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Multifaceted Business Ethics Forum Scheduled April 26 in OKC

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Multifaceted Business Ethics Forum Scheduled April 26 in OKC


A daylong forum exploring multiple perspectives around business ethics is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, April 26, at the Gene Rainbolt Graduate School of Business in Oklahoma City. Presented by the Michael F. Price College of Business at the University of Oklahoma, the Social Responsibility and Business Ethics Forum will feature guest presenters from throughout the globe as well as faculty from Price College.

Topics for the forum include social entrepreneurship, finance, cyber-ethics and online conflict disclosures, law and global trade, accounting, international business, health care and management. A full listing of the event’s speakers and topics is available online at http://price.ou.edu/EthicsForum.

The event is open to the public with complimentary admission, but due to limited seating, reservations are encouraged online, by email at emilyh@ou.edu or by phone at (405) 325-2500. The event includes a complimentary continental breakfast, coffee breaks, lunch and a cocktail hour for attendees 21 and older.

Additionally, Continuing Education credits are available for a $300 fee, payable online as part of registration.

Dan Ostas, the James G. Harlow Jr. Chair in Business Ethics and Community Service and professor of legal studies at the Price College of Business, spoke to the importance of coordinating such a multifaceted event.

“In ancient Roman cities, a forum referred to a public square where ideas on issues of public interest were exchanged and discussed,” Ostas said. “No single speaker had a monopoly on truth. Each offered a unique perspective which, in combination with the views of others, advanced the common understanding. The Price College’s Social Responsibility and Business Ethics Forum is offered in that spirit.

“Ethical issues cut across all business endeavors, and only by listening to a multitude of voices can one develop a full understanding of the topic. Like the Indian proverb, one blind person touches and describes a trunk, the second a tusk, the third a leg and the fourth an ear. Only by respecting each description can one begin to see the elephant. Our forum offers diverse views from a series of accomplished speakers, then closes with a round table discussion, prompted by audience questions, where business ethics comes into relief and new ideas are formed.”

Daniel Pullin, dean of the Price College, will offer introductory comments and serve as host and moderator throughout the event.

O. Homer Erekson, the John V. Roach Dean of the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University, will provide the luncheon address. Titled Beyond Compliance, Erekson will discuss the rationale for companies going beyond compliance when facing environmental challenges. Building on his research in what has come to be known as the “Triple Bottom-Line,” he will focus on the necessity of considering ecological, economic and social dimensions when framing sustainability.

Guest presenters throughout the day include Gary Burke and Anita Holloway of Ernst and Young, Maggie Wolff of INTEGRIS, Benedict Sheehy of the Canberra Law School at the University of Canberra and Linda Klebe Treviño from the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University.

Presenting Price College faculty include Tom Lumpkin from the Tom Love Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Chitru Fernando from the Division of Finance, Matthew Jensen from the Division of Management Information Systems and Margaret Shaffer from the Division of International Business and Management.

The forum’s agenda features presentations by each guest in their area of expertise, followed by Q&A from attendees. The final presentation will include a panel discussion with all speakers, moderated by Pullin with questions from the audience.

The Gene Rainbolt Graduate School of Business is located on the third floor at 865 Research Parkway, in the heart of Oklahoma City at OU’s University Research Park on the Health Sciences Center.

The university opened the 27,000-square-foot facility in 2017. Strategically anchored between the downtown energy and financial sectors to the west and the growing health care and aerospace sectors to the east, the facility is now home to OU’s full-time and professional MBA programs, growing executive education programs and the Oklahoma City locations for the Ronnie K. Irani Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth and the Office of Technology Development, two components of the college’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Division.

The Michael F. Price College of Business, originally established in 1928, ensures the enduring global competitiveness of Oklahoma and the nation. As OU’s second-largest college, the Price College of Business educates more than 4,000 students through undergraduate, master’s, executive and doctoral programs across six academic divisions in Accounting, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Finance, Management and International Business, Management Information Systems, and Marketing and Supply Chain Management. Additional information is available on Price College’s website at www.ou.edu/price.

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