Ethics

A selection of business English discussion questions.

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  1. Has your boss ever told you to do something unethical? Did you do it?
  2. Can you claim business expenses in your job? Do you always do so honestly?
  3. Do you think it is acceptable to steal small items from work like stationery?
  4. Is it wrong to lie on your CV? What about to mildly exaggerate?
  5. Businesses should try and avoid (not evade) paying taxes when they can. Do you agree?
  6. Is it ethical to have a romantic relationship with a business partner? What if it is true love?
  7. Is the main purpose of business to make a profit? If not, what is the main purpose?
  8. Would you help a member of your family get a job at your company? Is it right to do so?
  9. Does a company ever have the right to read an employee's emails?
  10. Should a company always be totally honest when advertising?
  11. Should a company be forced to reveal how much it pays its executives?
  12. Is it ever right to hire someone because they are attractive?
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PDF (Pairs)
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PDF (Threes)
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PDF (Cards)
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Other topics you may be interested in...


General Topics

Air Travel, Animals, Appearance, Art, Childhood, Cinema, Crime, Eating Out, Education, Environment, Ethics, Fame, Family, Fashion, Food, Football (Soccer), Friendship, The Future, Globalisation, Health, History, Holidays (Vacations), House and Home, The Internet, Language, Language Learning, Life, Literature, Marriage, The Media, Money, Music, Personality, Politics, Religion, Romance, Science, Shopping, Smartphones, Sport, Technology, Time, Town and City, Transport, Travel, University, Video Games, War, Weather, Work.


Business Topics

Advertising, Brands, Building Relationships, Change, Communication, Competition, Consultants, Crisis Management, Cultures, Customer Service, Employment Trends, Ethics, First Impressions, Human Resources, International Marketing, International Markets, Job Satisfaction, Leadership, Management Styles, Marketing, Mergers and Acquisitions, Money, New Business, Online Business, Organisation, Project Management, Raising Finance, Risk, Strategy, Success, Team Building, Training, Travel.


Grammar Topics

Present Simple, Present Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Simple, Past Continuous, Used to, Have to, Going to / Pres. Continuous, Going to / Will, Comparatives, Superlatives, First Conditional, Second Conditional, Third Conditional, Mixed Conditionals, Should, Should have, Can, Could, Can / Could / Be able to, Is done / Was done, Being done / Been done.

How to use the ethics ESL discussion questions

It is recommended that you download the ethics ESL discussion questions in PDF format using one of the links above. The best way to encourage classroom interaction is to download and print the ethics discussion questions in the 'pairs' or 'threes' PDF format and then divide the questions by cutting along the dotted lines. This allows students to take turns asking and answering the ethics discussion questions in groups of two or three. Alternatively, you could use the 'cards' format to distribute the questions to any number of students to ask and share.

It is advisable to prepare students for using these discussion questions by first introducing them to the topic of ethics in an interesting and engaging way. An anecdote, quiz question or a related image or video could all be used to achieve this. Depending on the level, it may also be necessary to pre-teach any challenging vocabulary related to ethics contained in the discussion questions.

For more ESL discussion questions, see this site's main page. There are discussion questions on a range of topics including general, grammar and business English topics.

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