Foundations of Business Ethics
Fall 2013
Reading about ethics is about as likely to improve one’s behavior as reading about
sports is to make one into an athlete. --- Mason Cooley
Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about
what evils they will call excusable. G. K. Chesterton
Being moral means translating the knowledge of right and wrong into character and
consistent action. It is…a matter of becoming a good person, not just knowing about
good. --- Os Guinness
If ethics are poor at the top, that behavior is copied down through the organization. -Robert Noyce, Inventor of the silicon chip
Instructor: Jensen
Phone: Off: 3408-3720
Office: Kwan Gae Tou Kwan 422
Email: [email protected]
Text: 1) Desjardins, An Introduction to Business Ethics 5th International Edition (There is a
companion web site at: www.mhhe.com/desjardins; 2) A reader with additional cases
and articles.
Course Content:
The central aim of the course is to provide structures and principles for ethical reasoning
through which you can better grapple with moral and ethical dilemmas confronted in the
world of business. For the person who lives in close proximity to their values, who wishes to
act ethically and responsibly, the course will provide a foundation to think more critically and
clearly about your decisions. So the course can’t (isn’t intended to) make anyone ethical, but
it can give you more tools with which to make tough decisions when facing ethical dilemmas.
Once we understand some basic ethical theories, we will then spend most of our eight weeks
thinking through ethical situations in different areas of business and cases.
This course is less about gaining knowledge than it is about clarifying who you are and how
you think. It is heuristic in orientation. This requires serious reflection. Reflection is
something we do in the quiet of our own minds, but it is also something that is improved with
discussion. So while class time will include some lecture, discussion will be central. In
conversation, our assumptions, motivations, and character can be challenged in ways that
deepen our understanding, integrity, and imagination. Moreover, in conversation with others,
we can find perspectives to question and clarify the ideas of a text, to see how it relates to the
wider world, and to help see its implications for the way we live and make decisions. That
means you will have to read, reflect upon and discuss the issues and cases. We learn best by
responding to, acting upon, and interacting with others.
Course Goals/Objectives:
After completing this course, students should be able to:




display an understanding of basic moral reasoning
identify ethical dilemmas in business and demonstrate the critical thinking and moral
reasoning skills needed to resolve the dilemma
understand the problem of human nature in the context of institutional authority
have a sense of what can be done institutionally to minimize human flaws and moral
failures
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
There will be one exam and a team project. The exam will be a combination of T/F, multiple
choice, short answer, and essay. Make-up examinations will be given for medical problems,
family emergencies or conflicts with work. However, be aware that any make-up exam will
be more demanding than the scheduled exam. If you have such an emergency, you must
notify the professor as soon as the problem is identified. You must notify me of nonattendance for an in-class examination prior to, or no later than one hour after, the
examination.
Team project, (two people only) will be based on the obedience problem and human realities
seen in Stanley Milgrams Obedience Studies, Solomon Asch’s Conformity Experiments, and
Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment. Teams will explore answers to what can be
done institutionally to bring this reality into an organizations calculations and better live with
and minimize these realities. In short, you will address how we can erect institutions, policy
and practices that better contain these perennial human failures. These can be applied to
business generally, but also to specific areas of business -- accounting, marketing etc.
Participation: Since discussion is a significant part of this course, all reading assignments
should be completed prior to the class period for which they are assigned. Your participation
and contributions to discussions will be weighted with 20% of your grade. Attendance: The
method of instruction makes attendance important. Reading at home cannot make up for
what happens in class. If you can’t be in class due to conflicts with work, please let me
know. An email is fine.
Assessment and grading:
Participation and preparation 30%
2
Midterm take-home exam 30%
Team project 40%
Resources on the Web:
http://managementhelp.org/businessethics/ethics-guide.htm
http://www.ethics.ubc.ca/resources/business/
http://www.business-ethics.com/
http://www.societyforbusinessethics.org/
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/business/
http://www.stthom.edu/cbes/resources/resources.html
http://www.iccr.org/
http://e-businessethics.com/
http://www.transparency.org/
http://www.learnwell.org/eth1.shtml
http://www.ibe.org.uk/developingPR.htm
http://www.pwcglobal.com/extweb/newcoatwork.nsf/docid/EA6D374B9858379880256C2A
003CAEE9 PricewaterhouseCoopers offers a Framework for Ethical Decision Making
http://geert-hofstede.com/geert-hofstede.html
Suggesting Readings
Ethics
David Vogel, The Market for Virtue: The Potential And Limits of Corporate Social
Responsibility
Michael Sandel, What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
Patricia Hogue Werhane, Moral Imagination and Management Decision-Making
Jeffrey L. Seglin, The Good, the Bad, and Your Business: Choosing Right When Ethical
Dilemmas Pull You Apart
Rushworth M. Kidder, How Good People Make Tough Choices: Resolving the Dilemmas of
Ethical Living
Leo Tolstoy, How Much Land Does a Man Need
Mary C. Gentile, Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When you Know What’s
Right.
General Economic Thought
Robert L. Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great
Economic Thinkers. Among the most widely read books on economics, it has sold in the area
of 2,000,000 copies worldwide in 41 languages, and is now on its sixth edition. Discusses the
lives and ideas of the giants in economic thought ― Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart
Mill, Karl Marx, Alfred Marshall, Vehlen and Keynes and more.
Amarty Sen, Development as Freedom. Sen is a Cambridge economist and winner of the
Nobel Prize in economics in 1998. Sen brings ethics back into an area of learning dominated
by technical specialists. This is a very readable book accessible to non-economists.
Peter J. Dougherty, Who's Afraid of Adam Smith? How the Market Got Its Soul! Dougherty
discusses the full range of Adam Smith’s thought by including both “Wealth of Nations” and
his equally important but often neglected "A Theory of Moral Sentiments." If you don't have
the time and inclination to read Smith, this is a good, readable overview.
3
Jerry Z. Muller, The Mind and the Market: Capitalism in Modern European Thought. An
introduction to the moral thinking of the great economic thinkers of the past that describes
their views of both the strengths and dangers of capitalism and free markets. See also his
Adam Smith in His Time and Ours.
Globalization:
Thomas Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree. This is a comprehensive look at globalization and
the new international system that is shaping the future. He uses hundreds of antidotes and analogies in
his description. The Lexus and the olive tree are used to dramatize the tension between the global
system and traditional forces of culture, geography, tradition, and community. It is a highly readable
book, and a good place to start for an overview of the complex system that is emerging. whether you
share Friedman’s enthusiasm or not, this is an excellent tour of the topic.
Deepak Lal, Reviving the Invisible Hand: The Case for Classical Liberalism in the Twenty-first
Century. “… account of modern economic theory and policy from a rigorous classical liberal, freemarket perspective.”
Ethan B. Kapstein, Economic Justice in an Unfair World: Toward a Level Playing Field
A clear and accessible contribution to the debates surrounding fairness in the global economy and
ethics in international affairs. In contrast to Lal, argues for political involvement in directing markets.
A good companion read to Lal.
John Dunning (ed), Making Globalization Good: The Moral Challenges of Global Capitalism
From back cover: “Gordon Brown, Jonathan Sacks, Joseph Stiglitz, Hans Kung, Shirley Williams,
and a dozen other leading thinkers in international business and ethics identify the pressing moral
issues which global capitalism must answer. How can we develop a global economic architecture,
which is efficient, morally acceptable, geographically inclusive and sustainable over time?
George Ritzer, The Globalization of Nothing. An Amazon review says this: "'The Globalization of
Nothing'....articulately postulates the short and long-term effects of globalization....The Globalization
of Nothing is a philosophical and clarion warning regarding the creeping and homogenizing
impersonality of severe economic forces."
Benjamin Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World. This
is a critical look at how globalization is undermining citizenship and the social structures that nurture
humans in their everyday lives. It essentially explores the clash between growing, intolerant tribal
identities and the dangerous effects of consumerism. A good read with either Stiglitz or Bhagwati.
Jagdish Bhagwati, In Defense of Globalization. Bhagwati is a former adviser to the U.N. on
globalization. A good read along with Stiglitz’, Globalization and Its Discontents. Very positive
assessment of globalization and its affect on the poor, and a pointed critique of anti-globalization
arguments.
Joseph E Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents. 2002 national bestseller by a renowned
economist and Nobel Prize winner. Argues that globalization can be a positive force in the world.
Some sharp criticisms of IMF policies. A more positive assessment than that of Barber.
Nayan Chanda, Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventures, and Warriors Shaped
Globalization.
Relevant Films:
The Manchurian Candidate
Wall Street
The Firm
Class Action (Ford Pinto case)
4
Erin Brockovich
Boiler Room
Glengarry Glen Ross
Barbarians at the Gate (fall of Nabisco)
Rogue Trader
Disclosure
Civil Action
The Verdict
Silkwood
Antitrus
Reading Schedule: The assignments should always be done in advance of the day that
reading is discussed. We will frequently refer to the reading and use them for in-class
discussion so be sure to bring the books or readings under discussion with you to class.
(There are a number of things that may change the schedule, but the general order will be as
follows)
Date
Nov 14
Topic
Reading ( in reader;
 Text)
Introduction of course
16
Morality, law, ethics, avarice and greed
21
The dark side of obedience
Human nature and corporate culture: What we learn
from Milgram, Asch, Zimbardo
23
Corporate culture and leadership
28
Ethical Theories
30
What is the Corporation: stockholder Theory
Dec 5
What is a corporation: Stakeholder theory
7
Moral Rights in the Workplace and Employee
Responsibilities
 Chap 1 Why Study Ethics
 Reader: Langdon Gilkey,
Shantung Compound

Text: Chap. 4
Video and discussion
 Gini, Moral Leadership
& Business Ethics
McCoy, The Parable of
the Sadhu
 UN Declaration of
Human Responsibilities


Chap 2 “Ethical Theory”
 Chap 3: 48-65
 Reader: Friedman, The
Social Responsibility of
Business…
 Cases: A.P Smith
Manufacturing
 Chap 3, 65-71
 Freeman, A Stakeholder
Theory of the Modern
Corporation
 Cases: H.B. Fuller in
Honduras; Shutdown at
Eastland
 Chap 6 pp 119-123, 134144; Chap 7 pp .145-165
 Cases: Workplace
monitoring; Auditor’s
Dilemma: A Matter of
Principle
5
12
Marketing Ethics: Product Safety and Pricing
 Chap : 8
 Cases: McDonald’s Coffee
is Hot
14
Marketing Ethics: Product Safety and Pricing
Merck and River Blindness
19
Marketing Ethics: Advertising and Target Marketing
21
Marketing Ethics: Advertising and Target Marketing
continued
26
International Business and Globalization
28
International Business and Globalization
Jan 2
TBA
Jan 4
Team presentations
 Chap 9
 Cases: Marketing Malt
Liquor; Selling Kidneys


Text: Chap 12
Caux Roundtable
Principles
 Case:Pablo in Peril
 Donaldson/Dunfee,
When Ethics Travel .
(Contract section may be
skipped)
 Universal Declaration of
Human Responsibility
(InterAction Council,
April 1997)
Case: Lockheed and
Japan
6