Правительство Российской Федерации
Государственное образовательное бюджетное учреждение
Высшего профессионального образования
«Государственный университет –
Высшая школа экономики»
Факультет менеджмента
Программа дисциплины
Бизнес-этика (на английском языке)
для направления 080500.68 «Менеджмент»
подготовки магистра
Автор: доцент Берг Райан Самюэль
Рекомендована секцией УМС
Секция «Менеджмент»
Председатель
Н.Б.Филинов
«_____» __________________ г.
Одобрена на заседании кафедры
Управления человеческими ресурсами
Зав. кафедрой
В.И.Кабалина
«»
____________
г
Утверждена УС факультета
менеджмента
Ученый секретарь
О.Н.Балаева
« ____» ___________________ г.
Москва 2012
Qualitative Methods in Business Ethics
Fall 2011
Instructor: Ryan Burg
Email: rburg@hse.ru
Phone: +7 903 277-16-18
Office: 33/5 Kirpichnaya str. Office 805
Office hours: Tuesday 3:00-4:00 pm and by appointment.
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OVERVIEW
The field of business ethics focuses on the moral conflict that arises within and around economic
organizations. Rather than providing a survey of this field, students will contribute to it in
specific ways.
We will undertake three research projects during the term. The first focuses on the social control
of economic activity, the second on the norms of property ownership and exchange in Russia,
and the third on an industry of the students' choice. Students will record and code field notes of
participant observation; conduct, record, transcribe, and code semi-structured interviews; collect
and code historical comparative data; and draft a survey.
Students will be evaluated based upon their research product. Instead of a final exam, students
will write a paper evaluating the research conducted during the term, suggesting its strengths,
limitations, and possible extensions. Both methodological and theoretical readings will also be
required in this course.
The textbooks for the course are optional, but highly recommended. Creswell provides a very
helpful guide for students looking to formulate a research project.
• Creswell, John W. 2008. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and
Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage.
For wonderful qualitative studies of ethics in organizations, read any of the following.
• Jackall, Robert. 1988. Moral Mazes: The World of Corporate Managers. Oxford
University Press.
• Kanter, Rosabeth M. 1993. Men and Women of the Corporation. Basic Books.
• Whyte, William. 1956. The Organization Man. Garden City: Doubleday Anchor Books.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Introduction to business ethics 22 September
No readings due for class.
The gender system as a model for business ethics 29 September
Assignment due: Field notes from participant observation
Britton, Dana M. 2000. “The Epistemology of Gendered Organizations.” Gender and Society,
14(3): 418-434.
Donaldson, Thomas, and Thomas Dunfee. 2000. “Précis for Ties that Bind.” Business and
Society Review, 105(4): 436-443.
Dunfee, Thomas et al. 1997. “Business and Ethics.” In Modern Business Law and the Regulatory
Environment. Columbus: McGraw Hill. 9-19.
West, Candace, and Donald H. Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender and Society, 1(2):
125-151.
The social control of business: exit, voice, and loyalty 6 October
Assignment due: Portfolio from historical analysis
Goffman, Erving. 1977. “The Arrangement between the Sexes.” Theory and Society, 4(3):
301-331.
Hirschmann, Albert O. 1970. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms,
Organizations, and States. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1-43.
Lopata, Helena Z., and Barrie Thorne. 1978. “On the Term ‘Sex Roles.’ ” Signs, 3(3): 718-721.
Scott, Joan W. 1986. “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis.” The American
Historical Review, 91(5): 1053-1075.
Property governance 13 October
Assignment due: Gender interview transcripts
Buchanan, Allen. 1988. “Efficiency Arguments For and Against the Market.” In Ethics,
Efficiency, and the Market. Totowa: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 14-46.
de Tocqueville, Alexis. 1840. “Some Considerations on the Present State and the Probable
Future of the Three Races that Inhabit the Territory of the United States.” In Democracy
in America. Translated and edited by Harvey C. Mansfield. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press. 302-348.
Ellickson, Robert. 1986. “Of Coase and Cattle: Dispute Resolution among Neighbors in Shasta
County.” Stanford Law Review, 38(3): 623-687.
Weiss, Robert. 1994. “Interviewing.” In Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of
Qualitative Interview Studies. New York: The Free Press. 61-119.
Civility and dignity 20 October
Assignment due: Business failure interview transcripts
Ashforth, Blake, and Glen E. Kreiner. 1999. “ ‘How Can You Do It?’: Dirty Work and the
Challenge of Constructing a Positive Identity.” Academy of Management Review, 24(3):
413-434.
Fuller, Robert W. 2003. Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank. Gabriola
Island, British Columbia: New Society Publishers. 1-43.
Hartman, Edwin. 1996. “The Good Community and the Good Organization.” In Organizational
Ethics and the Good Life. New York: Oxford University Press. 166-188.
Whyte, William H. 1956. The Organization Man. Garden City: Doubleday Anchor Books. Read
5-24, skim 36-109.
Stakeholder theory 27 October
Assignment due: Property relations in Russia interview transcripts
Phillips, Robert. 2003. “A Principle of Stakeholder Fairness.” In Stakeholder Theory and
Organizational Ethics. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 85-118.
Corporate social responsibility 3 November
Assignment due: 5 page report comparing gender governance and organizational governance
submitted with coded qualitative assignments
Vogel, David. 2005. “What is the Demand for Virtue?” and “Beyond the Market for Virtue.” In
The Market for Virtue: The Potential and Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Washington DC: The Brookings Institution. 46-74, 162-173.
Greenwashing and deviance 10 November
Braithwaite, John. 2005. “Competition Policy and Efficient Vice” and “Tax Systems in Crisis.”
In Markets in Vice, Markets in Virtue. New York: Oxford University Press. 1-34.
Group research project presentations 17 November
Durkheim, Emile. 1933. The Division of Labor in Society. Translated by W. D. Halls. New York:
MacMillan. xxxi-87.
Polyani, Karl. 1944. “Societies and Economic Systems,” “Evolution of the Market Pattern,” and
“The Self-Regulating Market and the Fictitious Commodities.” In The Great
Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Boston: Beacon Press.
45-80.
Group research project presentations 24 November
Assignment due: 15-20 page group research paper
Weber, Max. 1920. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Translated by Talcott
Parsons. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 47-78, 174-183.
GRADING
Final grades will reflect overall performance in the class, including engagement in classroom
discussion, research projects, performance on written assignments and group work in
presentations. The percentage weights used in calculating course grades are as follows:
20% Participation
40% Individual research assignments
30% Group presentation and paper
10% Take home final exam
With the exception of clerical errors, there will be no change of grades after posting.
PARTICIPATION
Class participation is an important part of the seminar. Students will gain points for
demonstrating effort in understanding the readings and course materials and from sharing
research findings. Students will lose points for missing class or coming unprepared.
TEAMWORK
Though groups will be used to discuss ideas and get feedback throughout the term, the group
research project is the only assignment where the same grade will be given to all members of a
group. For this project each team will conduct, record, transcribe, and analyze interviews with
individuals from the same occupational group. Each student is asked to conduct at least three
hours of interviews with three or more people in a related field. The objectives of this assignment
are to learn about listening as a means of moral awareness and to better understand the
complexity of business norms. It can be very difficult to observe norms as an outsider, but there
are strategies available to those who would seek to improve norms by acting on their personal
values. This project will culminate in a fifteen-page group paper and presentation of findings.
Basic interviewing techniques will be discussed in class. Materials for subject accrual (getting
people to participate), consent, interview questions, and data analysis will be provided.
FINAL EXAM
The final exam is a relatively small component of the grade which students will email to the
instructor by 15 December, 2011. The exam will ask students to think critically about their work
and the quality of the research that they have conducted and to suggest ways that research in the
field of business ethics could be advanced further.