Business ethics sounded a bit airy to me at first, but turned out to be critical

By Melinde Bussemaker

Djonah has found his niche. “In my first year of Business Economics I took a course on Tax Law, and I discovered that law school would suit me. I like rules, overview, legal certainty: rules offer stability and create clarity. I opted for Business Law in my first year and that’s how I combine my interest in businesses and law. To me it’s the perfect blend.”

Smallness of scale

Business Law is a relatively small player within Tilburg Law School. Djonah: “That fits me perfectly. I’m from Heeswijk-Dinther, a small town near the city of Den Bosch, and I’d feel a little lost taking an industry-scale degree program in a big city. That’s certainly not the case now. I like the fact that the university buildings are close to one another. They’re a ten-minutes bike ride away from my student flat and there’s always some I know. The Business Law courses follow a small-scale plan and the lecturers know us. Ger van der Sangen, for example, will ask our names in seminars and remember them. And lecturers frequently check if everyone understands. If you actively engage, it’s virtually impossible for knowledge not to be transferred.”

Strategic choices

In line with Tilburg University’s vision on education, the Tilburg Educational Profile (TEP), the Business Law program does more than transfer knowledge; students also practice their skills and build their character. “Skills, for example, play a prominent role in the third-year course Organizational Studies & Strategy. In groups of five, we work on cases, answering five questions about every case.

In this way we learn to think about how we can make strategic choices in our future careers.

A case in point is the case about Taylor Guitars (TG), a company that manufactures guitars and guitar cases. TG aims to do so in the most sustainable way possible in two facilities: one in the US, the other just across the border in Mexico. Why does TG opt for a facility in Mexico and not for one in, for example, Southeast Asia? And does its business model align with its objective of maximizing shareholder value? It’s questions like these we debate.”

Working together

“We also learn how to work together,” he continues. “We divide the work and must trust as well as monitor each other. How do we ensure that works out? As far as I’m concerned, all courses should be organized like this.

By working on cases in and outside class, we immediately learn to apply theoretical knowledge.

And it reduces prep time for exams, because we already know.”

Ethics and Business Law

Building character comes to the fore in the Business Ethics course. “At first the whole thing seemed a bit airy to me. What do ethics have to do with Business Law? Everything, it turned out. Businesses that operate unethically must be held to account legally and financially. Businesses should make it their business to embrace corporate community engagement, show how they respond to social issues like #metoo, and take affirmative environmental action. Entrepreneurs must reflect on the values that matter to their business.”

Clearly, a business aims to make money, but that should not excuse them from making their workers feel safe and from encouraging them to grow.

Staying out of court

“Listed companies are duty-bound to comply with the Dutch Corporate Governance Code, or clearly explain why they don’t,” Djonah relates. “While the Code isn’t statutory law, it is binding, and the board of directors must consequently think long and hard about the corporate structure of their business. Who are the stakeholders? How does everyone communicate? How should people be properly managed? And how do you document the relevant protocols? It’s better to be safe in business than it is to be sorry in court. Or you want to keep sponsors from severing ties because the corporation pollutes the environment or hires an associate whose reputation is tainted. It is as fascinating as it is relevant to think about such issues.”

Once he has completed his Bachelor’s, Djonah wants to do the Master’s program in Business Law and subsequently work in mergers and acquisitions.