BUSINESS ETHICS: COURSE OUTLINE

Introduction to the Course

Ethics and Business Ethics

• Business Ethics (Jackson, Introduction)
• Nature of Ethics and Ethical Problems (Solomon, Introduction; Badaracco, Chs 1-3)
  • Three points of view for ethical decisions
  • Futility of Grand Principles
• Rules and virtues (Jackson, Chs 1-3; Badarraco, Ch 4 & 5)
  • Doing Right (Jackson Ch 2)
  • Doing Well (Jackson Ch 3)
  • SleepTest Ethics
    
• Debate #1: Does Ethics Matter in Business?

Business, the Common Good, Business and the Common Good

• The nature of business (Solomon, Part I)
  • Myths and Metaphors of Business
• Capitalism and Ethics (Solomon, Part II)
  • Greed: Is it Necessarily Bad? Notes from Video
• Defending Capitalism (Jackson, Ch 4)
• Debate #2: Does the market teach us Virtue?
• Management as a profession
• The nature of property

Business and the Human Person; Respecting Human Dignity

• What is a virtue?
  • Traditional lists of virtues: Aristotle, Franklin, Josephson; St. Thomas Aquinas
• Business as a school of virtue (Jackson, Chs 5 & 6)
  • Why act ethically in Business?
    1. The Short Comings of "Good Ethics is Good Business" (Jackson, Ch 4 (Notes on Chapter 6))
    2. Virtue is of rational concern to everyone (Jackson, Ch 5 (Notes on Chapter 5))
    3. Does Business life undermine the moral life? (Jackson, Ch 6 (Notes on Chapter))
• The language of Justice (Duties, rights, stakeholders) (Jackson Ch 7 (Notes on Chapter 7))
• Work and the person
• Responsibility and personal values (Badaracco, Ch 6)
• Video: Is Ethics based on Virtue?
• Virtue and Corporate Culture

Case analysis methodologies

Good practice

• The Concept of Good practice (Jackson Ch 8)
• Good practice inside the firm (Jackson, Ch 9)
  • Hiring and Firing
  • Sexual harassment
  • Corporate culture (Badaracco, Ch 7)
  • Debate #3: Does Blowing the Whistle Violate Company Loyalty?
• Good practice outside the firm (Jackson, Ch 10)
  • Customers
  • Communities
  • Advertising and marketing
  • Debate #4: Is Advertising Fundamentally Deceptive?
  • Negotiating with Society (Badaracco, Ch 8)
  • Shareholders and creditors
  • International business