In Class: Ethical Guide

“Gies makes students aware of ethics from day one,” says business professor Aimee Barbeau. (Image by Fred Zwicky)

I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in the Gies College of Business. One of my main courses is Business 101, which the college requires of all incoming freshman and sophomore transfer students. Between 800 and 900 students take the course every fall.

The course is focused on introducing students to business and getting them to think about what it means to be ethical in business. We do case studies around business ethics, we do professional development, we do networking with alumni. We pack in a lot.

Most business schools have an ethics course for juniors and seniors. It’s like ethics is an afterthought. Gies makes students aware of ethics from day one. Our very first class is on why ethics matter and why business needs to be socially responsible.

We have class online on Tuesdays and in-person on Fridays. On Tuesdays, alumni Zoom in from all over the U.S. and network with our students. We get 80 to 100 alums per class, so we’re able to put one alum with about 10 students in an online breakout room. That’s small enough so that every student gets to say, “Hi. I’m so-and-so. I’m majoring in XYZ. I’m from wherever. Tell me about what your job is like on a daily basis.” So, the students get to practice networking. And the alums get a way to give back.

Our students have not yet declared a major, so we do a series of case studies that explore ethics in business, each related to a different major.

During the last eight weeks of the semester, the students work directly with business clients to improve their social impact. Teams from companies like Caterpillar, Microsoft and Deloitte work online with the students. At the end of the semester, the teams come to campus for the students’ capstone presentations. Last year, Abbott Laboratories was so pleased with the presentation that the students were asked to come to company headquarters and give the presentation a second time to the bosses.

Most semesters, Larry Gies, ’88 BUS [for whom the college is named], joins us on Zoom. The students love this. Their favorite day is when Larry Gies comes to class. They are always absolutely thrilled to hear his life story and what it means to give back. It’s a nice way to close out the semester.

Edited and condensed from an interview conducted on April 25, 2025.