I. ASCRC General Education Form (revised 1/27/11)
Use to propose new general education courses (except writing courses), to change existing
gen ed courses and to remove designations for existing gen ed courses.
Note: One-time-only general education designation may be requested for experimental courses
(X91-previously X95), granted only for the semester taught. A NEW request must be
submitted for the course to receive subsequent general education status.
Group
III. Language
VII: Social Sciences
(submit
III Exception: Symbolic Systems * VIII: Ethics & Human Values
X
separate forms
IV: Expressive Arts
IX: American & European
if requesting
V: Literary & Artistic Studies
X: Indigenous & Global
more than one
VI: Historical & Cultural Studies
XI: Natural Sciences
general
w/ lab  w/out lab 
education
group
*Courses proposed for this designation must be standing requirements of
designation)
majors that qualify for exceptions to the modern and classical language
requirement
Dept/Program Management
Course #
MGMT 320E, now
BGEN 320E
Course Title
Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
Prerequisite
Junior standing in business
Credits
3
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office
Please type / print name Signature
Instructor
Robert Walsh
Phone / Email Robert.Walsh@business.umt.edu
Program Chair Klaus Uhlenbruck
Dean
Larry Gianchetta
III. Type of request
New
One-time Only
Renew X
Change
Date
Remove
Reason for Gen Ed inclusion
With the growing impact of business
on society and the implications of
corrupt and unethical behavior on the
part of some corporate and business
leaders, various stakehoders are
increasingly demanding that business
organizations, leaders, and workers
conduct themselves in an ethical
manner as responsible corporate
citizens. In the last several years there
has been a strong push on the part of
business schools and accrediting
bodies such as AACSB International
(the Association to Accredit Collegiate
Schools of Business) to include
courses in business ethics required of
all business students. This course
provides students with a broad
foundation of ethical knowledge and
the skills necessary for making sound
moral judgments in their lives.
MGMT 320E addresses the traditional
philosophical approaches to ethics,
including Virtue Ethics, Deontology,
Utilitarianism, Social Contract theory,
Pragmatism, and Distributive Justice.
The ethical criticisms of emotivism
and cultural and subjective relativism
are studied. There is also a segment
on critical thinking. The course is
designed to increase student awareness
of the importance of ethics in all
human endeavors and to assist students
to gain the skills necessary to apply
ethical norms and principles to
decision-making within the world of
business and commerce.
Description of change
IV. Description and purpose of new general education course: General Education courses
must be introductory and foundational within the offering department or within the General
Education Group. They must emphasize breadth, context, and connectedness; and relate course
content to students’ future lives: See Preamble:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/archives/minutes/gened/GE_preamble.aspx
MGMT 320E is not a new course. It has been taught as a Gen Ed E course since 2006, now
attracting about 85 students per semester.
V. Criteria: Briefly explain how this course meets the criteria for the group. See:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/documents/forms/GE_Criteria5-1-08.aspx
1. Courses focus on one or more of the specific
traditions of ethical thought (either Western or
non-Western), on basic ethical topics such as
justice or the good life as seen through the lens
of one or more traditions of ethical thought, or
on a professional practice within a particular
tradition of ethical thought.
2. Courses provide a rigorous analysis of the
basic concepts and forms of reasoning which
define the traditions, the ethical topics, or the
professional practices that are being studied.
This course focuses primarily on the Western
tradition of normative ethics, beginning with
the ancient Greek understanding of Virtue
Ethics and culminating with contemporary
versions of Duty Ethics, Utilitarian Ethics,
and Feminist Ethics as these address
questions of justice, moral judgment, and
corporate social responsibility.
The methods of philosophical investigation
and critical thinking are introduced to
analyze, synthesize, and evaluate various
business practices from an ethical point of
view.
VI. Student Learning Goals: Briefly explain how this course will meet the applicable learning
goals. See: http://umt.edu/facultysenate/documents/forms/GE_Criteria5-1-08.aspx
1. correctly apply the basic concepts and
Students will acquire the critical thinking
forms of reasoning from the tradition or
skills and the theoretical conceptual
professional practice they studied to ethical
framework necessary to both evaluate and
issues that arise within those traditions or
create sound ethical arguments pertaining
practices;
especially to moral issues and practices
arising in the everyday world of business.
2. analyze and critically evaluate the basic
concepts and forms of reasoning from the
tradition or professional practice they studied.
Through an investigation of the logical
forms of argumentation and the formal and
informal fallacies of reasoning students will
learn to recognize faulty ethical judgments
and to construct sound moral arguments of
their own.
VII. Justification: Normally, general education courses will not carry pre-requisites, will carry
at least 3 credits, and will be numbered at the 100-200 level. If the course has more than one
pre-requisite, carries fewer than three credits, or is upper division (numbered above the 200
level), provide rationale for exception(s).
This course is intended primarily for business majors. To enroll in this course, students must
have satisfactorily completed the lower-core and been granted access to 300- and 400-level
business courses. It is essential for this course that students understand the various contexts of
business operations such as corporate governance, derivative markets, or human resources in
order to have the background necessary to be able to understand, analyze and evaluate
intractable moral issues arising in the world of business, something students can do only after
completion of the lower core.
VIII. Syllabus: Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form.  The syllabus
should clearly describe how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance on syllabus
preparation see: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/syllabus.html
The University of Montana
School of Business Administration
Department of Management and Marketing
SYLLABUS
Business Ethics
MGMT 320E—01
Course title: Business Ethics
Semester: Fall 2011
Course number: MGMT 320E—01 (CRN 73762)
Professor: Robert D. Walsh, Ph.D.
Office: GBB 348-2
Office Hours: M 1-2; W 1-2 (drop in); also by appt.
Phone: 243-6679 (office); 600-1932 (home)
Email: robert.walsh@business.umt.edu
Class meeting time / room: MW 2:10 – 3:30 / GBB 122
Course Overview: In this course we will investigate and evaluate various moral issues arising
in the world of business from an ethical point of view. Ethics is one of the main divisions of
philosophical inquiry. Business Ethics is the application of the methods of ethical inquiry to
moral issues arising in the business world. “Morality,” on the other hand, is your personal
system of experience, feelings, ideas, values, principles, and beliefs from which you make
judgments and determinations about how you should or should not act. In general, Ethics can
be understood as a reflection upon moral valuing, judging, and acting. Your personal morality
is your own personal business.
What this course aims at is helping you to see more clearly and accurately how you go about
making moral judgments and how you can get better at determining where you stand on moral
issues arising in the everyday business world through study, reflection and practice. You will
learn to synthesize, understand, and evaluate these issues and practices and articulate where you
stand in regard to them. You will accomplish this successfully by reading the assigned
material, attending class and participating in class discussions, writing short analysis papers or
critiques, engaging in a group research project and presentation, and producing a final critical
position paper—among other things.
The overall goal of this course is to assist you in the development of your ability to perceive,
understand, and evaluate particular moral issues—especially complex and intractable moral
issues—arising for people working in the everyday world of business and commerce. In order
to help you accomplish this successfully you will need some intellectual tools. Here they are.
1. Ethical Theories Since theory naturally informs practice, we will begin our course
of study with an overview of various classical theories of ethics such as Self-realization or Selfactualization theory (Virtue Ethics); Natural Law theory; Deontology; Utilitarianism; Social
Contract theory, etc., along with some objections to the very possibility of their being any
genuine foundation for ethical reasoning at all. These traditional ethical theories attempt to
account for how we actually go about making moral judgments.
You will be encouraged to distinguish your own ethical theoretical orientation (which you are
already deploying right now!). You will learn to see this more clearly, to refine it as you see
fit, and to understand how your moral perspective influences the everyday moral judgments
you make within the framework of the contemporary business world today. Finally, you will
be able to see how your personal ethical orientation fits in with the fundamental belief
underlying the production of this course: ethical business is good business.
2. Sound Logic/Critical Thinking After our initial reflection upon the various
theories of ethical reasoning we will take a little detour into the field of sound logical reasoning
practices. Specifically, we will spend a little time learning about and reflecting upon what are
called the “informal fallacies” of logical argumentation before we embark upon our
investigation of particular moral issues. There is a kind of morality to argumentation itself,
which the informal fallacies elucidate. Ad hominem attacks passed off as sound reasoning, for
example, are not nice things to do to your interlocutor. On the other hand, restating your
opponent’s argument honestly and fairly before criticizing it would be the moral thing to do.
With our study of ethical theories in our tool bucket and a brief refresher course on good
critical thinking skills and sound argumentation practices under our belt, we will then turn our
attention to cases of particular moral issues arising in the world of business today.
3. Case Analysis The text I have chosen for this course, Taking Sides: Clashing Views
in Business Ethics and Society, presents various issues from the world of business in a debatestyle pro and con format. The text is broken down into six units which take different views of
the business world, such as: Human Resources; Global Objectives; Environmental Policy, etc.
Each unit contains three or four different issues in the form of questions, such as “Should Price
Gauging Be Regulated?” and “Should Patenting Life Be Forbidden?” Arguments are
presented for each side of the issue, Yes and No, through articles that have been reprinted from
various scholarly publications. We will read, scrutinize, and evaluate a number of these moral
issues.
A conscious effort has been made to incorporate a multicultural and gender-sensitive
ethical perspective into the structure of this course. In addition, there will be a special
emphasis on the relationship between the study of ethical principles and theories, on the one
hand, and, on the other, the actual practice of living an ethical life as this is reflected in your
everyday personal growth and development. As Aristotle and other ethical thinkers have
remarked: What good is it to study morality and ethics if you do not put this theoretical
knowledge into practice in your life?
I believe firmly that what you learn in this course will be of real, practical value
to you for the rest of your life and well-worth the investment of your time and
effort now.
Moodle: There is a Moodle web site for this course. Everyone is expected to have taken the
Moodle tutorial and be able to log on to the class web site on a daily basis.
Groups: Every student will be assigned to a small group of seven or eight to undertake a
group research project and class presentation. This is a core aspect of the course. Every group
will research and choose a moral issue (not in the text) from the world of business to
investigate, analyze, evaluate from at least two sides, and present to the class. A final report
will be prepared and turned in. You will choose a chairperson for the group and figure out how
to divide up the work so that everyone participates equally. The project will be graded as a
whole, with some class input, and the group will determine how the points are distributed
among the members. More thorough and precise instructions for the group project will be
forthcoming.
My Expectations: I have high goals and expectations for myself as a professor. I also have
high expectations for you as a student in this course. I expect that you will attend ALL classes
and do all the reading, writing, and research assignments by the due dates. I expect that you
will spend a minimum of two hours of philosophical focus time outside of class—reading,
writing, talking, thinking—for every hour of focused classroom time. I expect that you will
participate in class by taking notes, asking questions, contributing to discussions, and
participating in class interactive assignments. Please note: original material will be presented
in class that is not in the assigned readings or notes but which will be included on the exams
and quizzes. So it is very important to be present in every class if you want to maximize your
chances of doing well in this course. Plus, the most productive part of this course is the face-toface time we spend together in the classroom. I expect that you will actively work with the
Moodle online interactive feature of this course. Finally, I expect that your efforts will pay
off and that you will successfully achieve a real boost in your intellectual and moral
development.
My Commitment to You: I consider it an honor and privilege to be able to engage in
philosophical inquiry and dispute with you this semester. I promise you that I will do my very
best to make it worthwhile for you to come to every class. Regarding the necessity to grade
your work, I promise you that I will evaluate your work fairly, impartially, and to the best of
my professional ability without prejudice. I hope that you enjoy this course, that you do well,
and that you benefit from it personally. I hope the same for myself. Ultimately, as I am sure you
already realize, the benefit you get out of this philosophical study—as with any endeavor—will
be proportionate to the amount of effort you put into it. The same goes for me. I always have
more to learn. I look forward to working with you in this collaborative educational effort.
Grading: There will be three (3) unit exams (100 pts. ea.); six scheduled quizzes 30 pts each
(6 x 30 = 180 pts); attendance (50, 25 or 10 pts See Attendance Policy below); Forum Posts (20
substantive posts required, 5 pts. per post, 2 posts for points max per week = 100 pts); 1 (3-5
page) research/position paper (200 pts); one (1) group research project/presentation (200 pts).
In-class discretionary projects (70 pts). Total number of possible points = 1100. Your final
numerical grade will be determined by adding together all of your points and dividing by 11.
Use the Grading Scale below to convert your numerical grade to a letter grade (Note: fractions
.5 or less will be rounded down and .6 and over will be rounded up to next whole number; no
exceptions!)
Please note: If you miss a unit exam you must take a make-up exam within a week of the
exam. Make-up exams will be different than regular exams. There will be no make-up
quizzes and no extra credit projects.
Grading Scale:
A = 100--93
A- = 92--90
B+ = 89--87
B = 86--83
B- 82--80
C+ = 79--77
C = 76--73
C- = 72--70
D+ = 69--67
D = 66--63
D-=62--60
F = 59 >
Attendance Policy: Students are expected to attend all classes. Each student will maintain a
record of her or his attendance throughout the semester (See Honor System below). Students
who have attended ALL classes will get 50 pts; miss one or two, get 25 pts; miss three classes,
get10 pts; miss four or more classes, get 0 pts. Coming to every class is perhaps the single
most important aspect of your participation in this course!
Honor System: The Honor System is a centrally important feature of this course. Here is how
it works. You will read and sign the “Honor Code Affirmation and Promise” form and turn this
in. You will keep ongoing track of your own attendance, your self-graded quiz scores, your
points for Forum posts, your discretionary projects points, and any other scores or points which
I may assign to your record-keeping during the semester.
Daily Class Schedule: (Note: All texts should be read prior to the class in which they will
be discussed. It may be necessary to make some minor changes to the following daily
schedule during the semester. Check Moodle for the up-to-date class schedule! All changes
will be announced in class and on the Moodle site.)
1. M8/29 ... Syllabus; class intro; Moodle; creating groups; group project
2. W8/31/… Theories of Ethics (handout): What is Ethics? Is Ethics Possible? Virtue Ethics.
3. M9/5/…Labor Day NO CLASS
4. W9/7/… Theories of Ethics (handout): Virtue Ethics. Natural Law. Deontology. Utilitarianism
5. M9/12… Theories of Ethics: Social Contract; Existentialism; Pragmatism.
Quiz #1; Logical fallacies intro
6. W9/14… Logical fallacies (See handout)
7. M9/19… Logical fallacies (continued) Quiz #2
8. W9/21… EXAM 1; [Intro to cases: Text Intro, pp. xvii—xxvi (Read for 9/26)]
9. M9/26… Intro to cases: Text Intro, pp. xvii—xxvi “An Essay on the Background of Business Ethics:
Ethics, Economics, Law, and the Corporation.” UNIT 1. CAPITALISM AND THE
CORPORATION:
Issue 2. “Can Restructuring a Corporation’s Rules Make a Moral Difference?”
10. W9/28…UNIT 1. Issue 3. “Is Increasing Profits the Only Social Responsibility of Business?”
11. M10/3…UNIT 1. Issue 4. “Can Individual Virtue Survive Corporate Pressure?”
12. W10/5…
Quiz #3
13. M10/10… UNIT 2. CURRENT BUSINESS ISSUES: Issue 5. “Are the Risks of Derivatives
Manageable?”
14. W10/12… UNIT 2. Issue 6. “Should Price Gouging Be Regulated?”
Quiz #4
15. M10/17… UNIT 3. HUMAN RESOURCES: THE CORPORATION AND EMPLOYEES: Issue 8.
“Does Blowing the Whistle Violate Company Loyalty?”
16. W10/19… UNIT 3. Issue 9. “Is Employer Monitoring of Employee E-Mail Justified?” In-class
review for online EXAM 2 (Issues 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
17. M10/21… UNIT 3. Issue 11. “Is CEO Compensation Justified by Performance?”
18. W10/26… UNIT 4. CONSUMER ISSUES: Issue 12. “Is Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of
Pharmaceuticals Bad for Our Health?”
19. M10/31…UNIT 5. GLOBAL OBJECIVES: Issue 15. “Are Multinational Corporations Free from
Moral Obligation?”
20. W11/2…UNIT 5. Issue 16: “Are Sweatshops an Inhumane Business Practice?” Quiz #5
21. M11/7…UNIT 5. Issue 16 continued....
22. W11/9…UNIT 6. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY:
Issue 17: “Should Patenting Life Be Forbidden?”
23. M11/14…Issue 19. “Is Bottling Water a Good Solution to Problems of Water Purity and
Availability?”
24. W11/16… Issue 20. “Should the World Continue to Rely on Oil as a Major Source of Energy?”
Quiz #6
25. M11/21…In-class review of material for Exam 3. Final preparation for group presentations.
EXAM 3
26. W11/23…Thanksgiving No Class
27. M11/28… Group presentations (turn in summaries)
28. W11/30… Group presentations (turn in summaries)
29. M12/5… Group presentations (turn in summaries)
30. W12/7… Group presentations (turn in summaries)
*T12/13…1:10-3:10 Group presentation feedback and scores; Final Paper due, Honor Code scores due;
Course evaluation; Final point distribution
Required text:
Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Business Ethics and Society, 11th ed. Edited
by Lisa Newton, et. al. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010
+Various Handouts
Please note: Approved general education changes will take effect next fall.
General education instructors will be expected to provide sample assessment items and
corresponding responses to the Assessment Advisory Committee.