Instructor: Visiting Associate Professor Craig P. Dunn, Ph.D.
Office: #334
Office Hours: TBA
Phone: 713-285-5394 (office) 281-681-7312 (home)
E-mail: craig.dunn@sdsu.edu
URL: www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/dunnweb/
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Impact of government on decision making in business, featuring comparisons of governmental intervention across major industrial systems; analysis of environmental trends and public policy options. Prerequisites: graduate standing and school's permission. Required M.B.A. course.
Admin 561 has been included within your curriculum in order to stress the appropriateness of evaluating corporate action from the perspective of social, legal and ethical theory. The overriding pedagogical objective is to sharpen your abilities to think critically and to diagnose situations from the systems perspective. Accomplishing this objective entails introduction to a broad range of social, legal and ethical frameworks as the role of the corporation in creating the 'good society' is examined.
This course has been designed to be a challenging and exciting course for the MBA student. We will probe the bases for managerial actions, particularly concerning economic, legal, and ethical rationales; inquire into the origins and organization of business firms; and explore the relationship between business firms and society at large. The problems and issues of corporate social performance embrace the entire spectrum of business and management disciplines. Many variables and situational factors must be dealt with at once; weighing the 'pros and cons' of a particular course of action necessitates a total enterprise perspective.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. To increase the student's understanding of the tasks of the 'moral' manager;
2. To build the student's skills in conducting social analysis in 'messy' situations;
3. To improve the student's ability to manage organizational processes;
4. To integrate and extend upon the knowledge gained in other educational experiences;
5. To convince the student of the essential role of corporate social performance in the conduct of business enterprise;
6. To utilize the principles and concepts of social theory through case study methodology; and
7. To better equip the student to integrate his/her personal ethical ideal with the desire for a successful career as a practicing manager.
EVALUATION POLICY: A maximum of 1000 points may be accumulated in this course. Point distribution varies as follows (see grading contract at back of syllabus for details):
Individual Writing Projects 200-350 points Individual Term Paper 200-350 points Group Case Project 0-300 points Group Seminar Project 0-300 points Individual Examination 0-300 points
GRADING STANDARDS: The following grading standards will be used to determine final course grades. Good work will be accorded a B+, standard work a B. Outstanding and substandard work will fall above or below these levels accordingly. In general, it is difficult to get A's. You are responsible for monitoring your own progress throughout the course.
| 965 - 1000 points A |
| 930 - 1000 points A |
| 900 - 929 points A- |
| 865 - 899 points B+ |
| 830 - 864 points B |
| 800 - 829 points B- |
| 765 - 799 points C+ |
| 730 - 764 points C |
| 700 - 729 points C- |
| 665 - 699 points D+ |
| 630 - 664 points D |
| 600 - 629 points D- |
|
HONOR CODE: All work required in this course is covered by the Honor Code. All written assignments submitted to the instructor must carry the signed Honor Code pledge. Any assignment not so signed will be returned to the student ungraded. Depending upon how much time is required to obtain a properly signed pledge, the instructor reserves the right to assess a grade reduction penalty.
You may and are encouraged to discuss cases and readings with other students. This is a critical part of the learning process. However, for the written assignments you are not to share or compare the text of your analyses.
In the team presentation, all the students are expected to participate fully and equally in the preparation and delivery of the oral presentation. Failure to do so will be penalized by stringent grade reductions. Violators should be reported to the instructor by other students.
In addition to the above standards, particular attention should be given to the following statements excerpted from a Rice publication entitled Academic Fraud and The Honor System...
On all academic written work of students at Rice University, the following pledge is either required or implied:
"On my honor, I have neither given nor received any aid on this (examination, quiz or paper)."Plagiarism is the use of the distinctive ideas or words belonging to another person without adequate acknowledgment of that person's contribution...Any quotations - however small - must be placed in quotation marks or clearly indented beyond the regular margin and single-spaced in a double-spaced paper. Any quotation must be accompanied (either within the text or in a footnote) by a precise identification of the source - identifying the author, title, place and date of publication, and page numbers. Any sentence or phrase which is not the original work of the student must be acknowledged...
Any material summarized or paraphrased from a source must be specifically acknowledged in a footnote or in the text, as would a direct quotation. A thorough rewording or rearrangement of an author's text does not relieve one of this responsibility. A writer should be diligent in taking adequate reading notes so that debts of phrasing may be acknowledged where they are due; it is not necessarily a sufficient or valid excuse to claim that the phrases or ideas of a text were unknowingly duplicated simply because of a time lapse between the reading of a source and the writing of a paper...
Any ideas or facts borrowed from a particular source should be specifically acknowledged in a footnote or in the text of the paper, even if the idea or fact has been further elaborated by the writer. Some widely known ideas, facts, formulae and other kinds of information are considered to be "common knowledge" and do not require citation. The criteria for "common knowledge" vary among disciplines; if doubt exists as to whether a citation is needed, a faculty member should be consulted. The requirements for citing the sources of ideas and facts apply to unpublished essays and notes, as well as published works. If such unpublished sources are used, the writer must state the fact and indicate clearly the nature and extent of his or her obligation...
Students required to submit written notes for oral reports must clearly acknowledge any work that is not original, in accordance with the requirements for written work, as stated above.
BLIND GRADING: All individual written work in this course will be blind-graded. Do not put your name anywhere on your written work. Please sign the honor code with your student ID number and your mailbox number rather than your name. I use the system primarily for my benefit: it makes me completely confident that your work has been evaluated solely on the basis of its intellectual merit.
GRADE APPEALS PROCESS: Appeals of any assignment grade will only be considered under the following procedures. Appeals must be made within one week of the assignment having been returned to the student.
Automatic Appeal: Math Error: Please check each assignment as well as final course point totals to make certain I added up your scores correctly. If you discover a mistake, please put your entire assignment and grade sheet into my box, write 'MATH' prominently across the first page, and the appropriate adjustment will be made.Non-automatic Appeal: All Others: All other appeals must be in writing and submitted via the following electronic form, and the original graded assignment put into my box with the word 'APPEAL' written prominently across the first page. You must specify the precise nature of your concern and why you think you should be awarded more points. One important note is that I will regrade the entire assignment; thus, I may determine your grade should be adjusted either upward or downward.
READINGS: Two books are assigned: The Heroic Enterprise: Business and the Common Good (John M. Hood; for other articles by Hood click here) and Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk About How To Do It Right (Linda K. Trevino and Katherine A. Nelson). In addition, a substantial readings packet is assigned. You are expected to read each assigned chapter and/or article before the scheduled discussion of that reading. In addition, assigned case studies and supplementary reading materials may be made available.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Discussion Questions (0 points):
For each week throughout the term discussion questions will be posted to the web-site schedule. Each student is responsible for accessing these questions from the web, coming to class prepared with written notes of response, and engaging with the issues raised during class discussion.
Individual Writing Projects (200-350 points):
There will be six writing projects assigned approximately every other week throughout the term. Each student is to respond to any five of these prompts. These assignments relate most particularly to the readings over the immediately prior two weeks, and will be distributed in hard-copy form one week before their due dates (but will be posted to the course web-site schedule prior to in-class distribution). Writing projects shall be typed using double-spacing, must adhere to a strict two-page limit (I will remove and dispose of any additional pages prior to grading), and will under no circumstances be accepted late. Principal evaluation criteria will be adequacy of analysis, clarity and conciseness of arguments, use of theory to support arguments, and professionalism.
Individual Term Paper (200-350 points):
option a: This project shall contain a summary of the student's 'philosophy of management,' with each student required to articulate and defend his/her perspective on the parallel questions of what is the appropriate role for business in society and consequently whose interests you represent as a manager. Reasons for the position taken should rely upon legal, social and moral philosophy-which, it is understood, may give differing prescriptions to the business executive. Attention should be given to consideration of how your view contributes to creation of the 'good society.'Both the 'fiduciary' and 'stakeholder' frameworks will prove particularly relevant to this assignment. Defense of the position taken, rather than the position itself, is of fundamental importance. It is recognized, however, that certain positions are inherently more 'defensible'; therefore, the choice of relevant organizational constituencies will have a direct impact upon the ease with which this paper is completed. Text documentation (either from assigned texts or 'outside' readings) would be appropriate.
option b: This project shall present a management plan for ensuring ethical behavior within an organization of your choosing. Reasons for the positions taken should rely upon moral, social, legal, and management philosophy. Attention should be given to consideration of how your plan contributes to both the accomplishment of the organizational mission as well as creation of the 'good society.' In order to insure a thorough treatment, it is recommended consideration be given to the various dimensions of a social audit.Defense of the plan-which is to include a 'code of ethics'-rather than the plan itself, is of fundamental importance. Text documentation (either from assigned texts or 'outside' readings) would be appropriate.
option c: The October 1997 Inc. Magazine cover story What Comes Next? is addressed to those individuals who are "seeking a different kind of business life--one richer in meaning, more grounded, more sustainable." In order to fulfill this quest, author Jim Collins suggests that one examine three things: What you stand for, What you're good at, and What people will pay you for. "Resonance" occurs when one operates at the intersection of these three 'principles.' While Collins outlines this process as one to be applied at the organizational level, it can just as appropriately be applied at the personal/career level. This assignment therefore requires the student to develop a personal mission statement (What you stand for), to articulate individual talents (What you're good at), and to evaluate the job market (What people will pay you for). As a first step toward developing a statement of what you stand for, Collins recommends making two lists: "one for things that I would continue to do if I woke up tomorrow and discovered I had $20 million and 10 years to live, and another for things that under those circumstances I'd stop doing."So how, you might ask, does this 'assignment' relate to the course content? In outlining your personal mission statement, some support for your 'stand' should be provided. Such support should rely upon legal, social and moral philosophy. Additionally, attention might be given to consideration of how your view contributes to creation of the 'good society.'
Term projects shall be typed using double-spacing. In the case of either paper option there is no page length requirement; however, conciseness will be one of the evaluation criterion. Typed drafts of your term project may be submitted for comment any time prior to the 1st of December. A self-evaluation of this project (form to be distributed under separate cover) is to be submitted along with the final paper draft. Evaluation criteria include:
Adequacy of analysis
Clarity and conciseness of arguments
Use of social theory to support arguments
Professionalism of project
Creativity of project
Self-evaluation
Group Case Project (0-300 points):
Each 3-5 member team opting to present a case to the class is to prepare an analysis of a business ethics case of their own choosing, to include: (1) a statement identifying the moral dilemma; (2) listing of alternatives providing resolution of this moral dilemma; (3) analysis of proposed resolutions from the perspective of legal as well as moral theory; (4) selection of optimal resolution (with supporting defense from both the managerial and ethical perspectives); (5) consideration of how this solution contributes to the 'good society', as well as (6) suggestions for implementation. Any assumptions made must be clearly identified as such, but do not 'assume away' the dilemma-resolve it!Copies of the case under consideration are to be provided to the instructor for duplication no later than the end of September. These cases can come from any appropriate current source; the Wall Street Journal and the 'Social Issues' column of Business Week are among the more popular periodicals for sourcing business ethics cases. In addition, any case already on the web-site schedule may be selected for analysis and presentation.
Case presentation will take the form of a 30 minute oral presentation followed by a 15 minute question and answer session. Be creative. Prepare the analysis as if you were presenting the information to the top management team of your company (or any other fitting audience you explicitly identify), to be role-played by those students not in your group (who will be accountable for posing relevant questions to the presenting group).
Areas considered (in addition to those previously or subsequently mentioned) in grading the group case project include:
Adequacy of analysis
Clarity and conciseness of arguments
Use of theory to support arguments
Strength of recommendations
Ability to defend recommendations
Professionalism of presentation
Creativity of presentation A one-page double-spaced typed project proposal is to be submitted by each group for approval no later than the end of September. Groups are to append a copy of their business ethics case as well as indicate their preferred presentation date. Please note that other than this proposal and a two-page executive summary to be submitted in both hard-copy and electronic format there is no written component to this assignment.
Group Seminar Project (0-300 points):
Each 3-5 member team taking this option is to facilitate discussion for one class session. These 'presentations' are to address the seminar readings as catalogued in the web-site schedule. The facilitators will be responsible to: 1) prepare relevant questions for discussion to be both e-mailed to the instructor as well as distributed in hard copy one week prior to their scheduled seminar; 2) provide a summary overview of the literature to be discussed for the selected class session; 3) introduce relevant commentary and/or supplementary readings where appropriate; 4) relate the required reading to the topic under discussion as well as the individual writing assignments and individual term paper; 5) illustrate the topic under discussion through application to a mini-case of the students' choosing; and 6) provide an annotated bibliography of related readings. The objective is to engage the class in discussions which will facilitate the execution of individual writing assignments. Groups are encouraged to meet with the course instructor prior to their 'presentation' in order to help 'frame' the class session.Areas that will be considered (in addition to those previously or subsequently mentioned) in evaluating the group seminar project include:
Adequacy of analysis
Clarity and conciseness of arguments
Integration of social theory within discussion of topic
Professionalism/creativity of presentation
Linking of theory and practice A one-page double-spaced typed project proposal is to be submitted by each group for approval no later than the end of September. Groups are to indicate their preferred presentation date. Please note that other than this proposal, a two-page executive summary to be submitted in both hard-copy and electronic format, and the annotated bibliography there is no written component to this assignment.
Individual Examination (0-300 points):
One (optional) essay exam will be given, covering assigned texts and readings as well as class lectures/cases/videos/discussions. The exam will run a full three hours, and is scheduled for 17 December from 9:00 am until 12:00 pm. The final exam is by design extraordinarily challenging.
CONTRACT: Outlined above are the course activities available to students, including ranges of possible points. Each student is to fill out and return to the professor a binding contract (see electronic form below) for work to be completed this session. You are to fill out the number of points desired for each activity. The total number of points must total 1000. Points for each activity will range from 0-35% of the course grade, depending upon the individual assignment and weightings. Points must be selected in increments of 50.
For example, you may choose to minimize the points on the Individual Examination (0 points) by completing all other assignments at close to their mid-range point objectives (i.e., 250 points each for the Individual Writing Assignments, the Individual Term Paper , the Group Case Project and the Group Seminar Project). In all cases, class participation is mandatory. Failure to attend and participate in scheduled class sessions may be reflected in final course grading.
To send your Admin561 contract, fill out the following form thoroughly and completely. This form must be submitted electronically. Confirmation will be made by return e-mail.
Return to Professor Dunn's home page.