BUSINESS ETHICS
SMPP 291
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Professor: Timothy L. Fort
Office: 615M Funger Hall
Hours: Thursdays 11:30-12:30
Phone: 202-994-7872
E-mail: timfort@gwu.edu
COURSE MATERIALS
The main required text is my book Ethics and Governance: Business as
Mediating Institution (Oxford, 2001). A copy of it is on reserve at Gelman. There will
also be occasional additional reading materials that are either handed out in class or
posted on the course’s website. Nearly all of the readings assigned for each class will be
through handouts or via Internet-based access (URLs, Blackboard). The book is a high-
level read and I don’t want to swamp you with it at the beginning of the class. However,
after your have some familiarity with the concepts, then the book becomes something that
you can tackle. Accordingly, for the first submission of your paper, you will be asked to
follow the six-step moral reasoning process based on the materials presented during the
first part of the class. For the revised paper, you will be asked to combine all materials in
the class, from discussions, cases, and readings not covered specifically in the class,
which will include the book.
COURSE GOALS
The goals of the course are (1) to clarify values, (2) to create ethical awareness,
(3) to develop a moral decision-making process, and (4) to learn the central steps in
creating ethical business communities that tend to enhance peace and security.
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING
The first paper is due on January 22 via e-mail by midnight. I prefer that you
simply write an e-mail description rather than attaching a paper. A description of the
paper appears at the end of the syllabus. It is worth 10% of your final grade. A research
paper, which can be done individually or in groups, is due on May5. It is worth 40%.
25% of your grade will come through your mid-term paper and your presentation of it to
the class. 25% of your grade will come from your attendance and participation. This will
include the submission of response papers to two of the presentations made by other
students. I expect attendance in class and for materials to be prepared in advance. I also
expect participation in the class. Do not refrain from participating if English is not your
native language. In my experience, many of the best discussions come from cross-
cultural comparisons of ethical perspectives. If the language is difficult, it is the
responsibility of the class to listen more closely. If the class does not, it will answer to
me.
It is not likely that I will attempt to embarrass an unprepared student talking in
class, but I will note the conduct (as I will note other conduct not conducive to
community dialogue) and consider it in calculating this grade. I generally do not use quiz
except for the very last class session. It is brief.
In borderline situations, I retain the discretion to make an overall assessment of
your performance in the class.
COURSE SCHEDULE
You should know that films are essential to the course. The most natural way for
people to communicate about ethics is to tell stories. Good literature and film can
contribute tremendously. Two assigned films are readily available in video stores.
Watching them counts partially as a meeting time and partially as preparation. There will
be a quiz on each film that counts as part of your participation grade. Do not take likely
the impact that such quizzes can have on your grade! We will also close with a film, The
Brothers Karamazov. I am working out details on how best to show that film, which will
also have a quiz, and will do so in conjunction with talking with the class.
You should also note that we will have student presentations on papers. At a
minimum, you will post your paper for discussion on Blackboard. If I can figure out the
technology, we may also have students video-record your presentation – about 30
minutes – and post your presentation onto the web. Either way, we will then we will
have an online discussion of the papers. The paper/presentations will begin after Spring
Break. These presentations and the dialogue from everyone concerning the presentations
are critical to your presentation/paper and your participation grades.
These two additional items – films and presentations – allow us to meet School,
University, and AACSB requirements for contact hours. My hope is and experience has
been that these means add an enhanced dimension to the class as well.
INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL FRAMEWORKS
Jan. 18 The Nature of Moral Problems
Reading: Margolis, Walsh & Stewart, Building The Case for
Ethics. You can get this reading, and some others for the course at
the Business Roundtable Ethics Website. Go to the URL below
and then look for the article under the above title.
http://www.darden.virginia.edu/corporate-ethics/bridgepapers.htm
Jan. 25 The Shareholder Theory of Ethical Business Behavior
Reading: Wrigley v Shlensky at
http://law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/thompson/corpcasebook/shlensky
.htm
and Dodge v Ford at
http://law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/thompson/corpcasebook/dodge.htm
(These are one-page websites with some facts about the case. You
don’t need to read the actual legal case. I’ll tell you about that in
class. Just read these brief set of background facts. You do not
need to click on the links listed on the webpage.)
Feb. 1 Shareholder Theory, con’t
Green Giant Relocates to Mexico at:
http://www.skepticfiles.org/conspire/greengia.htm
In class video
Feb. 8 Stakeholder Theory
Bring an Extra Cup of Coffee to Class!
Feb. 15 Stakeholder Theory
Reading: In-Class Video
Feb. 22 Stakeholder Theory Continued and the Decision Making Process
Reading: Messick, Bazerman, & Stewart, Avoiding Ethical Danger
Zones at the Business Roundtable Ethics Institute website
http://www.darden.virginia.edu/corporate-ethics/bridgepapers.htm
Mar. 1 Moral Imagination
Reading: Handout
Students A-G: Sarah Goodwin
Students H-N: George Kacmarek
Students O-Z: Susan Shapiro
Mar. 8 Sexual Harassment, Privacy & Other Workplace Issues
Reading: Handout; Dornhecker vs Malibu Grand Prix
Mar. 22 Discussion of Tolkien & Gandhi
Mar. 29 Business As Community
Reading: Freeman & Stewart, Developing Ethical Leadership
At Business Roundtable Ethics Institute website:
http://www.darden.virginia.edu/corporate-ethics/bridgepapers.htm
Apr. 5 Total Integrity Management
Reading: Hess, McWhorter, & Fort, Fostering a Culture of Trust
At Business Roundtable Ethics Institute website:
Freeman & Stewart, Developing Ethical Leadership
At Business Roundtable Ethics Institute website:
http://www.darden.virginia.edu/corporate-ethics/bridgepapers.htm
Apr. 12 Virtue Ethics and Corporate Responsibility
Reading: James Bay Project at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bay_Project
Apr. 19 The Peace Though Commerce Framework
Reading: Fort, The Peace Through Commerce Wrinkle posted on
Blackboard
The Brothers Karamazov available at
http://oak.itl.gwu.edu/facultyfiles/timfort/brosk.ram
Apr. 26 Quiz and Final Class: Karamazov
May 5 Final Paper Due
ASSIGNMENT FOR PAPER #1
Tell me about an action that someone you personally know did that you thought
was ethical and then tell me why it was ethical. To complete the assignment, you must
address two parts:
1) What happened? You need not describe the event in substantial detail. At the
same time, you also need to include enough information so I can understand the nature of
the action. Usually, this part will not exceed one-half of one single-spaced page,
although it may extend further if necessary.
2) Why do you think the event or action was ethical? That begs three questions:
a) What is your definition of good? You should not simply assume that
everyone agrees with you idea of the good. So your idea can be
evaluated, you must define your notion of the good and articulate it
to another person (me). Feel free to draw upon your own
experiences, religion or study of philosophy in defining the good.
b) What is a strong objection to your vision of the good? Why would
someone reject your theory. Do not set up a “straw man” here.
Really think of a strong objection to your idea of the good.
Moreover be very careful to analyze the good you are defending
and not the goodness of the particular action. They are different
things.
c) Why is your theory still compelling?
The paper need not be more than two, single-spaced pages, although, if necessary,
it can be longer. It is due via e-mail by midnight on January 22. I prefer that you not use
an attachment for the paper, but simply have it as a part of an e-mail text.
One of the purposes of this paper is to show you that there are a great number of
ethical things occurring in life, including business, so that a person interested in being
ethical is “not alone.” Occasionally, I have had students who indicate never having seen
an ethical act in business. If you have that reaction, I encourage you to think through the
matter again because I think you will be able to come up with something. If you simply
cannot, let me know and we will talk. Another purpose of the paper is to really try to
identify what the good is. That’s rarely done by most people and it is difficult for any
constructive discussion of business ethics to occur without this.
Your papers are confidential. I do not share your stories without your permission
and I do not make copies. If your topic is sensitive, however, feel free to disguise the
identity of parties involved.
As an example, let me tell you the story I presented during my freshman year of
college when I received a variation of the assignment.
My father was an attorney in a very small town (population 800) in western
Illinois from 1949 until his death in 1998. When I was in high school, his secretary
looked out onto the street on a bitterly cold (wind-chill more than forty degrees below
zero) at the end of the workday to see a late, middle-aged man wandering the streets
without a coat. The man’s parents, with whom he lived, had very recently passed away
and he was now living alone. The man had done very little business with my father’s law
firm. Dad’s secretary brought him over to the office and my father, after calling my
mother, brought him out to the house for dinner.
The man was simply very depressed and frightened. He stayed overnight with us,
never even looking at my mother or me. He was afraid to return to his house because he
thought that someone had moved in and would kill him if he went back.
The next day, my father took him out to the house with an unloaded (unknown to
our guest) pistol. Together they searched every room of the house and its outlying
buildings (the house was located on a farm). Finally, convinced that it was safe, the man
agreed to stay at the house.
My father knew that the man had no one to talk to, so he decided to make sure the
man knew that someone was interested in him. Therefore, he called the man each
morning to make sure he was OK and to chat. That went on for five years. Gradually,
the man reintegrated himself into the community and had a quite happy life.
This story is only an example. Of course, this is just the “story part.” In fact,
when I received the assignment back, the professor had scrawled “what the hell is so
good about that!” across the bottom of the last page of my paper. You should anticipate
the same question. In addition to telling the story, tell me what is good about your story.
Let me be clear as to how you will be evaluated. I will not “pass judgment”
on whether your values are “good.” I do expect you to provide me with a principle
which justifies the good manifested by your story and then to provide a reasoned,
logical justification of that principle in the face of logical, important objections that
can be raised against that principle. Thus, in my story, the principle might be “one
should act to protect the vulnerable in society provided that in doing so, one does
not make others similarly vulnerable” and make objections to and defenses of that
principle. The argument would not be that my father helped someone in trouble
and people could object to whether or not he should have helped him. A principle is
the reason you know an action is good, so it is a concept that can be applied in other
similar cases.
I would appreciate your sending these papers via a regular e-mail message rather
than as an attachment.
RESEARCH PAPER
You should work in groups of up to three for the research paper. You may also
work on this individually. You should identify a complex moral problem in business
today that you believe was appropriately handled or a company is currently facing. My
very strong preference is that this has a significant technology dimension and that in the
moral issue (Part One of the Moral Reasoning Process), you specifically identify the
technological nature of the case. Then do library research on the case. The goal is to
conduct enough factual research so you fully understand the issue. Then apply the moral
reasoning process we used in class so that you can describe what was good about the
decision in normative terms. You will use the six-step Hosmer moral reasoning process
and apply three ethical frameworks: shareholder, stakeholder, and virtue.
I do not want to assign a specific length, but eight to twelve single-spaced pages is
a rough average for previously well-written papers. Of course, the ability to write
concisely is a major factor in determining whether eight pages are sufficient.
You will present your paper to the class via Blackboard and will need to be
prepared to respond to questions from your fellow students via the Blackboard
Discussion Board. Your paper needs to be posted to the course’s website no later than 48
hours prior to the time when your paper is scheduled to go online. I am open to having
actual presentations videotaped for discussion.
After you present the paper, you will revise it according to comments from
students as well as from me. Your final paper is due on May 5. Not only do I expect the
application of the framework, but to relate your case to the written materials from the
course. That particularly includes my book. In fact, the class is designed to give you a
primer on ethics through readings and class discussion. You will demonstrate your
knowledge of the moral reasoning process through the first paper and the presentation.
Then, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate a depth of knowledge by revising
your paper in light of your engagement with the other reading materials that we have not
specifically covered in class.