Welcome to PRDV223: Organizational Culture, Diversity, and Ethics

Specific information about this course and its requirements can be found below. For more general information about taking Saylor Academy courses, including information about Community and Academic Codes of Conduct, please read the Student Handbook.

Course Description

Learn the fundamentals of modern business management as you explore how business management practices evolved from the rise of large corporations in the late 1800s to today.

Course Introduction

In this course, you will look at organizational culture and how it provides a company with its own workplace climate and personality. Organizational culture includes attitudes, values, and work styles, which, when managed properly, can lead to a highly productive workforce.

A diverse workforce brings together people from different backgrounds. Each individual brings their own experiences and expertise to the table. Blending these backgrounds can enhance productivity by allowing for the free flow of new ideas and creativity. This unit will explore the importance of a diverse workforce and how managers can make the most of their employees' individual knowledge and approaches to reach corporate goals.

Management sets the tone for a corporate climate and sets the standard for personal behavior. In this course, you will also learn about the importance of ethics – ""doing what is right"" or ""doing the right thing"". In light of recent major business scandals borne out of unethical behavior, almost all business schools have devoted aspects of their curricula to the study of ethics. To understand how to apply ethics to different circumstances, you must understand how ethics can vary based on differences in society, culture, and politics. There are many different philosophies purporting to explain how to apply ethics to decision-making, but none of them are absolute. However, understanding these various philosophies can help you reach workplace decisions that are more ethically grounded.

This unit will conclude with an exploration of business ethics in the modern-day workplace environment. An organization and its managers have duties, including legal and ethical responsibilities, that they must uphold as part of their service to their stakeholders, including investors, vendors, employees, and the communities in which the organization operates.

This course includes the following units:

  • Unit 1: Corporate Culture
  • Unit 2: How Managers Form and Maintain Organizational Cultures
  • Unit 3: Building Organizational Culture in a New Business Venture
  • Unit 4: Diversity
  • Unit 5: Business and Managerial Ethics 101
  • Unit 6: Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Unit 7: What Is Environmentalism?
  • Unit 8: Responsibilities to Stakeholders
  • Unit 9: Ethical Issues and Considerations

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • Explain the changing nature of a diverse workforce and how it can enhance the work environment;
  • Apply the essential concepts of ethical practices in business;
  • Explain the importance of corporate culture in the business environment; and
  • Describe the role that cultural factors play in the workplace.

Throughout this course, you will also see learning outcomes in each unit. You can use those learning outcomes to help organize your studies and gauge your progress.

Course Materials

This course's primary learning materials are articles, lectures, and videos.

All course materials are free to access and can be found in each unit of the course. Pay close attention to the notes that accompany these course materials, as they will tell you what to focus on in each resource and will help you understand how the learning materials fit into the course as a whole. You can also see a list of all the learning materials in this course by clicking on Resources in the navigation bar.

Evaluation and Minimum Passing Score

Only the final examination is considered when awarding you a grade for this course. To pass this course, you will need to earn 70% or higher on the final exam.

Your score on the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. There is a 14-day waiting period between each attempt. You may only attempt the final exam a maximum of three times. Be sure to study in between each attempt! If you do not pass the exam after three attempts, you will not complete this course.

There is also a practice exam that you may take as many times as you want to help you prepare for the final exam. The course also contains end-of-unit assessments in this course. The end-of-unit assessments are designed to help you study and do not factor into your final course grade. You can take these as many times as you want to until you understand the concepts and material covered. You can see all of these assessments by clicking on Quizzes in the course's navigation bar.

Continuing Education Credits

The certificate earned by passing this self-paced course displays not only the program hours you completed, but also continuing education credits (CEUs) for documenting successful completion of courses that are designed to improve the knowledge and skills of working adults. Many industries value CEUs, and now your certificate reflects them clearly, and they may be used to support career advancement or to meet professional licensing standards. This course contains 1.9 CEUs.

Tips for Success

PRDV223: Organizational Culture, Diversity, and Ethics is a self-paced course, meaning you can decide when to start and complete the course. We estimate the "average" student will take hours to complete. We recommend studying at a comfortable pace and scheduling your study time in advance.

Learning new material can be challenging, so here are a few study strategies to help you succeed:

  • Take notes on terms, practices, and theories. This helps you understand each concept in context and provides a refresher for later study.
  • Test yourself on what you remember and how well you understand the concepts. Reflecting on what you've learned improves long-term memory retention.

Technical Requirements

This course is delivered entirely online. You will need access to a computer or web-capable mobile device and consistent internet access to view or download resources and complete auto-graded assessments and the final exam.

To access the full course, including assessments and the final exam, log into your Saylor Academy account and enroll in the course. If you don’t have an account, you can create one for free here. Note that tracking progress and taking assessments require login.

For more details and guidance, please review our complete Technical Requirements and our student Help Center.

Optional Saylor Academy Mobile App

You can access all course features directly from your mobile browser, but if you have limited internet connectivity, the Saylor Academy mobile app provides an option to download course content for offline use. The app is available for iOS and Android devices.

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Fees

This course is entirely free to enroll in and access. All course materials, including textbooks, videos, webpages, and activities, are available at no charge. This course also contains a free final exam and course completion certificate.

Last modified: Wednesday, August 13, 2025, 3:24 PM