AICD Business Law and Ethics Prize

In June 2018, the Australian Institute of Company Directors was proud to award Andrew Schlencker with the AICD Business Law and Ethics Prize.

The Prize was in recognition of achieving the best overall performance as Queensland University of Technology Bachelor of Business student in the 2017 academic year in the Business Law and Ethics unit.

The ethics component of the Business Law and Ethics Unit focusses on business ethics and justice and provides students with a detailed introduction to ethical and moral theories and principles.

Andrew commented:

"I gained an insight into the overall workings of the Australian political and legal systems, all of which impact upon the operation and governance of businesses. I also gained an understanding of agency issues and ethical dilemmas which arise within the business context and techniques and approaches which can be used to deal with these issues.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the course was investigating real world ethical dilemmas from case studies and media reports, commenting on what ethical issues have arisen and applying different theories and approaches to addressing these ethical issues.

I fully appreciate that ethics is not a black and white issue – there are different approaches to dealing with ethical issues and one person’s opinion of what is ethical is not necessarily the same as that of another person. I now have a greater understanding of the difference between what is ethical and what is legal and how this distinction applies within the business environment”.

With the recent comments emerging from the banking Royal Commission about the multiple ethical challenges facing business and boards, AICD is proud to support education at the graduate level in this previously overlooked area. Building solid foundations for graduates to understand the complexity of ethical decision making is a small step towards ensuring that business and boards will dedicate serious time to discussing ethical issues that they encounter.