COURSE DESCRIPTION FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON BULLETIN:

Study of social responsibility and ethics. Topics include the relationship of management to society, ethical issues in management, strategic management for social responsiveness, and the stakeholder management concept. Prerequisites: MBA 670 and 671.

GENERAL ORIENTATION:

This course will examine many of the ethical issues that arise in business practices. It will begin with an examination of the conceptual tools that are used to position discussions of ethics in professional practices. These tools are specifically the ethical systems that structure ethical analyses and the ethical principles that are often used to resolve conflicts that arise in professional practices. Three general features which will underlie the ethical issues that will condition our time in this course are (1) the process of ethical decision-making, (2) the meaning of virtue and the characteristics of a virtuous manager, (3) the impact of the development of the global marketplace on business practices,  (4) the importance of policy formation to direct corporations toward proper ethical practices, and (5) the development of a corporate culture. We will also spend considerable time discussing the responsibility of corporations in light of recent corporate scandals. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see the student qualifications for success in this course and the technology qualifications to participate in the on-line activities. 

ON-LINE FEATURES:

Since there will be no class meetings for this course students can expect to be required to make a greater commitment to reading and writing than might be expected in a course, which meets in a regular class setting. Students can expect to:
1) Read about 400 pages over the 12 week course, which averages about 35 pages per week.
2) Write three (3) individual essays (about 500-700 words per essay) over the 12 week course.
3) Participate in two (2) collaborative Writing Projects (about 2,500 words) over the 12 week course.
4) Spend time participating in five (5) threaded discussions producing about 15 robust paragraphs over the 12 week course.
5) Participate in  3 of 8 scheduled Web Conferences (Audio Chat Rooms) of electronic Web Conferences (Audio Chat Rooms) over the 12 week course; each Web Conference is 1 and 1/2 hours in duration, which are staggered at different times and on different days in the course..

SPECIFIC TOPICS TO BE CONSIDERED:

1) Dominant ethical theories in Western philosophy: Natural Law, Deontology, Utilitarianism, Virtue Ethics, Feminist Ethics.
2) Principles for resolving ethics conflicts: Autonomy, Beneficence, Justice, Parentalism.
3) The notion of "rights" and the role of human rights in the development of the global marketplace.
4) The social responsibility of corporations and its relation to the Stakeholder Theory.
5) The concept of "virtue."
6) A catalogue of virtues that are important for business practices.
7) Virtues important for good managers and prioritizing those virtues.
8) Virtues important for good employees.
9) The challenges that the development of the free market presents to ethical reflection.
10) Justice as a guiding principle in the market place.
11) Insider trading and the demands of justice.
12) Advertising and truth-telling.
13) Employer-employee relationships.
14) Whistle blowing and the responsibility of employees.
15) The role of diversity in the corporation.
16) Sexual harassment and the protection of human dignity.
17) The role of business in a developing technological environment.
18) The responsibilities of the corporation toward the environment.
19) Creating an ethical environment in a capitalistic system of economics.

CLICK HERE for course outline and sequence of topics.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

CLICK HERE to examine the course objectives and the methods to be used to accomplish the objectives.

COURSE PROCEDURES AND GRADING SCALE:

There will be no classroom meetings.
All written individual essays will be sent to the instructor as e-mail attachments in WORD (2003), not as  e-mail messages.
Collaborative Writing Projects will be posted on the Quickplace website.
Web Conferences (Audio Chat Rooms) will be conducted on staggered evenings (sometimes 7:30-9:00 p.m. EDT and sometimes 9:00-10:30 p.m. EDT), except for 2 on Saturday mornings over the 12 week period to allow for flexible participation on the part of students.
Five (5) threaded Discussions lasting one week each will be conducted approximately every other week during the term.
 

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Students will be required to participate in three (3) of the scheduled eight (8) Web Conferences (Audio Chat Rooms).
2. Students will be required to participate in five (5) Threaded Discussions.
3. Students will be required to produce two (2) Collaborative Writing Projects of approximately 2,500 words for each project.
4. Students will be required to write three (3) essays of 500-700 words each.

CLICK HERE for specific reading assignments.
CLICK HERE for specific essay questions.
CLICK HERE for the course outline.

TEXTS:

Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Seventh Edition. Houghton Mifflin Co., 2008 [ISBN 13-978-0-618-74934-8]
Newton, Lisa H. and Schmidt, David P. Wake Up Calls: Classic Cases in Business Ethics. 2nd edition. Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2004 [ISBN 0-324-26152-7]
Some articles and cases will be found on ERESERVE through the University of Dayton Library. These are listed on the "Phl 313 - Business Ethics" page to avoid duplication with some of my articles for undergraduates.