Course Manual
Philosophy 3050: Business Ethics
Course instructor: Wesley Cragg
Department of Philosophy and Schulich School of Business
York University
Course Outline
Phil 3500: Business Ethics
Instructor:
Wesley Cragg
Coordinates: Room: 200G-Schulich School of Business
Secretary:
Mary Amati, Ext. 55809 (416-736-5809)
Telephone: 416-736-2100 Ext. 20686
E-mail:
wcragg@schulich.yorku.ca
Office hours: Tuesday and Thursday from 4:00 to 5:30
Brief course description
This is a thirteen week course beginning in January. Phil 2075 (Practical Ethics) is a
prerequisite. The course will be of interest to students who want to explore the role of ethics in
business, government and the voluntary sectors of the economy.
Over the course of the winter term, we will look at the legal and ethical parameters of
corporate governance as well as the impact of globalization, deregulation and “right sizing” on
the nature and role of corporate social responsibility. We will look at the role of codes of
conduct in encouraging high standards of conduct in government and the management of for
profit and not for profit companies and organizations. The role and effectiveness of voluntary
codes of ethics as a response to globalization and deregulation will be addressed and debated.
Attempts by leading corporations to move to values based management will be evaluated.
Recent attempts to create international standards for auditing the social and ethical performance
of public sector and private sector managers will be analysed. And current issues such as bribery
and corruption, human rights, and sustainable development as well as recent events, for example,
Talisman in the Sudan, Shell Oil experiences in Nigeria, the Bophal disaster and RT Capital
(Royal Bank/Toronto) will be analysed and discussed.
System of Evaluation:
There will be three course assignments and a final examination. The first assignment is a short
study worth 10% of the final mark. The second assignment is a case description and will be
worth 20% of the final mark. The third assignment is an essay and will be worth 30% of the
final mark. The final examination is worth 40% of the final mark. You are expected to hand
your work in on schedule. Work that is handed in up to seven days late will be read and
commented on but not evaluated and the weight of the assignment toward the final grade will be
added to the cumulative weight of the final examination. Work that is more that seven days late
will be assigned a zero and given the weight the evaluation system assigns to that assignment. If
you are having trouble completing an assignment on time, it is your obligation to speak to me
before the date for submitting that assignment. Extensions can be arranged at my discretion for
problems that are significant, for example, illness. However, it is your obligation as a member of
the class to indicate that you are having problems before assignment submission dates. You
have all the information you need to reach me in a timely manner.
Assignment one: You are required to describe an experience that raised an ethical issue or
generated an ethical dilemma or illustrated an ethical principle either you or someone you know
encountered in the course of doing business with another individual or private, public or
voluntary sector organization. Your write-up should include a brief description of the
experience, the ethical issue, dilemma or ethical principle involved, how the situation resolved
itself and whether the resolution was a morally satisfactory one. I propose to use some of these
“cases” (without attribution or identifying features) for class discussion throughout the course
where they relate to issues under discussion.
Due date: This assignment is due at or before the second lecture in the second week of the
course.
Maximum length: Three type written, double spaced pages.
Assignment two: This assignment requires that you find a news story about the activities
of one of the following: a business firm; a government ministry or department or
organization; a voluntary sector organization; or someone in a leadership role in
business, government or the not-for profit sector. The story should be one that has been
reported on within the last twelve months. It should have either an explicit or implicit
ethical dimension. (The ethical dimension does not need to be explicitly raised or
addressed in the story itself. If it is not addressed explicitly, it will be your job to draw it
out.) Based on materials in the course manual, discussion in the first five weeks of class,
and the readings assigned for the first five weeks, identify the ethical issue or topic raised
by the story. Explain why it is an ethical issue. Identify the stakeholders involved and
their stake and conclude by identifying what is to be learned from the story about the
relevance of ethics in the contemporary world of business. (Note: Throughout this
course, the term "business" is used broadly to include economic activity in all its aspects,
whether it takes place in the private, voluntary or government sectors or the economy.)
Due date: This assignment is due at or before the first class of week six of the course.
Length requirement: not more than five (5) type written, double spaced pages.
Assignment three: A Case Study
A detailed description of what is required for this assignment will be handed out at end of
the sixth week of classes. The assignment will be due at of before the first class of week
ten of the course. It must be no longer than eight type written, double spaced pages.
Due date: This assignment is due at or before the first class in the tenth week of the course.
Maximum length: Not more than eight (8) type written, double spaced pages.
Final examination: The time and date of the final examination will be set by the University. It
is your responsibility to read the examination schedule and determine when and where the
examination will be held. The examination will be a closed book examination. You may bring
only pens to your desk at the examination.
Grading: A numerical grading system will be used which will be translated into letter grades at
the end of the course as follows: A+ = 90 to 100; A = 85-90; A- =80-85; B+ = 75-79; B = 7074; C+ = 65-69; C = 60-64; D+ = 55-59; D = 50-54; E = 40-50; F = 0-39.
Text Books to be purchased from the Bookstore
Philosophy 3500: Business Ethics -- Course Manual
Canadian Corporations and Social Responsibility (Canadian Development Report 1998)
Ed. Michelle Hibler and Rowena Beamish, Ottawa: The North-South Institute
(available from Renouf Publishing Co. ( www.renoufbooks.com).
Principles of Stakeholder Management, The Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics, Joseph
L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
Detailed outline of lecture topics
Week One: An introduction to Business Ethics
The first week of lectures and class discussion will look at what ethics is and why it
matters in business settings. The topic will be introduced from a business perspective.
Required Reading
“Overview”, Canadian Corporations and Social Responsibility, pp. 1-13.
Week two: The Business of Ethics and the Ethics of Business
What kinds of reasons lead business people to endorse an ethical code or commit to
ethical business practices? Three perspectives will be examined: self interested,
enlightened self interest and a principled, ethical or moral approach to business conduct.
An evaluation of the merits of each of these perspectives will be initiated.
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Required reading
“Teaching Business Ethics” (Course kit).
“The Corporate Stake in Social Responsibility”, Canadian Corporations and
Social Responsibility, pp 13-35.
Week Three: Stakeholders, Shareholders and the Modern Corporation
Stakeholders theory challenges the shareholder view of the obligations and
responsibilities of business. It takes the view that corporations have an obligation to deal
in an ethically principles fashion with all their stakeholders. In week four we examine
the growing impact of this approach to understanding the role of ethics in business.
Required reading:
"Shareholders, Stakeholders and the Modern Corporation" (Course Manual)
“A risk-based Model of Stakeholder Theory”, by Max Clarkson (Course Manual)
Week Four: Business Ethics and Social Contract Theory
What defines the relation between the modern corporation and the communities and
societies in which it operates? A number of influential commentators have suggested
that society gives corporations a licence to operate on the understanding that they will
enhance the quality of life of their stakeholders. This understanding is often described as
a social contract. In week four, we examine the history and development of this idea and
trace its influence on contemporary accounts of business ethics.
Required reading:
“Human Rights and Business Ethics: Fashioning a New Social Contract”
(Course Manual).
“Integrative Social Contracts Theory: A Communitarian Conception of Economic
Ethics” by Thomas Donaldson and Thomas Dunfee (Course Manual).
Week Five: Corporate Governance, The Corporations Act and Corporate Social
Responsibility.
The shareholder theory of corporate governance says that a corporation’s only
responsibility is to its owners or shareholders. Judicial interpretations in Canada, the
United States and Great Britain of corporate law have similar implications. What does
this view imply for corporate social responsibility? Is the law outdated? Should Canada
follow the lead of a number of American states and build a wider definition of corporate
responsibility into statute law? Does it make sense to hold organizations like
corporations, as opposed to individuals, for example managers or members of Boards of
Directors, morally responsible such that they are capable of forming criminal intent? We
address these questions in the light of debates currently under way in Canada, and in the
OECD and its member states.
Required reading
“The Corporation as a Moral Person”, Peter French (course manual)
Principles of Stakeholder Management (course text)
Week Six: Globalization, Deregulation and the Emergence of Codes of Ethics.
Ten years ago, only a minority of Canadian companies had codes of ethics. Today, ethics
codes are a standard feature of corporate policy. What has motivated this change? What
are the standard features of these codes? How are they justified? In week six we
examine this phenomenon and assess its significance.
Required reading
Principles of Stakeholder Management (Course text)
“Overview” (pp. 1-13), “The Corporate Stake in Social Responsibility” (pp. 1335) and “Ethics in the Marketplace” (pp. 55-73), in Canadian Corporations
and Social Responsibility
Week Seven: Voluntary Codes and the Global Market Place.
Contemporary managers work in a global environment. This is true even if they do not
business outside of Canada. Are there ethical values that are common to the many
different cultures a individuals, corporations or other kinds of organizations are likely to
encounter as they do business in a global marketplace? Are there universal moral values
that can provide the justification for codes of ethics governing the international
operations of multi national corporations, international institutions, governments or
INGO’s? Is the appearance of international codes another expression of western cultural
imperialism? We address these questions in week seven of the course.
Required reading
Review:
Principles of Stakeholder Management
“Integrative Social Contracts Theory”, Course Manual
“Overview” and Chapters One and Three of Canadian Corporations and
Social Responsibility.
Week Eight: Bribery and Corruption, a Test Case.
Bribery is widespread in international business. Until recently, it was accepted as simply
the cost of doing business in foreign countries. Increasingly, this view is being
challenged. International conventions have come into existence calling on signatories to
criminalize the bribery of foreign public officials. We shall look at these developments
as a way of evaluating the thesis that there are some universal ethical standards that
should be respected by companies and business people where ever they do business
around the globe.
Required reading
"Business, globalization and the logic and ethics of corruption" (Course
manual)
Week Nine: Building an Ethical Work Environment
It is one thing to create codes and argue for uniform ethical standard for business. It is
quite another thing to put sound ethical principles into action. How do corporations
ensure that their employees and agents do business on behalf of their employer ethically?
Leading corporations have attempted to answer this question by putting in place ethics
programs. We examine these programs and evaluate their effectiveness in week nine.
Required reading
“Codes of Conduct for Global Business: Prospects and Challenges of
Implementation”, Principles of Stakeholder Management, pp. 9-21.
Week Ten: Social and Ethics Audits.
Corporations that have codes of ethics are under increasing pressure from the public at
large, from governments and from the courts to prove that their ethics codes and ethics
programs are effective. In response to these pressures, leading corporations have entered
into partnerships with NGO’s (not for profit, voluntary sector non governmental
organizations) and governments with a view to creating auditing standards that can then
be used to verify their commitment to putting their ethical values into action. Attention
increasingly is being turned to what is called the “triple bottom line”. What is this “triple
bottom line”? Where does the idea originate? In week ten, we address these questions.
Required Reading
“Making Economies Serve People”, Canadian Corporations and Social
Responsibility, Chapter Two, pp. 35-55.
Week Eleven: Business and the Challenge of Sustainable Development.
Sustainability has become a benchmark of corporate social responsibility. What are the
origins of this idea? How is it being applied? We examine these questions in the context
of attempts by leading companies in the mining industry to build principles of sustainable
development into their operations.
Required reading
“Beyond Best Practice: the mining sector”, Canadian Corporations and Social
Responsibility, Chapter Four, pp. 73-91.
“Pursuing Sustainable Development, Canadian Corporations and Social
Responsibility, Chapter Five, pp. 91-109.
Week Twelve: A case study
We will spend this week analysing a case that will be introduced as the course
progresses.
Week Thirteen: Review
In our last week, we will return to the question with which the course was introduced.
What is the role of ethics in business in the contemporary market place? Addressing this
question will allow us to review the ideas, concepts, skills and insights that have emerged
from discussions over the previous twelve weeks.
Please note: You are responsible for the readings indicated. Other materials will be handed out
in class. And you will be asked to consult relevant web sites. Not all the material you are asked
to read or consult will be covered in detail in class lectures or discussion. You are nonetheless
responsible for the readings for assignment and examination purposes. In all cases, it provides
important background information or discussion of ideas being analysed or it provides more in
depth examination of those ideas than can be undertaken in the time available in a class setting.