BUSINESS ETHICS SMPP 291
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Professor: Office: Hours: Phone: E-mail: Timothy L. Fort 615M Funger Hall Thursdays 11:30-12:30 202-994-7872 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 highlevel 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 crosscultural 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
Jan. 25
and then look for the article under the above title. http://www.darden.virginia.edu/corporate-ethics/bridgepapers.htm 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 Mar. 29 Discussion of Tolkien & Gandhi 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 May 5 Quiz and Final Class: Karamazov 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.