San Diego State University

College of Business Administration

What is the corporation? Do corporations--and more particularly the managers who represent them--have any responsibilities beyond seeking to maximize shareholder wealth? Is the term 'business ethics' an oxymoron? Does ethical reasoning have a legitimate place in business decision-making? What is the source of moral truth? These and other related questions provide the 'grist' for this course.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to be a challenging and exciting course for the graduate business student. Two major themes will provide direction throughout the semester: business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Most of your prior MBA coursework has been concerned with highly structured topics closely related to a well-developed body of theory; not so with business ethics/ corporate social responsibility. There is not a specific set of skills serving to lead you through the course, and no unifying meta-theory to inform your decisions. The problems and issues of business ethics/corporate social responsibility 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.

This course has been offered in your MBA/MS curriculum in order to stress the appropriateness of moral judgment as a central component of business decision making. The overriding pedagogical objective is to sharpen your abilities to think critically and to diagnose business situations from a moral perspective. Accomplishing this objective entails introducing you to a broad range of ethical frameworks. Application of such models of moral reasoning necessarily takes account of the complexities and constraints imposed by the environment in which the firm operates, why the environment must be attended to, and how it affects the moral character of decisions. Social theory will also be explored as the role of the corporation in creating the 'good society' is examined.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1. To increase your understanding of the tasks of the 'ideal' manager;
2. To develop the capacity to identify salient moral issues and to reason carefully about ethical options;
3. To build skills in conducting ethical analysis in 'messy' situations;
4. To improve your ability to manage organizational processes;
5. To integrate and extend upon the knowledge gained in earlier business courses;
6. To convince the student of the essential role of moral reasoning in the conduct of business enterprise;
7. To apply and/or implement the principles and concepts of moral reasoning through either case analysis or social change programs; and
8. To better equip the student to integrate his/her personal ethical ideal with a successful managerial career.

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):

GRADING STANDARDS: The following University-wide grading standards will be used to determine final course grades. You are responsible for monitoring your own progress throughout the course.

PLAGIARISM "Plagiarism is formal work publicly misrepresented as original; it is any activity wherein a person knowingly, directly, and for lucre, status, recognition, or any public gain resorts to the published or unpublished work of another in order to represent it as one's own. Work shall be deemed plagiarism: (1) when prior work of another has been demonstrated as the accessible source; (2) when substantial or material parts of the source have been literally or evasively appropriated (substance denoting quantity; matter denoting qualitative format or style); and (3) when the work lacks sufficient or unequivocal citation so as to indicate or imply that the work was neither a copy nor an imitation. This definition comprises oral, written, and crafted pieces. In short, if one purports to present an original piece but copies ideas word for word or by paraphrase, those ideas should be duly noted;" (Lindey, Alexander, Plagiarism and Originality, 1952; as cited in San Diego State University 1992-93 Graduate Bulletin).

"Wittingly or willfully to ignore or to allow students' ascription of others' work to themselves is to condone dishonesty, to deny the purpose of formal education, and to fail the public trust;

Accordingly, one who is suspected or accused of disregarding, concealing, aiding, or committing plagiarism...must be liable to an appropriate penalty, even severance from the University...should the demonstrated plagiarism clearly call into question one's general competence or accomplishments" (San Diego State University 1992-93 Graduate Bulletin).

Students involved in plagiarism (including `cheating') on any MGT 722 coursework will receive a failing grade for the course.

READINGS: Two texts are assigned: Business Ethics (Weiss), and Business, Institutions and Ethics (Dienhart). Students are expected to read each assigned chapter before the scheduled discussion of that chapter. In addition, assigned case studies (see Taking Sides: Business Ethics and Society [Newton & Ford]) and supplementary reading materials as well as course videos will be made available from the instructor and/or seminar and case facilitators.

CLASS PRESENTATION (350-500 Points): There are two options for this assignment: either a Seminar Facilitation or a Case Presentation.

Seminar Facilitation: Groups of three students are to facilitate discussion for one class session. These 'presentations' are to address the seminar topics as catalogued in the course schedule (see mgt722.clndr-sum2006.html for details). The facilitators will be responsible to: 1) prepare relevant questions for discussion to be provided in electronic form to the instructor one week prior to their scheduled seminar; 2) select related readings to be posted to the course website and/or distributed in hard copy to class; 3) provide a summary overview of the literature to be discussed for the selected class session; 4) introduce relevant commentary and/or supplementary material(s); and 5) clearly link the required reading to the topic under discussion. Please keep in mind the principle objective is to engage the class in discussions. Groups are strongly 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 seminar presentation are:

Adequacy and depth of analysis

Clarity and conciseness of arguments

Professionalism of presentation

Creativity of presentation

Ability to link theory and practice

Case Presentation: Groups of two students are to prepare an analysis of a business ethics case of their own choosing. The case must relate to the general topic for the class session during which it is presented. Analysis is to include: a statement identifying the moral dilemma; listing of alternatives providing resolution of this moral dilemma; analysis of proposed resolutions from the perspective of moral theory as well as managerial theory; selection of optimal resolution (with supporting defense from a ethical/managerial perspective); as well as a plan for implementation. Any assumptions made must be clearly identified as such, but do not `assume away' the moral dilemma-resolve it!

Copies of the case under consideration are to be provided to each member of the class no later than one week prior to the scheduled presentation date. The most expeditious way to do this is to provide the case in electronic form for posting to the class website. 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. Reporting will take the form of an interactive and thoroughgoing case analysis. 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 facilitating group).

Areas considered (in addition to those previously or subsequently mentioned) in grading the team project are listed in the table below:

Adequacy of analysis

Clarity and conciseness of arguments

Use of theory to support arguments

Appropriateness of recommendation(s)

Comprehensiveness of recommendation(s)

Likelihood of success of recommendation(s)

Professionalism of presentation

Creativity of presentation

WRITING ASSIGNMENT (500-650 Points): There are two options for this assignment: either Weekly Writing Assignments or a Term Paper.

Weekly Writing Assignments: There will be four writing assignments throughout the term of the course (see mgt722.clndr-sum2006.html for details). These assignments relate directly to the course content, either as presented in class or as covered in assigned readings. Each paper will take the form of a two page, double-spaced, typed paper which directly addresses the question(s) posed. While it is certainly allowable for students to discuss these writing assignments with one another, the final papers ought to be recognizable as the 'independent' work of the student submitting the writing assignment.

Papers are to be submitted electronically to craig.dunn@sdsu.edu, with indication in the memo line as to the name of the student as well as the course designation (MGT722).

Term Paper: This project shall present a management plan for ensuring ethical behavior within an organization of your choosing. The plan should rely upon moral, social, legal, and/or management philosophy. Attention should be given to consideration of how your plan contributes to both the accomplishment of the organizational mission as well as satisfies the demands of ethical theory. In order to insure a thorough treatment, it is recommended consideration be given to the various dimensions of a social audit.

Papers are to be submitted electronically to craig.dunn@sdsu.edu, with indication in the memo line as to the name of the student as well as the course designation (MGT722).

CONTRACT: Outlined above are the course activities available to students. Ranges of possible points have been listed above. Each student is to fill out and return to the instructor a contract for work to be completed this session (form to be submitted electronically; see below). This contract is binding, and will be due the third class 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 35-65% of the course grade, depending upon the individual assignment and weightings. Points must be selected in increments of 50. For example, a student may choose to maximize the points on the weekly writing assignment by completing other coursework at the minimum points possible:

In all cases, class participation is mandatory. Failure to attend scheduled class sessions will be reflected in final course grading.

To send your MGT 722 contract, fill out the following form thoroughly and completely. This form must be submitted electronically.