MANT 331: Business Ethics Semester Two, 2012 Paper Description and Aims This paper examines ethical dilemmas in business with the aim of providing participants with the tools to evaluate and resolve ethical issues, from mundane day‐to‐day decisions and actions to the global ethical issues facing business and society. In order to accomplish this goal, students explore ethical theory and reasoning, the nature and evolution of the business system, internal and external constituencies, and an examination of ethical functioning in business. Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this paper, you should be able to:  Make ethical decisions.  Identify how ethical decisions affect various stakeholders.  Use a variety of philosophical frameworks to explore ethical dilemmas.  Discuss the implications of some of the major ethical issues facing business and society. Teaching Staff Paper Coordinator Name: Professor Steven Grover Office: CO812 Email: steven.grover@otago.ac.nz Office Hours: Tuesdays 1‐2 p.m. Lecture Day/Time: Monday, 14:00‐15:50 Course Delivery Students are expected to prepare for and attend all classes to gain full benefit from the course. Attending lectures is essential to good performance in this class. Lectures will be interactive and are designed to support the theoretical foundation of the text. Information will be presented in lecture that is not covered in the textbook, and the lectures are designed in such a way that perusing the slides instead of attending lecture will not provide a comparable learning experience. Students must prepare for learning activities in class by reviewing information detailed on Blackboard and completing any assigned readings. Unless stated otherwise, all aspects of the course are examinable. Blackboard will have instructions for the upcoming class five days prior to the class session. The course schedule (in this outline and online on Blackboard) details dates, lecture topics, and assessment due dates. Note that this calendar may change as the course proceeds. Any changes will be announced at lectures and on Blackboard. Expectations and Workload This course requires about 180 hours of work for the entire semester, including lecture attendance and out of class work and private study. Course Materials and Course Resources The following is a required reading. The course is structured around this textbook, and therefore I strongly recommend that you purchase the book. A few copies are available on reserve at the library. Ciulla, J.B., Marin, C.W., Solomon, R.C. (2011). Honest work: A business ethics reader (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Assessment Case Analyses (2) 40% Final Exam 60% Case Analyses You will write two case analyses. Each case analysis is limited to one page. The purpose of this requirement is to practice writing succinct documents. The clearly written one‐page memo is what most business professionals will be looking for. Mastering it will give you a competitive advantage. The due dates are listed in the schedule. The cases will be assigned with guidance questions two weeks prior to the due date. Policy for late case analyses. The cases analyses are due at the Management Department reception window by 4:00 p.m. on the due date. Please prepare for the unexpected (e.g., printer failure and disk corruption). There will be a 10% mark penalty for each day of tardiness. Final Exam The final exam will be scheduled by the university during the final exam period. It will consist of a series of essay questions that ask you to apply the ethical principles of the class. Lecture and Tutorial Timetable Week Commencing Topic Reading* 9 July Introduction: Basic Theories of Ethics 1
16 July Honesty and Trust 2
23 July Justice 5
30 July Corporate responsibility 6
6 August The ethics of Capitalism 15
First Case analysis due 4:00 p.m., 10 August 13 August Capitalism II 20 August Leader Integrity 14
Monday 27 August Mid Semester Break 3 September Conflicts of Interest 13
10 September Ethics and Technology 7
Second case analysis due 4:00 p.m., 14 September 17 September Internationalisation and globalisation 11
24 September The natural environment 12
1 October Sustainability 8 October Class wrap‐up *Denotes chapter from Honest Work. Additional assignment details will be given on Blackboard. (Further details on weekly readings will be posted on Blackboard weekly.) Class Representatives The class (or student) representative system is an avenue for encouraging communication and consultation between staff and students. It provides you with a vehicle for communicating your views on the teaching and delivery of the paper and provides staff with an opportunity to communicate information and gain constructive feedback from students. It contributes to the development of a sense of community within a department and it adds a further dimension to the range of support services offered to students. Volunteers for the role of class representatives will be called early in the semester. The OUSA invites all class representatives to a training session, conducted by OUSA, about what it means to be a class representative and some of the possible procedures for dealing with issues that arise. They also provide information on the services that OUSA offers and the role OUSA can play in solving problems that may occur. The OUSA provides support to class representatives during the semester. Departmental staff will also meet with class representatives during the semester to discuss general issues or matters they wish to have considered. Disability Information and Support Students are encouraged to seek support if they are having difficulty with their studies due to disability, temporary or permanent impairment, injury or chronic illness. It is important to seek help early, through one of the contacts below: Dishonest Practice and Plagiarism Students should ensure that all submitted work is their own. Any student found responsible for dishonest practice (e.g. copying the work of others, use of unauthorized material in tests) in relation to any piece of work submitted for assessment shall be subjected to the University’s Dishonest Practice regulations. This may result in various penalties, including forfeiture of marks for the piece of work submitted, a zero grade for the paper, or in extreme cases, exclusion from the University. Plagiarism is a form of dishonest practice. Plagiarism is defined as the copying or paraphrasing another’s work, whether intentionally or through failure to take proper care, and presenting it as one’s own. In practice, this means plagiarism includes any attempt in any piece of submitted work to present as one’s own work, the work of another (whether another student or published authority) http://www.otago.ac.nz/administration/policies/otago003145.html . Any student found responsible for plagiarism shall be subject to the University’s Dishonest Practice Regulations as outlined above. http://www.otago.ac.nz/study/plagiarism/ The University reserves the right to use plagiarism detection tools. Concerns about the Course We hope you will feel comfortable coming to talk to us if you have a concern about the course. The Course Coordinator will be happy to discuss any concerns you may have. Alternatively, you can report your concerns to the Class Representative who will follow up with departmental staff. If, after making approaches via these channels, you do not feel that your concerns have been addressed, there are University channels that may aid resolution. For further advice or more information on these, contact the departmental administrator or head of department. Student Learning Centre The Student Learning Centre, which is part of the Higher Education Development Centre, provides learning support, free of charge, to ALL enrolled students. Their services include:  a workshop programme designed to help students to improve their learning strategies and their generic skills;  individual assistance with learning issues;  on‐line study skills advice;  a student leadership programme;  a student‐led peer support programme for students of all ages and backgrounds;  conversational English groups for students from a non‐English speaking background. The Centre also provides two very helpful study guides, “Guidelines for Writing and Editing” and “Writing University Assignments” and these are available on the SLC website. http://hedc.otago.ac.nz/hedc/sld/About‐us.html Blackboard Blackboard https://blackboard.otago.ac.nz/ provides you with access to course materials, and class notices are posted on Blackboard. Lecture slides are also posted there. Blackboard is used to email the whole class so it is important that you check your student email and Blackboard regularly, or use PIMS to redirect your emails to your personal account. Disclaimer While every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in this document is accurate, it is subject to change. Changes will be notified in class and via Blackboard. Students are encouraged to check Blackboard regularly. It is the student’s responsibility to be informed.