level entrepreneurship education, educators can
emphasize that, ultimately, entrepreneurial success is incumbent upon combining entrepreneurial
skills and ethics. As educators, we are obligated to facilitate this learning. Universities have
come to understand that the teaching of entrepreneurship is critical to giving students the tools
needed to compete and perform in today's business environment. Indeed, some say that
entrepreneurs hold the key to the future of business stability. Given that entrepreneurs may feel
pressures different from those working for other kinds of organizations and that entrepreneurs’
influence will be felt in the marketplace, educators must endeavor to recognize future
entrepreneurs' needs and teach today's student entrepreneurs practical ethics applicable in this
field. This paper discusses the rationale for teaching ethics specific to entrepreneurship, the
Ferrill, J., & Getzler-Linn, L. (2006, June), Teaching Ethics Specific To Entrepreneurship Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--1266
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