MBA 659 - SPECIAL TOPICS:

THE ETHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF LEADERSHIP

ON-LINE COURSE
FALL, 2009

Lawrence P. Ulrich, Ph.D.
Lawrence.Ulrich@notes.udayton.edu
COURSE DESCRIPTION FOR REGISTRATION

WHY TAKE THIS COURSE IN THIS WAY?

 

NAVIGATING THE COURSE WEBSITE

 
 

General Homepage

Course Homepage

Course Description for Registration

Syllabus & Requirements

Objectives

Course Outline & Schedule

Course Reading Assignments & Schedule

Essay 1

Essay 2

Essay 3

Collaborative Writing Project

Threaded Discussions

Web Conferences

(Audio Chat Rooms)

Resource Readings

Links

Q & A

DATES TO REMEMBER

BUSINESS ETHICS LIBRARY

 

COURSE EVALUATION FORM

 

 
DATES ON THIS WEBSITE ARE NOT CHISELED IN STONE, BUT THEY ARE PRETTY CLOSE TO THE FINAL DATES FOR THE COURSE. FINAL DATES WILL BE DESIGNATED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TERM.
 
This is an on-line course with no classroom meetings. Because there are no classroom meetings, computer technology will be used for purposes of communication and team-building. Students may also be doing a bit more writing in this course than they might do in a regular classroom course.

The course will provide students with the conceptual tools for analyzing and resolving ethical issues in decision-making situations. It will explore the qualities necessary for the ethical practices of Moral Leadership. It will identify and analyze the values and virtues that underlie the qualities of Moral Leadership, such as commitment, courage, responsibility, servanthood, and vision. The course will consider a variety of aspects of Moral Leadership as exercised and articulated by such recognized leaders as The Founding Brothers, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., Ronald Reagan, and Nelson Mandela. It will encourage students to reflect on their own values and virtues to determine where they are situated in the spectrum of qualities necessary for Moral Leadership.

There will be an emphasis on team-building through the use of on-line tools for collaborative writing projects, threaded discussions, and Web Conferences (Audio Chat Rooms).

Individual short essays will also be part of the evaluation process.

The particulars of the course will be found on <http://academic.udayton.edu/LawrenceUlrich> or <http://academic.udayton.edu/LawrenceUlrich/659f09syllb.html>. Students are also encouraged to contact the professor by phone (760.574.8087) or by e-mail.


 

UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MBA 652 AND THIS COURSE,

(MBA 659)

 SINCE THE FOCUS OF BOTH COURSES IS ETHICS, BOTH COURSES REQUIRE A FOUNDATION IN THE PROCESS OF ETHICAL DECISION MAKING. STUDENTS CANNOT BE EXPECTED TO COME TO EITHER COURSE WITH A KNOWLEDGE OF THESE FOUNDATIONS AND A  SKILL IN EXERCISING THEM. THESE FOUNDATIONS ARE LAID IN THE FIRST 2-3 WEEKS OF BOTH COURSES. 

AT THIS POINT (AFTER 2-3 WEEKS) THE FOCUS OF THE COURSES SHIFTS.  MBA 652 FOCUSES ON SITUATIONS IN CORPORATE PRACTICES THAT REQUIRE CAREFUL ETHICAL ANALYSES FROM THE VANTAGE POINTS OF EXECUTIVES, EMPLOYEES, CONSUMERS, AND SOCIETY IN GENERAL. THE FOCUS OF MBA 6XX BECOMES THE LEADERSHIP ROLE OF CORPORATE EXECUTIVES (AND OTHERS WHO MIGHT FIND THEMSELVES IN A LEADERSHIP ROLE) AND THE CHARACTERISTICS/VIRTUES THAT DEFINE AND ENHANCE THE LEADERSHIP ROLE.

THE DELIVERY OF THE COURSES DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION IN WHICH THE COURSE IS OFFERED, I.E., IN THE CLASSROOM OR ON LINE. THIS SYLLABUS REPRESENTS THE ON-LINE APPROACH TO DELIVERY.

 


TO  ENGAGE IN THIS KIND OF COURSE SUCCESSFULLY, THE STUDENT SHOULD HAVE THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS:
  • SELF MOTIVATION
  • TIME-MANAGEMENT SKILLS
  • A COMMITMENT TO MEETING DEADLINES
  • REASONABLY DECENT WRITING SKILLS
  • A WILLINGNESS TO DEVELOP SKILLS OF THEORETICAL ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION OF SKILLS TO PROBLEM SOLVING.
SINCE THIS COURSE IS CONDUCTED ELECTRONICALLY, THE STUDENT SHOULD HAVE THE FOLLOWING MINIMAL ELECTRONIC CAPABILITIES: 

MSWORD for writing assignments and submitting e-mail attachments

 

ELLUMINATE REQUIRMENTS FOR CHAT ROOMS

  •  Pentium II

  • 233 MHz

  • 128 MB RAM

  • 5 MB free disk space

  • 28.8 kbps connection speed (56 for A/V)

  • Microsoft Windows 95 / Windows 98 / Windows NT 4.0 workstation / Windows 2000 Professional (preferred)

  • Internet Explorer 5.0.1 & 5.5 (preferred) / Netscape Communicator 4.7

  • Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine

QUICKPLACE REQUIREMENTS 

  • Windows 98 / Windows NT / Windows 2000 / Windows XP Professional / Macintosh System 9
  • Internet Explorer 5.5 with Service Pack 2 / Internet Explorer 5.1 (Macintosh) / Internet Explorer 6 / Netscape 4.79
  • Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine