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. -2- 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