STADIO School of Commerce Ethics Week

Who Pays for Your Returns? Ethics in Investment Decisions written Simonne Stellenboom | Module Coordinator, School of Commerce | Co-founder and Faculty Lead, STADIO Investment Society (SISOC) | Ethics Week 2026

Imagine you are considering investing in two companies.

Company A has delivered impressive returns over the past five years. Its share price has grown consistently, and analysts expect further growth. However, recent reports raise concerns about how it treats its employees and the environmental impact of its operations.

Company B has delivered more modest returns but has shown a commitment to fair labour practices, responsible business conduct and environmental sustainability.

Which company would you invest in?

Your first answer might feel obvious. Perhaps you would choose Company B because it aligns with your values. Or perhaps you would choose Company A because your goal is to grow your money.

But look more closely. What if Company A is actively addressing its shortcomings? What if Company B’s responsible image is better supported by its marketing than by evidence? What if you are investing on behalf of someone else whose financial needs differ from your own? And what if the extra return from Company A is what would help you support your family, pay for a sibling’s studies or build security you have never had?

Suddenly, the decision is more complicated. This is where ethics enters investment decision-making.

The return is only half the story

Every investment decision begins with a simple question: What return can I expect? A second question is asked far less often: Who pays for that return?

Every return is generated somewhere, by someone, through some process. A profitable business may create jobs, develop useful products and contribute to economic growth. Its profits may also depend on costs carried by others:

• Employees, when a company looks efficient on paper because it underpays staff or cuts corners on safety.
• Customers, when margins grow through hidden fees, misleading marketing or lending to people who cannot afford it.
• Communities and the environment, when pollution, water use or land damage never appear in the income statement but show up later in someone’s community.
• Other investors, when a company manipulates its financial results, and the people who trusted those numbers lose their savings.
• Future generations, when strong returns today leave the bill for later.

An investment can be financially attractive without being ethically uncomplicated. The question is not only whether it generates returns, but how those returns are generated and what comes with them.

Ethics requires judgement, not labels

Ethical investing is often linked to ESG (environmental, social and governance) ratings. These can be useful, but they do not settle the question. A company with a strong rating may still face fair criticism of particular practices. A company in a controversial industry may be making real efforts to improve.

Information is often incomplete, sources contradict one another, and companies naturally present themselves in the best possible light. Ethical judgement means examining the evidence, questioning assumptions and accepting that reasonable people may weigh the same facts differently.

It also requires honesty about our own priorities. Wanting a good return is not wrong. Often, it is about real responsibilities. The challenge is to pursue it with your eyes open.

It’s also about how you behave

Ethics is not only about what you invest in, but how you act as an investor. Students who build team portfolios in the STADIO Investment Society or compete in the JSE Investment Challenge face this in practice, and so will anyone who later manages money, advises clients or works in business.

Trading on information the market does not yet have is insider trading, and it is illegal in South Africa. If you promote a share or a “guaranteed” scheme in a group chat and benefit when others buy, they deserve to know that. And in any team decision, sharing credit for wins and owning your part in losses is an ethical choice, not just good manners.

Five questions to ask before you invest

You don’t need a philosophy degree to invest ethically. Start with these:

1. Where does this company’s profit actually come from?
2. Who could be harmed if this business keeps doing what it’s doing?
3. Would I be comfortable explaining this investment to my family?
4. Am I acting on information everyone has, or on information I shouldn’t have?
5. If this promise sounds too good to be true, who will pay when it isn’t?

Practical steps to help you answer them

• Read past the headline numbers. A listed company’s integrated annual report explains how it makes its money, its risks and its impact on people and the environment. Start with the chairperson’s letter and the sustainability section.
• Check what others say, not just the company. Look at independent news coverage, regulatory announcements and labour or community disputes. If the company’s story and everyone else’s story don’t match, find out why.
• Compare promises with progress. A target to reduce emissions or improve working conditions means little on its own. Look for whether the company reports actual progress year after year.
• Know what’s inside your fund. If you invest through a unit trust or ETF, the fund fact sheet lists its top holdings. You may own more companies than you realise.
• Verify before you trust. Before investing through any person or platform, check that they are registered with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). If they aren’t, walk away.
• Decide your own line in advance. Think about what you would and wouldn’t invest in before an attractive opportunity tests you. It is much easier to stick to a line you drew calmly.
• Write down your reasons. A few sentences on why you chose an investment, including any concerns, helps you think clearly and makes it easier to revisit the decision later.

Re-centering ethics

Global Ethics Day 2026 asks us to re-center ethics. In investing, ethics should not be an afterthought once the financial analysis is done. Nor should it replace careful analysis. It belongs inside how we assess opportunities, weigh information and justify our decisions.

The goal is not to find investments free of difficult questions. It is to develop the judgement, curiosity and integrity to engage with those questions responsibly. The next time you evaluate an investment, pause and ask: Who pays for this return? The answer may not change your decision. But it should inform it.

DATE: October 2026 | DISCLAIMER: The content of this blog is accurate at the time of publication. STADIO reserves the right to change the content due to changes in legislation, as well as for market requirements and other reasons

Ethical Community Engagement: Learning With Communities, Not Just from Them

Introduction

Community engagement gives students the chance to put into practice what they learn in the classroom by means of real-world situations. As part of the Learning Through Community Engagement project, students can interact with entrepreneurs and small businesses in the Philippi Village community and thus obtain practical knowledge about entrepreneurship, the problems businesses face and the realities of running a business in a resource-limited environment.

There are also important ethical obligations associated with community engagement. Community members must never be seen merely as ‘case studies’, as sources of information, or as opportunities for students to carry out an academic task; ethical engagement with the community requires students to see community members as partners who contribute their own knowledge, experience and expertise to the learning process.

The key ethical principle is therefore this: engagement with the community should result in value being created for both the students and the community.

A Key Ethical Challenge: Avoiding One-Sided Engagement

One of the main ethical challenges in community-based projects is ensuring that the relationship does not become one-sided.

Students may gain valuable experience, complete assessments, develop practical skills and strengthen their understanding of business concepts. However, we must also ask:

What does the community gain from the engagement?

For instance, an entrepreneur might take the time to explain their business, the problems they are facing, their customers, and their experiences to students. The students could then use this information to come up with recommendations or to carry out an academic task. In order to act ethically, students have to think about whether their work is respectful, realistic and possibly useful to the entrepreneur or merely intended to meet an academic requirement.

This shifts the approach from “learning about the community” towards “learning with the community.”

Ethical Principles for Students

The students who are taking part in the project should bear in mind a number of principles.

Respect and dignity: Every entrepreneur should be treated as a knowledgeable partner. Students should avoid assumptions about individuals or businesses based on their location, resources, financial circumstances or challenges.

Informed and voluntary participation: Community members should understand why students are engaging with them, how information will be used and what participation involves. They should feel free to decline to answer a question or participate in an activity.

Privacy and confidentiality: Students may become aware of sensitive information relating to finances, customers, employees, business difficulties or personal circumstances. Such information should not be shared outside the purpose of the activity without permission. Where appropriate, identifying information should be removed from assignments and presentations.

Do no harm: Recommendations should be made carefully. Students should recognise the limits of their expertise and avoid presenting academic recommendations as guaranteed business solutions. Advice that could create financial, reputational or operational risk should be approached cautiously.

Reciprocity: Engagement should provide meaningful value to the community. Where students analyse a business challenge, for example, they should aim to provide practical ideas, resources, feedback or recommendations that the entrepreneur can understand and potentially use.

Cultural and contextual sensitivity: Business theories learned in the classroom may not always transfer directly into every community setting. Students should first listen and understand the entrepreneur’s circumstances before proposing solutions.

From Theory to Practice

Imagine that a student identifies that a community entrepreneur has limited social media presence. It may be easy to recommend increased digital marketing based on concepts learned in class.

Ethical practice requires deeper consideration.

Does the entrepreneur have reliable internet access? Do they have the time and skills to manage social media? Who are their customers? Would digital marketing actually help them? What resources would implementation require?

Rather than saying, “You need to improve your social media marketing,” the student could work with the entrepreneur to identify a realistic and affordable approach that fits the business.

This demonstrates an important principle of community engagement: a theoretically strong solution is not necessarily an ethically responsible or practically appropriate solution.

Before You Engage: Ask Yourself

Before, during and after participating in the community project, students should reflect on the following questions:

• Have I listened before making assumptions or offering solutions?
• Does the community member understand the purpose of our engagement?
• Am I treating the entrepreneur as a partner rather than as a subject of study?
• Am I protecting confidential or sensitive information?
• Are my recommendations realistic within the entrepreneur’s circumstances?
• Could anything I propose unintentionally cause harm?
• What practical value does my work provide to the entrepreneur or community?
• Have I represented the community and its challenges respectfully?
• What have I learned from and with the community rather than simply about it?

Final Thought

Ethical community engagement involves more than just following the rules or securing permission; it is concerned with the quality of the relationship existing between students, the institution, and the community.

The Learning Through Community Engagement project must therefore be based on respect, responsibility, reciprocity and reflection. When in the community students should act not only as learners who apply their academic knowledge but also as partners willing to listen, learn and make contributions.

If community knowledge and academic knowledge are regarded as equally valuable elements of the learning process, then community engagement can go beyond being merely an academic activity and become a significant experience that is beneficial to both student learning and to community development.

DATE: October 2026 | DISCLAIMER: The content of this blog is accurate at the time of publication. STADIO reserves the right to change the content due to changes in legislation, as well as for market requirements and other reasons

Ethics is often associated with the formal responsibilities that come with professional life. We speak about ethical leadership, professional codes, conflicts of interest, corporate governance and the conduct expected of accountants, lawyers, managers, academics and other professionals.  

These are important considerations. However, ethical judgement does not suddenly become relevant when a person enters the workplace or takes on a professional title. Many of the principles that underpin professional ethics are already encountered, tested and developed during higher education.  

Student life provides an interesting environment in which this happens.  

Students work with information, interact with people who may hold very different views, participate in groups, operate within assessment rules, use increasingly sophisticated technology and take responsibility for their own learning. Each of these activities requires choices to be made. Importantly, those choices often affect people other than the student making them. 

Singer (2011) argues that ethics requires us to consider the interests of others and not merely our own. In a higher education environment, that principle is perhaps more practical than it first appears. 

Consider academic integrity. 

A student who copies another person's work is not simply failing to comply with an academic rule. The student's action also involves the dishonest use of another person's intellectual effort. Similarly, a student who contributes very little to a group assignment but accepts the same recognition as those who carried the workload benefits from the efforts of others. The same applies when restricted assessment material is circulated among a small group of students. Those students may gain an advantage, but that advantage exists at the expense of the fairness of the assessment process for everyone else. 

The ethical question is therefore broader than whether a person is likely to get caught. It is also about whether the decision can be justified when its effect on other people is considered. This is where academic integrity becomes more than a warning against plagiarism and cheating. 

The International Centre for Academic Integrity (2021) identifies honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage as fundamental values of academic integrity. These values require students to engage honestly with information, produce authentic work and acknowledge the contribution of others. 

The relevance extends well beyond an assignment or examination. A student who learns to distinguish reliable evidence from unsupported information, acknowledge the origin of an idea and question information before relying on it is developing an important form of intellectual discipline. 

Professionals face the same responsibility, although the context changes. An accountant may need to decide whether financial information represents the underlying position fairly. A researcher must ensure that evidence is not manipulated to support a preferred conclusion. A manager may need to decide whether information presented to a board is sufficiently complete for an informed decision. A professional adviser must distinguish between evidence and assumption. 

In each instance, information affects someone else's decision. Student development therefore involves more than learning what information means. It also involves learning how information should be used. 

The same principle applies to relationships. Universities bring together people with different backgrounds, experiences, personalities and opinions. UNESCO (2021) places emphasis on inclusion, cooperation and respect for diversity as important features of education. This becomes very real in an ordinary classroom discussion. Students will disagree. They should. Higher education should expose people to different arguments and encourage them to test their own thinking. The ethical issue lies in how that disagreement is handled. 

Can an argument be challenged without attacking the person presenting it? Can a student listen to a view with which they strongly disagree? Can people reconsider their own position when better evidence is presented? 

These may appear to be ordinary classroom behaviours, but they develop capabilities that are equally important in professional environments. The terminology may later change to stakeholder engagement, organisational culture, leadership, dignity or inclusion, but the underlying requirement remains the ability to deal responsibly with other people. 

Group work provides another practical example. Most students have experienced a group assignment where contributions are not equal. One student coordinates the process, another consistently delivers, someone misses the deadline and another appears near the end expecting their name to be added to the final submission. It can be frustrating, but it is also a useful ethical exercise. Can other people rely on you? Do you take responsibility for what you agreed to do? Are you comfortable receiving credit for work you did not perform? Do you communicate when you know you will not meet a commitment? These are questions of fairness and accountability, but they are also questions of trust. 

The setting may later become a project team, an audit engagement, a management committee or a board. The principles remain remarkably similar. Technology has made these questions even more interesting. 

Students today have access to tools that can search, summarise, analyse and generate sophisticated content within seconds. Artificial intelligence is the most visible example, but the ethical consideration is wider than AI itself. Technology has substantially increased what we are able to do. It has not necessarily made the decision about what we should do any easier. 

A student can generate a polished assignment answer without fully understanding the underlying content. Information can be copied and distributed almost immediately. Restricted material can be shared with hundreds of people in seconds. The fact that something can be done easily does not resolve whether it should be done. 

It also raises an increasingly important question about competence. If AI produces a technically impressive analysis that the user cannot explain, verify or defend, the quality of the presentation does not remove the responsibility of the person relying on it. This has obvious implications beyond higher education. 

Professionals are increasingly able to use technology to produce reports, recommendations and analyses more efficiently. The ethical responsibility remains with the person who chooses to use that information and, where appropriate, places their name behind it. Technology can assist professional judgement. It cannot assume professional accountability. 

Assessment introduces another important ethical dimension: fairness. Institutions and academics have a responsibility to design and administer assessments fairly. Students have a corresponding responsibility not to undermine the integrity of those processes.  

Suppose one group of students obtains information about an assessment that is not available to the rest of the class. Or restricted material is accidentally made available before an examination. The ethical issue is not limited to whether a formal rule expressly prohibits its use. The more useful question is whether the process remains fair once some participants have access to an advantage that others do not. 

This distinction between what is technically possible and what is ethically defensible appears regularly in professional life as well. Not every questionable decision is illegal. Not every conflict of interest produces actual misconduct. Not every omission amounts to fraud. Ethical judgement is often required precisely because rules alone do not provide a complete answer. 

There is also a less obvious part of student development that deserves attention: preparation. Students are expected to attend, engage with learning material, manage deadlines, prepare for assessments and seek assistance when necessary. Universities and academics must provide suitable learning opportunities and support, but students must ultimately engage with those opportunities. This is not merely about study technique. It develops personal responsibility. 

Competence requires preparation. Reliability requires discipline. Good judgement includes recognising when you do not know enough and asking for assistance before acting. 

That last point is particularly important in professional ethics. Being ethical does not simply mean being honest. A person may have good intentions and still act irresponsibly if they accept professional responsibility for something they are not competent to perform. Sometimes one of the most professionally responsible statements a person can make is, “I don't know, but I will find out.” 

Higher education provides a relatively safe environment in which many of these behaviours can be developed. A poorly managed group assignment, a missed deadline or an incorrect judgement in a classroom exercise may have consequences, but they also provide an opportunity to reflect, correct the behaviour and learn from it before the consequences become significantly greater. 

This is perhaps where the broader value of higher education becomes clearer. Referencing develops intellectual honesty. Group work exposes students to accountability and fairness. Classroom engagement requires respect. Assessment introduces procedural fairness. Technology requires judgement. Preparation develops responsibility and competence. None of these experiences can guarantee that someone will behave ethically in future. What they can do is provide repeated opportunities to practise ethical judgement. 

That matters because ethics cannot be reduced to a code of conduct or a list of rules. Codes and policies provide important boundaries, but they cannot anticipate every situation a person may encounter. There will always be circumstances in which interests compete, information is incomplete, pressure exists or the easiest option is not necessarily the right one. It is in these situations that judgement matters.

For universities, this means that ethical development should not be regarded as something separate from academic development. The way institutions teach, assess and engage with students contributes to the environment in which ethical judgement develops. For academics, it means recognising that we model many of the behaviours we expect students to adopt. For students, it means that ordinary academic experiences may have a greater developmental purpose than is immediately apparent. For employers and professional bodies, it reinforces the importance of looking beyond technical competence alone. Organisations depend on people who can be trusted with information, exercise judgement, accept responsibility and recognise the limits of their own competence. 

This is particularly relevant during Ethics Week. Ethics does not sit separately from teaching, learning or professional development. It runs through all three. 

Perhaps the value of education should therefore be considered not only in terms of what students eventually know, but also in how they learn to use that knowledge, how they engage with others and how responsibly they exercise the choices placed in their hands. 

References 

1. International Centre for Academic Integrity (ICAI). (2021). The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity (3rd ed.).
2. Singer, P. (2011). Practical Ethics (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
3. UNESCO. (2021). Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education.

DATE: October 2026 | DISCLAIMER: The content of this blog is accurate at the time of publication. STADIO reserves the right to change the content due to changes in legislation, as well as for market requirements and other reasons

Beyond the Bottom Line: Re-centering Ethics in the Commerce Curriculum

A contribution from the Module Coordinator

As a BCom student it is important to recognize that STADIO is not only assisting you to attain a qualification. The curriculum goes on to embed both hard and soft skills that you will need in the workplace. As you enter the world of work you will be in a position to make decisions that impact the organization, people and community at large. You may become a manager, entrepreneur, accountant, economist, lawyer, human resources practitioner, marketing professional or business leader. Regardless of your title, you will be faced with many situations that will require you to do the right thing.

This is why the study of ethics has been embedded into your global citizenship module.

Business decisions are rarely made in isolation. The world we live in today demands that individuals and people make decisions that reduce costs as much as possible. Recently we had our fuel prices reaching a record high which our South African economy has never seen, further underlining concepts such as scarcity and having to make smart economic choices. Against this backdrop you may be presented with situations that are against your values. For example; you may be required to decide whether to report misconduct, challenge discrimination, protect confidential information, reject a bribe or raise concerns about a supplier that exploits its workers. These situations require more than technical knowledge; they require a person who is ethical.

Through the global citizenship module, you are afforded the opportunity to explore the relationship between business, human rights and ethical responsibility. You are provided with a plethora of business scenarios and are required to apply ethics theories to solve the dilemmas businesses face in the real world.  For example, utilitarianism encourages you to consider the overall consequences of an action, while deontological ethics emphasises duties and moral principles. Virtue ethics asks you to consider the character and values reflected in your choices. These approaches help you move beyond personal opinion and develop reasoned, defensible decisions.

We are now living in the 5th industrial revolution which moves away from the focus on digital efficiency echoed in the previous revolution towards more of an emphasis on the collaboration between humans and advanced technology. A very well-known example of this would be how do we as humans interact with AI and how do we use it ethically?

We can certainly agree that AI has many positive impacts however we should not shy way from asking ourselves ethical questions related to these advanced technologies. Examples can include the following; can confidential company or customer information be entered into an AI tool? Should a manager rely on AI to screen job applicants without examining the possibility of bias? Who is accountable when AI-generated information is inaccurate and leads to a harmful decision? Is it acceptable to present AI-generated work as entirely your own or to use AI without acknowledging it when disclosure is required?

Ultimately, the value of studying ethics lies in your ability to apply what you learn when faced with real-world dilemmas. You may be asking yourself, does being ethical all the time have benefits? Absolutely it does. This can include creating trust, responsible leadership and honest business relationships that do not require you to look over your shoulder all the time.

My challenge to you is this: do not study ethics simply to pass a module. Use it to reflect on the kind of professional you want to become. When you enter the workplace, your competence will influence how well you perform your job, but your judgement, values and integrity will influence how responsibly you perform it.

References

1. ChatGPT. 2026. Chat AI response to Nomzamo Nkabinde, 09 October 2026.
2. Crane, A., Matten, D., Glozer, S. and Spence, L.J. 2019. Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization. 5th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. Floridi, L. 2023. The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: Principles, Challenges, and Opportunities. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4. UNESCO. 2022. Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Paris: UNESCO.
5. United Nations, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2011. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework. New York and Geneva: United Nations.

DATE: October 2026 | DISCLAIMER: The content of this blog is accurate at the time of publication. STADIO reserves the right to change the content due to changes in legislation, as well as for market requirements and other reasons