SM 131 A1– BUSINESS, SOCIETY, AND ETHICS
COURSE SYLLABUS
Module 1: What is Ethical Decision-Making
Week 1
Jan 15 Lecture
Introduction from Dean Reiser, introduce discussion faculty, writing faculty, rules
for class, etc.
Introduce the Rational Decision-Making Model
Jan 16 Discussion
Introduction/ice breakers
Overview of course objectives
What are ethics and why do we need them?
What is being ethical?
Readings: Jennings Case 7.11
Jan 17: Workshop
Intro to Writing in SM 131; Intro to Lens Paper
Week 2
Jan 21Discussion
Identify ethical issues in your own life
Identify and clarify you own values
Readings: Jennings case 1.2
Jan 22 Lecture
Identify ethical situations
Introduce ethical frameworks
Readings: Jennings: c. 1A
Jan 23: Discussion
Apply frameworks: Casey Martin Case
Readings: Jennings: Reading 1.6, case 1.7
-Watch TED: Barry Schwartz: Loss of Wisdom. (TED.com)
In class activity
Homework Due: Virtues Assignment (See SMGTools/Resources/Homework)
Jan 24: Workshop
TEAM SESSION #1 LOST AT SEA
1
What’s the big deal about being on a team? What does it take to be on a team, what
kinds of skills and investments? What do you want to be your legacy as a team mate
to be?
Homework Due: Casey Martin Part 3 (See SMGTools/Resources/Homework)
Week 3
Jan 27: Lecture
Business and Ethics: How do they work together?
Readings: Jennings: c. 1B (29-34 up to, but not including, case 1.10), c. 2A & 2B, and
2C case 2.11 p. 73-82
Jan 28: Discussion
What gets in the way of ethical decision-making?
Readings: Jennings: case: 2.7, and Sam Waksal article (SMG Red course packet)
Jan 29 Lecture
Writing in the business context: Similarities and differences between business
writing and academic writing. Creating reader-centered business documents.
Jan 30: Discussion
Applying ethical frameworks to business
Readings: Jennings: 2C (p. 84-87)
New York Times: Greg Smith: Why I Left Goldman Sachs (SMG Red course
packet)
Bloomberg: Greg Smith Quit Goldman After ‘Unrealistic Pitch for $1m’ (SMG
Red course packet)
Homework Due: Douglas Faneuil Assignment (See
SMGTools/Resources/Homework)
Jan 31: Workshop
TEAM SESSION #2 TEAM COMPACTS/PRESENTATION SKILLS AND EXPECTATIONS
What will be the goal of the team collectively and what are the behaviors that should
be expected of each other to reach the team goal.
-Review expectations of presentations, SMG rubric, assignment, dress code and
media pros/cons
Week 4
Feb 3: Lecture
Blindspots: Why we do not act as ethically as we think we should
Readings: Bazerman “How (un)Ethical Are You? HBR 12/03 (SMG Red course
packet)
Bazerman “Ethical Breakdowns” HBR 4/11 (SMG Red course packet)
Video: TED: Dan Ariely: Free Beer: The Truth About Dishonesty (watch in lecture)
Feb 4: Discussion
2
Apply frameworks and blind spots
In-class: blind spot activity;
Ariely discussion questions
Feb 6: Discussion
In-class: Carter Racing Case (Red SMG course packet)
Feb 7: Workshop
Writing Workshop: Thesis Statement, Topic Sentences, Sequence in business
writing
Feb 10: EXAM
Module 2: The Role of the Firm in Society
Week 5
Feb 13 Discussion
What is the role of social value in business? How do business, government and
households interact in our economy?
Readings: Colander, c. 3; (blue course packet)
Watch podcast on SMGTools/Resources/Podcast
Feb 14: Workshop
TEAM SESSION #4 NBP PRESENTATIONS
Students will individually prepare a 1 slide presentation with either 8 words or 1
picture to present to the class. Each presentation will last between 60 and 90
seconds.
Lens Essay 1 Due to SMGTools beginning of class.
Week 6
Feb 18 Discussion
What is the role of government in market failures?
What is a Prisoner’s Dilemma?
Readings:
Market for cancer research? (get on your own)
http://radioboston.wbur.org/2012/10/10/cancer-research-free-market,
and
http://radioboston.wbur.org/2012/10/11/michael-sandel-markets
Schneier: Wired: Drugs: Sports’ Prisoner’s Dilemma: self-interest and
cooperation.
Feb 19 Lecture
Market Failures: Why do markets fail? We will consider externalities, public goods,
and information problems. How does the government get involved in market
failures?
3
Readings: Colander c. 8 (Blue course packet)
Feb 20 Discussion
Markets and Morality
In-class activity
Presentation 1: Climate change
Feb 21 Workshop
TEAM SESSION #4 NBP PRESENTATIONS, PART 2.
Week 7
Feb 24 Lecture
What is the role of a firm: To make profits? To satisfy stakeholders? To better
society?
Readings: Jennings: c. 3A, p. 91-113
Reich: The Case Against Corp. Social Responsibility, p. 2-9 (Red SMG course packet)
Remi Trudel and June Cotte, Does it Pay to Be Good? MIT Sloan Management
Review (Winter 2009). (Red SMG course packet)
Feb 25 Discussion
Friedman, Freeman, and CSR
Video: CBS 60 Minutes: Big Game Hunting (watch before class
SMGTools/Resources/videos)
Presentation 1: FTC and Whole Foods
Feb 27 Discussion
Readings: Jennings, case 3.8: Adelphia: Good Works via a Hand in the Till
Are Companies More Powerful than Countries? Time Magazine 1/27/12
(SMGTools/Resources/Additional Readings)
Presentation 1: Eminent Domain and the city of New London, Ct.
Feb 28 Workshop
Writing Workshop: Do’s and Don’t’s: Using what we learned from Lens Paper 1
when writing Lens Paper 2
Week 8
March 3 Lecture
The Role of Government in Business: Different business forms allowable under the
law and the business impact of those forms (raising capital, domestic v. foreign
investors, liability, etc.)
Readings: Beatty and Samuelson: c. 33 (Red SMGtools course packet)
Benefit Corporation (See SMGTools/Resources/Additional Readings)
March 4 Discussion
What role does the government play in business and the markets? The role of moral
hazard, mortgages, risky lending
4
Video: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/02/25/the-credit-crisisvisualized/ (to be watched before class and before PBS video- get on your own)
PBS: Frontline: Inside the Meltdown (to be watched before class- get on your own at
pbs.org)
Team Presentation 1: CSR #1
March 6 Discussion
Loose ends
Team Presentation 1: CSR #2
Social Benefit Corporation
Socially Responsible Investing (if doing)
March 7 Workshop
No Class…but Lens Paper 2 due in SMGTools by class time.
Week 9
March 19: EXAM
March 20 Discussion
TEAM SESSION # 5 : CONDUCT TEAM CHECKPOINT 1
March 21 Workshop
Writing Workshop: Intro to Paper 3
Module 3: What is the Role of Ethics within the Business Functions?
Week 10
March 24 Lecture
Accounting: Basic objectives/goals of accounting within organizations.
Readings: Business Decisions and Financial Accounting, (Blue SMG Course Packet,
pp. 50-92.)
March 25 Discussion
Contexts in which accounting judgments can be used to serve interests other than
the communication of high quality information for investors and creditors.
Readings: Jennings: Reading 4.11
Case 4.15
-case: Uncharged Hours (See SMGTools/Resources/Additional readings)
March 27 Discussion
Finance: Explore the tension between monetary incentives and ethical behavior.
How should a risk manager who detects signs of unethical decisions respond?
5
Readings: Donaldson, T. (2012) “Three Ethical Roots of the Financial Crisis.” Journal
of Business Ethics. (Red SMG course packet)
-case: Cash not Reported (See SMGTools/Resources/Additional readings)
March 28 Workshop
Writing Workshop: Paper 3 Prep
Week 11
March 31 Lecture
Marketing: The role of marketing within the organization and society; societal
versus managerial definition of marketing; fundamentals of exchanges and
transactions and how they provide value
Readings: Basic Marketing: A Marketing Strategy Approach (Blue SMG Course
Packet pp. 94-121.)
April 1 Discussion
Consumers’ needs, wants, and demands; Can marketers create needs or do they
provide solutions to latent needs?
 Listen to (get on your own):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1133947

Transcript is available at:
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/diamonds/mystique1.
html
April 3 Discussion
Understand how ethics relates to some key marketing decisions and evaluate the
marketer’s responsibility in such situations. Will consumers pay more for ethical
products?
Readings: Jennings Case 7.1
Junk Food:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junkfood.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
Monster
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014241278873238268045784667807660
04340.html
E-cigarettes
http://www.bu.edu/today/2013/alarm-bells-over-e-cigarettes/
9/26/2013
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-09-05/national/41788702_1_ecigarettes-conventional-cigarettes-e-cigarette-manufacturers
Team Presentation 2
6
April 4 Workshop
Writing Workshop: Submit a draft of Paper 3 to SMGTools; bring hard copy to class
for self-review
Week 12
April 7 Lecture
Operations: Process Analysis; systematic approaches to process improvement.
(quality and lean management principles)
Readings: Business: A Changing World – Chapter 9 (Managing Service and
Manufacturing Operations) (Blue SMG Course Packet pp. 122-151.)
April 8 Discussion
The strategic context in which operations functions in an organization. Creation of
effective business processes through integration of functional capabilities, with
ethical considerations.
Video: Ted Talk: Auret van Heerden – Making Global Labor Fair (get on your own at
TED.com, watch before class)
Team Presentation 2
April 10 Discussion
Understand how ethics relates to some key operations decisions and evaluate the
manager’s responsibility in such situations.
Readings: Jennings: Case 5.6
Team Presentation 2
April 11 Workshop
Writing Workshop: Students bring hard copy of revised Paper 3 to class for peer
review.
Week 13
April 14 Lecture
Strategy and Innovation: The success of the firm depends on both actions taken by
the firm and externalities (competition, environment, etc.); the role of strategy
within the firm—to help the firm coordinate decisions/trade-offs across functional
areas
Readings: Chapter 1, Strategic Management: Concepts & Cases by Rothaermel,
2013, (Blue SMG Course Packet pp. 154-181.)
Paper 3 due to SMGTools for a grade.
April 15 Discussion
Exploring strategic analysis and the role of strategy in business
Readings: Jennings: Case 7.10 (Merck)
“Bitter Brew” (SMGTools/Resources/Additional readings)
Team Presentation 2
7
April 16 MOVIE NIGHT
“The Insider” SMG Auditorium 6-9pm
April 17 Discussion
Ethical issues in strategic decision-making
Readings: Hilton-Starwood articles (SMGTools/ Resources/Additional readings)
Coke-Pepsi articles (SMGTools/Resources/Additional readings)
Team Presentation 2
MOVIE NIGHT Encore performance, SMG Auditorium, 6-9pm
April 18 Workshop
TEAM SESSION #6: TEAM CHECKPOINT 2
Compare presentation 1 analysis to performance for presentation 2, how has the
team improved based on the discussion during checkpoint 1? This discussion
should be about both the process in completing the assignment and in the actual
delivery of the presentation.
Week 14
April 22 Discussion
“The Insider” discussion
Whistleblowers and the bounty system
Readings: Persons of the Year, Time Magazine, 12/30/02 (Red SMG course packet)
Video: Jon Stewart The Daily Show: Harry Marcopolos (find on your own)
April 24 Lecture
Whistleblowers: Guest Lecture, Gregory Keating, Esq.
Readings: Jennings c. 4E
April 25 Workshop
TEAM SESSION #7 PEER FEEDBACK AND CLOSING EXERCISE
Formal closure to the team process and individual peer feedback
Week 15
April 28 Lecture
Corporate Governance: Guest Lecture, Ken Freemen, Dean
How governance and structure can help facilitate and support ethical decisions,
ethics in operation
Readings: Jennings c. 4B (165-183) case 4.13
April 29 Discussion
Jennings case 4.13 discussion
Team Presentation 2
May 1 Discussion
Develop a list of questions to take with you to ask for every ethical dilemma.
8
Team Presentation 2
9