UVA-MOD-0115Y
Rev. Nov. 5, 2013
BUSINESS ETHICS
Syllabus
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to enable students
to consider the role of ethics in business administration
in a complex, dynamic, global environment. Specific
course objectives include:
1. Recognizing ethical issues in business situations
2. Applying several important frameworks for moral
reasoning to complex business issues
3. Appreciating the role of ethics as central in business
decision making
4. Developing a general management perspective that
includes an ability to formulate, analyze, and defend
decisions in ethical terms
5. Analyzing the ethical issues that appear in other
Darden courses
About Darden Course Syllabi
The Darden Graduate School of
Business Administration is regularly
recognized as having one of the
world’s premier teaching faculties
within business education. Darden
Business Publishing is pleased to
provide current Darden course syllabi
for verified faculty members. These
syllabi provide instructors with context
as to how cases could be used in a
particular sequence to achieve the
learning outcomes of the teaching
teams at the Darden School. Use the
modules in these course syllabi as a
reference for updating case materials
within your school’s programs.
6. Allowing students to critically examine their own
ethics and test them in conversation with peers
Ethics is an ongoing conversation about human interrelationships, so ethics is as much a
part of management as finance, accounting, and organizational behavior. Ethics concerns how
our actions affect each other and influence the choices that we make for ourselves and for others.
In this course, students have an extraordinary opportunity to discuss the role of ethics in business
with their peers. The faculty member’s role is to lead and facilitate that discussion. Please note
that it is easy to generate heat in ethics discussions but more difficult to generate light. The focus
in the course is on cases with no easy answers. Students will try to find some viable alternatives
This syllabus was prepared by the Business Ethics faculty of the Darden Graduate School of Business
Administration at the University of Virginia. Copyright  2011 by the University of Virginia Darden School
Foundation, Charlottesville, VA. All rights reserved. To order copies, send an e-mail to
sales@dardenbusinesspublishing.com. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise—without the permission of the Darden School Foundation.
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UVA-MOD-0115Y
in extremely difficult situations and to develop reasoning skills to defend these alternatives from
a managerial perspective.
Course Instructors
Darden Teaching Faculty
Cases by This Author
S. Venkataraman
Jared Harris
Ed Freeman
Bobby Parmar
Andy Wicks
Venkataraman cases
Harris cases
Freeman cases
Parmar cases
Wicks cases
Course Outline
Class
Materials
“Corporate Responsibility and Ethics” (UVA-MOD-0115)
1
“Merck & Co., Inc. (A)” (HBS-9-991-021)
“An Introduction to Ethics” (UVA-E-0340)
2
“ExxonMobil and the Chad/Cameroon Pipeline” (UVA-E0262)
“Managing for Stakeholders” (UVA-E-0383)
“Ethics and Organization” (UVA-MOD-0116)
3
“Marge Norman and MiniScribe Corporation” (UVA-C2168)
“The Moral Muteness of Managers,” Frederick B. Bird and
James A. Waters, California Management Review, 32 (Fall
1989): 73–88
4
“Making Ethics Personal: Character and Your Personal
Vision” (UVA-Draft, pending publication)
5
“Business as Usual: The Acceptance and Perpetuation of
Corruption in Organizations,” V. Anand, B. E. Ashforth, M.
Joshi, Academy of Management Executive, 2005, 19, no. 4
6
“Caprica Energy and Its Choices” (UVA-QA-0765)
7
8
9
“Davis Press and Meccan Madness” (UVA-E-0073)
“Note on Islam” (UVA-E-0072)
“Moral Relativism” (UVA-E-0341)
“Moral Theory and Frameworks” (UVA-E-0339)
OPEN—Question/discussion day
“Turning Gears: A Business Ethics Simulation” (UVA-E0350)
Topic
Corporate strategy
Stakeholders
What makes people tick?;
the role of authority
Personal vision statement
Ethics and organization
Ethics and the environment:
quantifying probabilities and
analyzing uncertainties
The role of the CEO
Decision making
-3“Understanding Personal Values” (UVA-MOD-0117)
10
“Gambling and Death in Vietnam (A)” (UVA-E-0323)
11
12
UVA-MOD-0115Y
Personal loyalty; upholding
justice
“Gambling and Death in Vietnam (B)” (UVA-E-0324)
“The Admissions Dilemma” (UVA-E-0359)
“Inactive Duty” (UVA-E-0358)
In-class presentations of student-written caselets
In-class presentations of student-written caselets; final
comments
“Developing Judgment” (UVA-MOD-0118)
13
“Danville Airlines” (UVA-E-0265)
“A Note on Rights” (UVA-E-0188)
14
“Evergreen Enhancement” (UVA-E-0381, pending
publication)
15
“GE Healthcare in India: An (Ultra) Sound Strategy?”
(UVA-E-0337)
Exam
The role of knowledge
The role of technology
Emerging issues