Formal debates with all their rigmarole of precedence, motions and rules of debate have gone out of fashion. However its use, in a simplified form, is ideal for the teaching of business ethics. Any current business ethics issue can be formed into a motion to be debated.

• The world free market system disadvantages developing countries
• People should not use their access to email and the Internet at work for private purposes.

A potential problem of debates is that it keeps the key speakers busy but can leave the bulk of a group with little to do. This problem might be overcome by adopting the following procedure.

• The motion to be debated is announced.
• The student group is divided into two. One for the motion and one against.
• It might be possible to have more than two groups and have several each charged with arguing a case from a particular ethical perspective - one group to argue from a rights/Kantian basis, a second to take a utilitarian line, a third a Rawlsian perspective and so on.
• Each group then has time to research and prepare its case. The World Wide Web should be recommended as a major source for the research.
• The whole group should then come together for the debate. There should be one or two speakers for and against the motion (depending on the time available). The speakers should be kept to a strict time limit of, normally between 10 and 25 minutes. After each speech the opposing group should be given time for questions.
• As all the students have been asked to take a partisan position there would be little point in asking them to vote on the issue. However the tutor(s) might take an adjudication role and summarise the balance of arguments that had been presented.

Case studies
Questionnaire and inventories
Debates and seminars