Ethical Leadership - The experience of JCU's 3rd IBD cohort

MBA Canada – Cedric Crucke

1.      Can you briefly discuss the role of ethical decision-making in a business environment in your country?

Canadian companies hold ethics very high in general and most companies use the phrase ethics, corporations, and governance.  Every day our company prides itself on being honest with its customers. We ensure that safety is our number one concern, both with our own employees as well as with our end consumers. (this is a tough question!)


2.      How has ethical decision-making been incorporated into your school’s curriculum?

In our Leadership course, ethics was the topic of some articles that we read. We discussed the actions of the main subject and gave alternative courses of action - and then further discussed these. In our Accounting class, we had discussions of how some people have altered accounting statements in order to build a story or even to profit themselves.

3.   Can you describe an ethical challenge in your personal, professional or academic life?


An ethical situation that I have had personally occurred 4 years ago just prior to graduating. After a summer internship, I was offered a job with Philip Morris as a sales rep - ultimately selling cigarettes. While this may not seem ethical to many, as there are people still working for PM, I personally couldn't have my performance based upon how many cigarettes my accounts sold. I declined the offer, without an existing alternative. Regardless of the outcome, I would repeat that decision every time.