College of Business Administration

on-site MBA Program at

Management 722
Seminar in Business Ethics and Social Institutions

Instructor: Assoc. Professor Craig P. Dunn, Ph.D.

Office: SS 3105

Office Hours: by appointment

Phone: 594-5783 (office/voicemail)

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 judgement 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 Qualcomm coursework will receive a failing grade for the course.

READINGS: Two texts are assigned: Moral Issues in Business (Shaw), and Managing Business Ethics (Trevino). Students are expected to read each assigned chapter before the scheduled discussion of that chapter. In addition, assigned case studies and supplementary reading materials will be made available, and course videos will be available from the instructor. Students will be provided case abstracts for end-of-term presentations by their class colleagues.

CASE PRESENTATIONS (GROUP): Student groups are to prepare an analysis of a business ethics case of their own choosing, 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; selection of optimal resolution (with supporting defense from a managerial/ethical perspective); as well as suggestions 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 the third weekend the class meets. 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 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).

A one-page double-spaced typed project proposal is to be submitted by each group for approval no later than the third weekend the class meets. Please note that written 'deliverables' include this proposal, a two-page executive summary, and a thorough written case analysis.

Areas that will be considered (in addition to those previously or subsequently mentioned) in evaluating the case presentation are:

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS:

There are five writing assignments which are due throughout the term of the course (see qualcomm.writingassign.html for details). These writing assignments relate directly to the course content, either as presented in class or as covered in assigned readings. Each student is to respond to the writing prompt with a two page, 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.

TERM PROJECT: A term paper will be submitted by each student. There are three options for this assignment:

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 final weekend the class meets. A self-evaluation of this project (available at qualcomm.termpapereval.html) is to be submitted along with the final paper draft. Evaluation criteria include:

EXAM: One (optional) essay exam will be given, covering assigned texts as well as class discussions.

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 Professor a contract for work to be completed this session (see electronic form which follows). This contract is binding, and will be due by the end of the first month of class. 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, a student may choose to maximize the points on the writing assignments by completing all other coursework at close to the minimum points possible:

You will notice that the examination may be eliminated from your grading algorithm. In all cases, class participation is mandatory. Failure to attend scheduled class sessions may be reflected in final course grading. To send your Qualcomm contract, fill out the following form thoroughly and completely. This form must be submitted electronically. Confirmation will be made by return e-mail.

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