Beijing Global Gateway and Emerson China host lecture on ethical blind spots

On February 16, the Beijing Global Gateway (BGG) partnered with Emerson China for an exclusive virtual lecture on ethical behavior in the workplace by Ann Tenbrunsel, David E. Gallo Professor of Business Ethics and Chair of the Department of Management & Organization at the Mendoza College of Business and Senior Assistant Provost for Internationalization at the University of Notre Dame. This is BGG's second corporate collaboration in China on the topic of business ethics.

The lecture, titled “Blind Spots: Why We Aren’t as Ethical as We Think We Are,” touched upon four ethic blind spots in the workplace: ethical illusions, ethical fading, dangerous reward systems, and motivated blindness.

Judy Cheng, senior HR director of automation solutions China at Emerson, and Maggie Wu, HR director of BMMC/EBIC Automation Solutions China and Women’s Impact Network Board Member & China Region Leader at Emerson, were two Emerson representatives who spoke at the event.

“It is our great honor to have this university outreach with Notre Dame and have Professor Ann Tenbrunsel present her deep insights on ethical blind spots. We had more than 310 participants from different business units and platforms of Emerson attended the Zoom sharing, which included business leaders, HR leaders and Emerson Women’s Impact Network Chapter Leaders,” Cheng commented after the event. “The feedback from participants were very positive, as the lecture has inspired us to explore the role that ethical blind spots plays in unethical behavior as well as the relevant organizational applications, which we never considered before.”

“The Mendoza College of Business offers a rigorous Notre Dame education that prepares our students for business with a balanced worldview. It develops our students as leaders with the moral courage to act with integrity and who are true to their core values,” says Jingyu Wang, executive director of the Beijing Global Gateway. “BGG is honored to work with Emerson China, who share the same understanding towards business and society, in organizing this event and in spreading the idea of “Grow the Good in Business.”

A special thanks to Sarah Feng and Iris Yu from HR Learning & Organization Development of Automation Solutions China at Emerson for making this event possible.