CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
& BUSINESS POLICY - MG 6901
BUSINESS POLICY SECTION OF COURSE
[Spring 2006]
Instructor: Randolph E. Schwering Ph.D.
Place & Time: 5:45 to 9:45 pm - Thursdays
Office: Conway 341
Office Hours: 3:30 to 5:45 Thursdays; 12:00 to 2:00 Alternating Fridays and Saturdays
(as per XF Year 2 Schedule)
Telephone: 1-785-842-8228 (Lawrence office number & central phone routing - please
use this number)
E-mail: Randy.Schwering@rockhurst.edu
Fax: 1-785-832-8810
TEXT(S):
Strategic Management by Stephen Porth – Prentice Hall 2003
Leading the Revolution by Gary Hamel: Harvard Business School Press 2000
Harvard Business Review on Corporate Ethics Harvard Publishers, 2003
Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury - Penguin 1991. ISBN
0140157352
5. Wall Street Journal
1.
2.
3.
4.
SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS: Occasional items sent via email
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
MG 6901, the combined Business Policy and Corporate Social Responsibility
course is a capstone experience in the Rockhurst MBA program. The course is
presented from a general management/leadership perspective. The course
promotes an integrated view of the various functional areas such as marketing,
finance, human resources, IT, etc. as these subunits interact to create
organizational performance. Topics covered include an overview of the tools and
processes for strategy formulation, innovation and the dynamics of strategy
implementation, leadership and organizational change. All of these topics are also
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addressed as challenges in corporate social responsibility and personal ethics. This
latter emphasis is examined from both a prescriptive and descriptive perspective.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Using a middle management context for learning, the student should be able to:
MBA
Program
Learning
Goal[s]
1.
Describe and appropriately apply various strategic planning models, processes and
tools to specific planning contexts.
3, 5
2.
Recommend actionable solutions and implementation plans to resolve strategic
challenges facing the organization.
3, 5
3.
Analyze a given competitive strategy from a global perspective and recommend
strategies appropriate to such global business contexts.
4, 5
4.
Evaluate leadership behaviors appropriate to the development of organizational vision,
mission, and strategy.
1, 5
5.
Demonstrate effective written and oral communication skills.
6.
Demonstrate effective teaming skills.
7.
Distinguish personal ethics from corporate responsibility.
8.
Distinguish compliance corporate social policies from an integrity response (apply it
strategically).
2, 5
9.
Apply and articulate ethical reasoning framework(s) to complex business situations.
Application will be at the strategic level of decision rather than tactical or personal.
Articulation will involve describing how corporate social responsibility might be an
integrated component of organizational strategy.
2, 5
10.
Critically analyze corporate and business decisions. Critical thinking is reflected by the
quality of ideas and claims made in discussion and reporting.
5
11.
Articulate the impact corporate actions have on both the internal life of the organization
and external physical and societal environment.
2, 6
6
1, 6
2
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Successful completion of the course will require the
following:
1.
Take responsibility for your own learning by:
o Developing and evolving your own personal learning goals and acting on these
goals
o Taking responsibility to ask questions and probe your understanding
o Owning your own confusion when this occurs
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o Taking leadership and initiative in our learning community
o Attempting to relate concepts to your own work situation
2.
Complete of all required course readings
3.
Attend class
GRADING POLICY
Please note that this is not a course emphasizing the memorization of facts, figures, and
other decision algorithms. Your grade will not be based upon such technical skills often
irrelevant to the strategic managers real world challenges. Rather, strategic management
is about leading the organization through complex and uncertain business environments.
In contrast to many of functionally-focused classes such as accounting, finance etc., there
is often not a single right answer to any given business problem. Ambiguity and
uncertainty will characterize this learning domain. As such, you will be called upon to
practice your critical thinking, tolerance for ambiguity, communications &
interpersonal skills, creativity, and, business instincts. These behaviors will be
reflected in our grading process in as objective manner as is humanly possible, given the
nature of our learning objectives.
SPECIFIC GRADE DETERMINANTS
Note:

35% Class Participation and Preparation for Discussion (Individual).
Specific evaluation elements include:
 Attendance (It is typical that students may miss a class or two during the semester.





Special attendance issues beyond this point should be discussed with the
Demonstration that you have actually read the assignment
Application of ideas to your home work organization
Demonstration of critical thinking in your contributions as evidenced by your
ability to diagnose case problems, compare and contrast alternatives and develop
logical solutions to business challenges
Demonstration of your ability to integrate the various theories illuminated in your
reading assignments
10% Team Presentation (each team leads one weekly case or other analysis)
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


20% CSR Essay (Rubric under separate cover)
35% Strategy Analysis Project (Individual or Team)
Pass – Fail Leadership Credo Presentation
COURSE POLICIES
 Arrangements can be made for late submission on individual assignments for
legitimate reasons. Please do not abuse this deadline flexibility. When your
lateness becomes a pattern, this flexibility will disappear.
 Your learning team should try to support absent team members where possible,
through the provision of class notes, quick overview of learnings, etc.
 One of the hallmarks of an effective learning community is that each individual
plays an active role in their own learning and helps promote the learning of others.
In our class, hopefully this commitment will be manifest in the following
behaviors:
o Provide feedback to the instructor and other class members where this is
needed. This will help the instructor fine tune course design, readings etc..
o Enforce an intellectual standard that is intolerant of lazy thinking. If others
(including the instructor) say something that seems untrue to you in light of
your experience, let this be known in the spirit of friendly intellectual
intercourse.
o Celebrate a diversity of opinions as long as these opinions are intellectually
supportable. Conflict, when harnessed, can be one of the central drivers of our
learning.
ADA Statement

RU official policy: “Rockhurst University is committed to providing reasonable
accommodations for students with disabilities. Please contact Sandy Waddell,
Director, Access Office (Massman Hall Room 7, (816) 501-4689,
sandy.waddell@rockhurst.edu) to provide documentation and request
accommodations. If accommodations have already been approved by the Access
Office, please communicate with the instructor of this course regarding these
arrangements by the second week of class in order to coordinate receipt of services.”
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Student Contact Information:

RU official policy: “Student contact information must be kept current in order to
receive important notices from Rockhurst University. Your contact information is
online via your BannerWeb account. Please check your local address, local phone
number, and emergency contact information on BannerWeb and revise as needed. All
important University notices will be sent only to your RU email address. Please
check your RU email account in addition to any other email accounts you may have.
Accounts are activated at the Computer Services Help Desk (Conway 413).”
Academic Honesty Policy:

Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated. The Rockhurst University Catalog
provides examples of academic dishonesty and outlines the procedures, penalties, and
due process accorded students involved in academic dishonesty. All infractions will
be immediately referred to the Dean's office. In your research paper, make sure you
provide citations for all ideas and information that are not your own.
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ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
NOTES: Dates on this schedule refer to activities and assignments that are due on
the date shown.
Do not hesitate to call me (Randy Schwering) with your questions regarding syllabus or
course content –there are many instances where a phone call will better resolve your
problem than communicating asynchronously online. Call me anytime at 785-842-8228
(Lawrence).
1. January 12 – Course Orientation
2. January 19 – The Concept of Strategy
o READINGS
 Porth:
 Chapter 1: Strategic Management: An Overview [23pg]
 Chapter 2: Creating Value: A Strategic Imperative [21pg]
o

Hamel
 Preface
 Chapter 1: The End of Progress [39 pg]

Edward Marshall Boehm, Inc. Case [1 pg]
IN CLASS ACTIVITIES
Activity
Intro and Logistics
Overview of Strategic Management
Boehm Case Discussion + Break
Paradigm Pioneers Video & Examples
Total
Time
35
30
70
75
210
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3. January 26 – Mission, Vision & Strategic Renewal
o READINGS



Porth: Chapter 3 – Developing a Mission and Understanding Strategy [24 pg]
Hamel: Chapter 2: Facing Up to Strategy Decay [25 pg]
Wrapp Article (Handout): Good Manager’s Don’t Make Policy Decisions (6
pgs)
o Individual Assignment: Bring your firms mission and vision statements to class if
such documentation exists. We will use these in class activities.
o Start Individual Assignment: (Start this week and complete next week):
Interview a senior executive having strategic management responsibility within your
firm. Make a concerted attempt to find someone in the firm with truly strategic
responsibilities. In many instances, this will be the CEO, senior officer etc. You will
be surprised at how willing these individuals will be to talk with you. Take a
risk….Avoid going to your immediate supervisor.
Ask your source to describe their role and responsibilities in relation to strategic
management as highlighted in questions below. Keep notes of this interview. We will
discuss your results in class on next week.

Senior Executive Interview Questions
 Describe your role & responsibilities in relation to strategic
management
 What do you believe makes something “strategic”?
 Identify the most challenging aspects of this strategic role?
 What kinds of skills do they think are important in this role?
 If they had the power, how would they change the process by which
strategy is formulated in their firm?
o INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT: Evaluate either your own firm or other organization
of your choice in regard to elements of strategic decay that are outlined in Chapter 2
of Hamel. Be prepared to discuss specifics of strategy decay in class.
o IN CLASS ACTIVITIES:
Activity
Lecture & Mission Statement Critique
(assn #1) & Strategic examples
Finding Strategy Examples in WSJ
Examples of Strategic Decay
Gandhi Video Excerpt
Self Assessment viz. participation
Time
45
60
45
60
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Total
210
4. February 2 – Assessing Organizational Value Chains
o READINGS

Porth: Chapter 4: The Internal Audit [24 pg]

Hamel: Chapter 3: Business Concept Innovation [57 pg]
o TEAM 1 ASSIGNMENT (Students on non presenting teams should individually
think through this exercise in relation to their own organization even though
they will not be presenting).

Using a firm of your choice (hopefully one represented on your team), develop
a 20 minute presentation critiquing the firm in relation to internal
organizational strengths and weaknesses. Use a combination of Hamel’s
business model and Porth’s value chain to describe these strengths and
weaknesses. Make sure that your presentation focuses on internal issues
versus external threats/opportunities. (Although there is a relationship
between internal issues and external challenges, focus on the internal
organizational issues that determine the ability for the firm to produce
economic value).
o IN CLASS ACTIVITIES:
Activity
Lecture overview & illustration of
Changing Value Chain
Team 1 Presentations of value chain
analysis per assignment + break
Debrief of Exec. Interview Assignment
Formative Evaluation
Total
Time
50
70
75
15
210
5. February 9 – Assessing the External Environment
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o READINGS


Hamel: Chapter 4: Be Your Own Seer [27 pg]
Porth
 Chapter 5: The External Audit [29 pg]
 Chapter 6: Setting Objectives and Making Strategic Choices [31 pg]
o TEAM 2 & 3 ASSIGNMENT (Team 3 will present next week)

Using the basic elements of business model forwarded in Hamel Chapter 3 in
combination with concepts presented in Porth’s Chapter 5 (esp. the Porter
Model shown on Figure 5.5), diagnose one of your team member’s
organizations in relation to the following factors:


External Threats facing the business unit
External Opportunities facing the business unit
Focus on the top two or three threats and opportunities facing the
organization. You may want to conduct this analysis at a divisional
level if you serve in a corporate environment with many individual
strategic business units).
o INDIVIDUAL DISCUSSION PREPARATION ASSIGNMENT

Identify specific core competencies you believe are demonstrated by your
home firm. Be prepared to support your assertions in light of criteria shown on
page 86 of Porth.
o IN CLASS ACTIVITIES:
Activity
Lecture on Leonard Model & Core
Competency
Team 2 Presentation on T/O of SWOT +
Breaks
Clayton Christensen on Disruptive
Technologies (Video & Discussion)
Murky Moment Activity
Total
Time
35
105
60
10
210
6. February 16 – The Innovation Imperative
o READINGS:
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
Porth:
 Quick Review to Reinforce your Finance Class: Chapter 7: Financial
Tools for Strategic Choice

Hamel:
 Chapter 5: Corporate Rebels [38 pg]
 Chapter 6: Go Ahead! Revolt [19 pg]
o ASSIGNMENT #1 – Facilitated by Team 4 using their example. Although team 3
will present, each student should also think through the assignment as shown
below.

In chapter 6, Hamel lists eight leadership steps to “Start an Insurrection”. The
discussion questions below ask you to assess a recent significant
organizational change initiative in your own or other organization in light of
these steps. Be prepared to discuss in class.
Taking either a leadership initiative your organization has undertaken or one
you have experienced, discuss the following:




Which steps in the Hamel approach were well executed? What specific
results demonstrate the success of this given step?
Which steps could have been done better? What were some of the
barriers to success in relation to this given step?
Which of these steps do you believe to be the most challenging?
How might one’s personality interact with the success on any given
step? (Be specific here using examples pertaining to specific steps).
o IN CLASS ACTIVITIES:
Activity
Implications of Disruptive Technologies
& Leonard Innovation Model
Team 3 (from last week) & 4
Presentation on Rule for Resurrection +
Break
Option: Force Field Analysis as applied to
Innovation
Murky Moment
Total
Time
60
120
20
10
210
7. Feb 23 – Action Learning & Emergent Strategy
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o READINGS

Hamel:
 Chapter 8: Design Rules for Innovation [32 pg]
 Chapter 9: The New Innovation Solution [35]
o TEAM ASSIGNMENT: Facilitated by Team 5 who will illustrate assignment
using an example firm of their choice.

Based upon the “design rules” outlined in Hamel (starting pg 251), be
prepared to discuss following questions:


Within your own firms, what rules seem to be appropriately applied?
I.e. where is your firm doing well in relation to the rules?
Within your own firms, which rules are being grossly neglected and
why? What is the implication of this neglect?
o IN CLASS ACTIVITIES:
Activity
Review
VIPS: Visioning Processes
Team 5: Design Rules Presentation as
noted above
Break
Discovery Based Planning & Learning
Organizations
Video: Complexity Sciences and Strategy
Emergence
Time
10
20
60
10
50
60
210
8. March 2 – Strategy Implementation & Stakeholder
Involvement
o READINGS


Begin Fisher & Ury: Getting to Yes
HBR Ethics Books: Ethics without the Sermon (Nash)
Activity
Review
Principles of Conflict Management +
Time
20
60
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Break
Negotiating Corp Change + Break
Leadership Credo Assignment & Live
Case Analysis Final
Murky Moment Assessment
75
45
10
March 9 – Spring Break
o Continue Fisher and Ury’s book, Getting to Yes, a requirement for future classes.
9. March 16 – Process Design and Structure
o Strategy Analysis Due
o READINGS


Complete Fisher & Ury: Getting to Yes
Handouts:
 Rummler and Brache Process Improvement article
 Readings on Structure
Activity
Review
Best Practices in Process Improvement
Exercise: Hands Across America
Video: Meyers: Numbers do Lie
Summary of Measure Issues
Embedded Assessment: Barriers to
Application Journal
Time
30
35
60
60
15
10
10. March 23 – The Behavioral Determinants of
Ethical Behavior
o READINGS
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o HBR Corporate Ethics Book
o We Don’t Need another Hero (Badaracco) [1-17]
o Why “Good” Managers Make Bad Ethical Choices (Gellerman) [4966:17]
o Ethics in Practice (Andrews) [67-83:16]
Activity
Review & Murky Moment Debrief
Behavioral Forces Model
Application of Model to Ethics Case
Ethics in America (Corp Merger): Video
Embedded Assessment Activity
Time
30
30
45
90
15
11. March 30 – Ethical Decision Making
o READINGS
 Excerpts from The Executive Compass
 HBR Ethics Book: The Parable of Sadhu

Team 6: Select a case of corporate ethical malfeasance occurring within the
last year or so. Develop a 45 minute presentation covering the following
points:
 What actually happened? (Keep this description quite short)
 Why did this problem occur? (This is key and should address the
leadership and organizational dynamics that led to problem)
 What should have been done to avoid this problem?
 How might we generalize these ethical “best practices” to our own
firms?
 What are the challenges in applying your ethical prescriptions as noted
in the previous two points?
Activity
Review
Discussion of Readings
The Executive Compass Model
Ethics Case: Team 6
Embedded Assessment Activity
Time
10
30
70
90
10
12. April 6 – Leadership & the Ethics of Influence
o READINGS
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

What Makes a Leader? – Daniel Goldman (Handout)
HBR Ethics Book: The Discipline of Personal Character (Badaracco)
Activity
Setup & Review
Emotional Intelligence
Guest Speaker: Executive Leadership +
Break
Gandhi on Principled Leadership
Embedded Assessment Activity
Time
10
30
100
60
10
13. April 13 – Corporate Social & Environmental
Responsibility

Readings:
o HBR Ethics Book:


o

Managing for Organizational Integrity
Values in Tension: Ethics Away from Home
Environmental Case: (Distributed in Class)
CSR Essay due via email to randy.schwering@rockhurst.edu.
PLEASE USE FOLLOWING FORMAT TO NAME FILE: “Lastname.doc”. the file
should be in MS Word readable format. Also, your email subject line should say,
“6901 CSR Essay - Lastname”. This will assure that your file is properly stored and
review. Thanks for helping us stay organized!

In Class:
Activity
Setup & Review
The Sustainability Paradigm
Economic Opportunities viz.
Sustainability
Video Case Study & Discussion
Embedded Assessment Activity
Time
10
30
90
60
10
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14. April 20 – Leadership Credo Presentations


Assignment: Final preparation of your leadership credo
In Class: Each member will present their leadership credo on pass-fail grading
basis
15. April 27 – Review - Closure and Evaluation
Assignment: Review all readings, class notes, powerpoints etc in preparation for
review session.
In Class: The Rockhurst Towers Strategy Simulation
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