B02.3101.W2, January 5-7, 2007 – FINAL v3 (20061226)
Stern School of Business, New York University
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: MARKETS, ETHICS & LAW – COURSE MAP
OVERVIEW – PLEASE READ CAREFULLY PRIOR TO THE FIRST CLASS SESSION
About this
course
The purpose of this course is to introduce the class member to a broad range of “non-market” issues encountered by
managers and business professionals, and to help the class member develop a set of analytical perspectives for making
judgments when such issues arise. In economics many of these issues can be described as market failures or
imperfections. To a limited extent, we will illustrate how the legal system is used to redress such failures of the market
economy. We will also examine the role of ethical norms and reasoning in resolving such issues in managerial life,
and in establishing standards of professional responsibility.
More directly, the class member in this course will exercise professional judgment through discussion and analysis.
Most such exercises will require the analysis of cases, as indicated on the attached schedule of class assignments. In
addition, we will study writings in the fields of ethical reasoning, professional responsibility, and the law.
About this
document
This syllabus is really a “course map” to help make it as clear as possible what we will be doing each day and why.
(Because of the compressed nature of the course, this document is unavoidably long.)
With the exception of the starting time (9:00am) and the ending time (4:00pm) of class each day, all times are
approximate. In general, the course map page (below) for each of the three days we will meet describes what needs to
be done before class and after class as well as what we will be doing in class. There are “Starting points” and “Key
objectives” associated with each day. Hopefully, you will recognize some of your own ideas/feelings in the “Starting
points” – even if you would not have phrased your ideas/feelings in exactly that way. Similarly, hopefully you will see
value added in the “Key objectives” – even if you consider yourself already to be part or most of the way there.
Basic
logistics




Meeting time and location: 9:00am – 4:00pm each day, KMC Room 3-80. As required by Stern policy, we will
break for a few minutes each morning and afternoon and break an hour for lunch.
Prof: Christopher Michaelson, cmichael@stern.nyu.edu, 612-596-4497
TA Swaroopa Reddy, swaroopa.reddy@stern.nyu.edu
Secretary: Iantha Coleman, icoleman@stern.nyu.edu, 212-998-0048
Page 1 of 10
Stern School of Business, New York University
B02.3101.W2, January 5-7, 2007 – FINAL v3 (20061226)
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: MARKETS, ETHICS & LAW – COURSE MAP
Course
materials
All cases and readings for this course are found in the digital coursepack, Professional Responsibility: Markets,
Ethics, and Law Cases and Readings for 2006-2007 (13th Edition).
Because of the intensive nature of this section of this course, it would be counterproductive to ask you to read and
retain the entire contents of the coursepack. Therefore, key readings have been selected for each class session – with
an emphasis on the theoretical – to complement the practical, case-oriented content of much in-class material
(including two feature-length films) and discussion. You are welcome and encouraged to read not only additional
suggested readings but also case studies that interest you. The films will be shown in class in approximately half hour
segments between which we will discuss the issues and concepts that arise. On the third day of class, class members
will participate in group debates.
The digital course-pack can ONLY be purchased through the NYU Professional Bookstore. Note that the course-pack
for the current academic year, 2006-07, is different from prior course-packs. Make sure you have the current coursepack.
TO PURCHASE The Professional Responsibility Digital Course-pack:
Do EITHER ONE of the following:
1. ONLINE:
Go to the NYU Bookstore web site: http://www.bookstores.nyu.edu.
Click on the "Book Inquiry & Ordering" link
Select the "Search by ISBN" option and enter ISBN 0536181357
Proceed to Checkout and complete your order
Within one business day of completing your order you will receive an email with your access code and instructions for
accessing the digital readings.
2. PURCHASE at the NYU Professional Book Store
You must have your NYU ID Card and your NYU email account must be active. After completing the sale your code
and instructions will be sent to your NYU email address.
ACCESSING The PR Digital Course-pack:
After purchasing the PR Digital Course-pack either online or at the bookstore do the following:
1. Log onto Blackboard.
Stern students should log into Blackboard through http://sternclasses.nyu.edu
Non-Stern students should log into NYUHOME https://home.nyu.edu and click on the Academics tab.
Page 2 of 10
B02.3101.W2, January 5-7, 2007 – FINAL v3 (20061226)
Stern School of Business, New York University
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: MARKETS, ETHICS & LAW – COURSE MAP
2. Click on the course listing "Professional Responsibility Digital Course-pack"
Note that this listing is DIFFERENT from your individual professor's Blackboard listing for the Professional
Responsibility course.
3. Click on the large button labeled "START HERE"
4. Check box that says "No, I am a new user"
5. Look for "Access Code" boxes at the center of the page.
6. Fill in your personal access code in the boxes provided.
7. Create your Login by inserting your email address.
8. Create your Password by creating your own personal password.
9. Create your Security Question.
10. Click on Next at the bottom of the page - you are now a Registered User.
11. Once you have registered you will need to navigate back to the Blackboard Site and login in to the article you
want to view.
12. You are now ready to use the PR Digital Coursepack.
PROBLEMS?
1. "403" Forbidden Message received.
COMPLETELY log out of Blackboard. CLOSE all other open windows & programs on your computer. Then fully
log back in again to Blackboard.
2. Other problems?
contact http://247.global.pearsoned.com/email/index.asp
3. Still Other problems?
rkowal@stern.nyu.edu
Page 3 of 10
B02.3101.W2, January 5-7, 2007 – FINAL v3 (20061226)
Stern School of Business, New York University
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: MARKETS, ETHICS & LAW – COURSE MAP
Grading
The weights for each class member’s overall grade are as follows:
 Class participation:
20%
 Group debate:
20%
 Moral argument:
20%
 Final paper:
40%
Specifications: Participate regularly during each class session, but no one class member should dominate. If you think
Class
participation you may have to miss class at all, you should register instead for another section of this course so you do not have to
miss class.
Your primary classroom obligation in this course is to prepare for class discussion by thorough reading and analysis of
assigned materials. Therefore, attendance is mandatory. Discussions and in-class activities are an essential part of the
course. All class members are responsible for mentally preparing to discuss course issues and ideas before coming to
class. Realistically, in a three-day intensive course, you will have plenty of chances to speak up. As long as you are
present and engaged, class participation by itself won’t make or break your grade (you will be graded on a “plus,
check, minus” basis). Consider it a chance to have fun, test your thinking, join the discussion, and potentially help
your grade.
Page 4 of 10
B02.3101.W2, January 5-7, 2007 – FINAL v3 (20061226)
Stern School of Business, New York University
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: MARKETS, ETHICS & LAW – COURSE MAP
Group
debate
Specifications: In-class preparation and participation on Day 3. See details on length, etc. below.
On Day 1, you will sign up for a group debate team. As a team, you are not expected to meet outside of class; rather,
you will have time in class on the morning of Day 3 to prepare as a team for in-class debates. Prior to Day 3, you will
need to read all of the materials on a given topic for your team’s debate, with a focus on the specific case study you
will be debating against another team assigned the same topic and case.
The first thing you should do in your team preparation meetings is determine what you all think about the issue. Then,
one or more of you will need to negotiate positions with the competing team to ensure that your positions can be
distinguished from one another and determine responsibility for filling the rest of the class in on the facts of the case
(i.e., which team will go first). Further, your team should divide up responsibilities into those who will present your
opening statement (primarily responsible for summarizing the case facts and making a positive statement of your
team’s position) and those responsible for rebutting opposing arguments (primarily responsible for anticipating
objections to your team’s position, fielding questions, and making a closing statement in support of your team’s
position relative to the competing team’s position). Your team’s “position” should ultimately be a practical statement
of what you think ought to be done to resolve the case in a professionally responsible way.
The structure of the debate will be:
 Team A: Present case facts and opening statement (3-5 minutes)
 Team B: Clarify case facts and present opening statement (3 minutes)
 Team A: Rebut Team B’s position, defend Team A’s position, and conclude (3 minutes)
 Team B: Rebut Team A’s position, defend Team B’s position, and conclude (3 minutes)
 Class: Ask clarifying questions of debate teams and vote on the winner (5-10 minutes)
 TA: Assign letter grades and provide written feedback to teams (after class). Note that you don’t have to win your
debate to get a good grade, but you should be careful about negotiating your position, since (except in exceptional
circumstances) a winning debate team should not get a lower grade than the team that lost against them.
The debate topics and cases are as follows:
 Sales & Marketing Ethics (Truth & Agency E, 2 teams) (Debate case: Responsibility Yes, But to Whom?)
 Insider Trading (Corporate Governance B, 2 teams) (Debate case: An Accountant’s Small-Time Insider Trading)
 Product Liability (Social Responsibility C, 2 teams) (Debate case: Good Pill, Bad Pill)
 Discrimination (Social Responsibility D, 2 teams) (Debate case: Foreign Assignment)
Page 5 of 10
B02.3101.W2, January 5-7, 2007 – FINAL v3 (20061226)
Stern School of Business, New York University
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: MARKETS, ETHICS & LAW – COURSE MAP
Moral
argument
Specifications: One-half to one page typed, single-spaced, to be turned in on Blackboard Digital Dropbox before class
on Day 3 (please name your file: “argument lastname firstname” (e.g., argument michaelson christopher.doc)
On Day 1, you will provisionally decide your final paper topic. While this choice does not have to be set in stone, it
should guide you to select a section of the textbook (a section is a lettered group of readings under one of the topic
headings) whose topic is most closely associated with your final paper topic. Even if that section of the textbook has
not been assigned for other purposes, you should read it in its entirety.
Before class on Day 3, you will turn in a brief moral argument on the relevant topic with the following elements:
 Brief description of the question you are addressing (for example, why are prohibited forms of insider trading
immoral?)
 Premises of your argument
 Conclusion of your argument (answering the question you are addressing)
 Key counterclaim, counterargument, or counterexample to your conclusion
 Explanation of why you would defend your conclusion against the counterclaim, counterargument, or
counterexample
Note: The moral argument will be graded by the TA and will be returned to you with brief comments and a rough
grade no later than mid-week following the class. This is the only outside written work expected of you during the
intensive weekend, but it is intended to give you the opportunity to obtain critical feedback on your topic before you
move ahead on your final paper. It will be graded on a “plus, check, minus” basis. You do not have to and should not
reveal any confidential information about your final paper in this assignment.
Final paper
Specifications: Eight to twelve pages typed, double-spaced, to be turned in on Blackboard Digital Dropbox no later
than 4:00pm on Sunday, January 14 (exactly one week after the last class ends) (please name your file: “paper
lastname firstname”) (e.g., paper michaelson christopher.doc)
The purpose of this paper is to allow the class member to apply principles of professional responsibility to an actual,
specific business situation. The class member will describe a situation with which he or she has first-hand familiarity.
The class member may have been a major or minor actor in the situation, or may have merely witnessed the situation.
In any event, the requirements are that the situation raise ethical and, potentially, legal issues and that the class
member was there. It would not be appropriate to analyze a situation if you were not in a position to observe it
directly.
Page 6 of 10
B02.3101.W2, January 5-7, 2007 – FINAL v3 (20061226)
Stern School of Business, New York University
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: MARKETS, ETHICS & LAW – COURSE MAP
Organize the final paper as follows:
 Situation: Provide a description of the situation or practice; this description must be detailed and rich enough to
allow the reader to get a clear sense of the issues and circumstances (2-4 pages).
 Analysis: Apply some method or methods of ethical (and perhaps legal) reasoning to the situation and examine the
results of this application. Are the results logical, beneficial, counter intuitive, or in any other way problematic?
Here the class member should apply, wherever appropriate, concepts from the course and its readings. Also, the
class member should cite, if applicable, relevant legal standards (2-4 pages).
 Resolution & Conclusion: Describe how the situation was actually resolved. Discuss this resolution in light of the
ethical analysis from section II (2-4 pages).
Good performance (hence good grades) on this assignment consists of systematically and thoroughly applying
relevant concepts and methods from the course to the situation, and in testing the worth of those concepts and methods
in resolving the ethical issues it presents. The contents of the final paper projects that you submit are held confidential.
The final papers are not read by anyone other than the professor and are not disseminated to other person(s). The
professor will assign letter grades in assessing your final paper performance.
Page 7 of 10
B02.3101.W2, January 5-7, 2007 – FINAL v3 (20061226)
Stern School of Business, New York University
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: MARKETS, ETHICS & LAW – COURSE MAP
DAY 1 (FRIDAY, JANUARY 5)
Goals
Before Class
Starting point
 We experience tension between economic and ethical objectives
 We have moral intuitions, reasons, and values
Work Read the following key articles before class
1. Buynow Stores
2. Economic Theories of Regulation
3. Strong Law Enforcement is Good for the Economy
4. The Social Responsibility of Biz is to Increase its Profits
5. Our Schizophrenic Conception of the Business Corporation
6. In Praise of Cheap Labor
7. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
8. Making an Ethical Decision
Topic
To
Do
Suggested reading: Additional articles in Social Responsibility A
(Social Responsibility to Stakeholders) that are not on the list above
9:00-About 10:00
About 10:15-About 12:00
12-1
Course introduction
Do the Right Thing
Lunch
 (1) “A Slice of Trouble” break
(ends at 0:25)
 (2) “Time Out!” (0:50)
Consider the following
 What is professional
responsibility all about?
 What is the relationship
between what I ought to
do and the various
interests of society,
nature, and myself?
Consider discussion
questions on (1)
Consider discussion
questions on (2)
Eat/
relax/
Sign
up for
debate
teams
Page 8 of 10
After Class
Key objectives
 Explain and articulate your point of view on the
relationship between economic and ethical objectives
 Harmonize your moral intuitions with formal structures
for moral reasoning
 Make sure you have signed up for a debate team
 Choose your provisional final paper topic
 Work on your moral argument
 Do other preparation for tomorrow
About 1:00-About 2:45
Do the Right Thing
 (3) “Temperatures
Rising” (1:28)
 (4) “Two Views/End
Credits” (1:53)
Consider discussion
questions on (3)
Consider discussion
questions on (4)
About 3:00-4:00
Moral reasoning and
argument in business
Consider the following
 How do you know what
is “the right thing” to do
(especially in business)?
 What are the essential
components of a moral
argument?
B02.3101.W2, January 5-7, 2007 – FINAL v3 (20061226)
Stern School of Business, New York University
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: MARKETS, ETHICS & LAW – COURSE MAP
DAY 2 (SATURDAY, JANUARY 6)
Before Class
Starting point
 We have dealt with organizational expectations and pressures
 We have tried to balance personal and professional objectives
Work Read the following key articles before class
1. Stockbroker’s Story
2. Protecting Trade Secrets
3. Duties of Agents and Principals
4. Judge Says Apple Can Demand Names of Bloggers
5. Bribery and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
6. Disorders Made to Order
7. Living with the Organizational Sentencing Guidelines
8. Can Employers Alter Hiring Policies to Cut Health Costs?
Goals
Topic
To
Do
Suggested reading: Articles in Truth & Agency D (Whistle Blowing
and Loyalty) none of which are on the list above
9:00-About 10:00
About 10:15-About 12:00
12-1
Bluffing vs. lying
Glengarry Glen Ross
Lunch
break
 (1) “Third Prize Is,
You’re Fired” (0:16)
 Discussion
 (2) “You’re Here to Sell
Me Some Land” (0:36)
 Discussion
Consider the following
Consider discussion
Eat/
relax
 How does bluffing differ questions on (1)
from lying?
Consider discussion
 What is a socially
questions on (2)
responsible job?
Page 9 of 10
After Class
Key objectives
 Identify the basic elements of organizational integrity
 Reflect on, question, and/or resolve balancing acts
 Complete your moral argument (due before class on
Day 3)
 Do other preparation for tomorrow, including debate
reading (in class on Day 3)
About 1:00-About 2:45
Glengarry Glen Ross
 (3) “Nothing but a
Secretary” (1:09)
 Discussion
 (4) “End Credits” (1:37)
 Discussion
About 3:00-4:00
Organizational integrity
Consider discussion
questions on (3)
Consider the following
 What is the social
responsibility of
business?
 What is the distinction
between law and
morality?
Consider discussion
questions on (4)
B02.3101.W2, January 5-7, 2007 – FINAL v3 (20061226)
Stern School of Business, New York University
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: MARKETS, ETHICS & LAW – COURSE MAP
DAY 3 (SUNDAY, JANUARY 7)
Goals
Before Class
Starting point
 We are capable of explaining our own moral points of view
 We are aware of the myriad legal and sometimes ethical issues
and expectations that arise in business
Work Read the following key articles before class
 Board of Directors (every article in Corporate Governance A)
 Your team’s debate articles (every article in the section assigned
to your debate team)
Topic
To
Do
Complete and turn in your moral argument
9:00-About 10:15
About 10:30-About 12:00
Corporate governance
 Debates
Debate preparation (30-45
o Sales and marketing
minutes)
o Insider trading
Consider the following
Participate, listen, question,
judge
 What are the two basic
functions of a board?
 What is the purpose of
corporate governance?
12-1
Lunch
break
Eat/
relax
Page 10 of 10
After Class
Key objectives
 Defend your point of view against competing views
amid community scrutiny
 Perceive the constant presence of ethical issues,
recognize the pervasiveness of market imperfections,
and cultivate the sensitivity to address them in business
 Write your final paper (due January 14)
About 1:00-About 2:30
Debates
o Product liability
o Discrimination
Participate, listen, question,
judge

About 2:45-4:00
Valuable work
Consider the following
 What is the value of
work?
 What is the value of
ethics in business?