Management Decision Making And Business Ethics, 7/15-18, University Of Montana Missoula

2005-07-15 10:00:00

University of Montana

Contact: Colleen Hunter, Program Coordinator 406-243-6605 [email protected]

Management Decision Making and Business Ethics

MBA 694 / PHIL 595

University of Montana

July 15-18, 2005

Professor Andy Wicks

For Complete information and registraton forms: http://www2.umt.edu/ethics/courses/summer_courses.htm#business

This course is devoted to helping you reason about ethics in the context of a business environment that is complex, dynamic, and increasingly global in scope. The focus of the course will be to identify some of the most pressing, difficult, and recurrent problems that managers confront.

This course is different from other modules in many ways. As such, your expectations need to be tailored to the nature of the subject. There will be many difficult and seemingly intractable problems that have no clear or easy resolution, yet they cannot be overlooked or dismissed without risking even graver consequences for oneself and the organization. Unlike the approaches taken in more quantitative courses, there will not be specific rules or procedures for deriving correct answers. Instead, the course will attempt to hone your capacity to make judgments, to identify and discuss a range of ethical issues that occur in business, and develop a way to think about ethics and business that allows you to effectively approach and resolve such problems within a larger framework of managerial decision-making. While addressing and resolving these problems is vital to success as a manager, success in this class will depend on how well you utilize the skills and insights of approaching ethical issues, rather than on the number of problems you "solve" or on which the class reaches agreement. Indeed, because of the contentious and complex nature of these issues, there will be many classes where there will be no consensus or clear resolution to a given case.

The course is also not about making up for whatever perceived moral shortcomings the public senses in the character of business people: the course does not aim to show you how to be a "good" person or convince you that managers and corporations should be nice. Instead, we will ask hard questions about the nature of the corporation, its priorities and obligations, and the unique moral challenges managers face. As Tolstoy once remarked, ethics is about "what we should do and how we should live." It involves thoughtful and honest reflection on our actions: both those decisions that affect others as well as the choices we make for ourselves. Since there are few easy answers to these problems, and we all have a stake in deciding "what we should do and how we should live," I see the chance for you to converse with your classmates about these matters as one of the most important and valuable aspects of this course.

Course Objectives:

1. To develop a set of conceptual and vocabulary tools to help identify, analyze and discuss ethical issues that arise in a business setting.

2. To better appreciate the ethical implications of business activity and the importance of values to business success. More specifically, to examine the role of ethics in business decision-making and to develop a management perspective which enables you to talk about decisions in ethical terms.

3. To explore the relationship between ethics and organizational culture, authority structures, management philosophy, and the priorities of the firm. In particular, to learn how these facets of organizations can be shaped to help prevent/resolve ethical problems.

4. To examine your own ethical commitments alongside those of your peers and gain experience working with others to reflect on and resolve ethical problems.

Course Format: There will be a premium on class discussion and situating topics in the context of your experiences and those of other managers. There will be no lectures. We will focus each class on a case or set of cases that will often be supplemented by other readings. The cases are intended to focus discussions of ethics on real managerial situations. This approach derives from two insights: first, that ethics, at its best, is an engaging conversation about complex problems which helps us to make sound decisions; second, that the ultimate resolution of ethical problems results from a group process of discussion, investigation, and analysis with others.

The cases are drawn from a range of industries and illustrate an array of ethical issues. While this breadth means we will only scratch the surface of many complex issues (e.g. diversity, the environment, etc.) it will serve the larger purpose of helping to create a conceptual framework where you can see the interrelation of ethics and business. The purpose of the case studies is not to criticize a firm for its behavior–indeed, several of the cases involve firms that undertake quite laudable action–but rather to offer you realistic scenarios that raise complex and relevant problems which managers face.

I see this course as a rich opportunity for you to reflect on what you are learning and how you will use it to shape your career. I am committed to helping make this as interesting and challenging a course as possible. As such, I remain open to your suggestions to improve the course and better realize the course objectives.

Evaluation: You will be evaluated on the following criteria:

a.Class Participation [35%]: Class participation is extremely important to the success of the class. As such, you should come to class well prepared and ready to contribute. Discussion will be evaluated on both the quality and quantity of your contribution, although I will focus more on the former than the latter [thus, it is not in your interest to speak merely for the sake of doing so]. While I will take measures to help make sure everyone participates this grade is determined largely by your own initiative.

b.Team Cases [25%]: Each team will jointly create a case–based on events either hypothetical or from your experiences–which they think will make for a compelling class discussion of business ethics [note: "real" cases should consider disguising the actual facts in the case, such as the company name, location, names of persons involved, etc.].

c.Final Exam [40%]: The final exam will be a take home case analysis, much like the analysis we have done in class. You will be asked to analyze a case problem using the tools we discussed in class, make a recommendation, and then provide a developed rationale to justify the decision you make.

Schedule

July 15

10-11:30 Introduction to the Course: What is Ethics? What is Business?

The Friedman v. Freeman Debate
“The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits,” by
Milton Friedman; “A Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation,” by R. E. Freeman.

11:30-11:45 Break

11:45-1 The Case of the Found Folder
Handout on Ethical Theory
A Note on Ethical Decision-Making

1-2 Lunch

2-3:30 Team Meeting: initial case development meeting and Merck case prep

3:30-3:45 Break

3:45-5 Merck and Co., Inc.

July 16

8-9:30 Simulation Discussion

9:30-9:45 Break

9:45-11 Simulation Discussion

11-11:15 Break

11:15-12:30 Marge Norman and Miniscribe

12:30-1:30 Lunch

1:30-3 Obedience film (VHS) and Discussion

3-3:15 Break

3:15-5 Sexual Harassment and Gender in the Workplace
Foreign Assignment; Susan Woods;

Professor Emma Pover; Fred Smith; A Note on Sexual Harassment

July 17

8-9:30 Davis Press and Meccan Madness; Note on Islam

9:30-9:45 Break

9:45-11 Business Ethics: A View From the Trenches, Badaracco
Managing for Organizational Integrity, Paine

11-11:15 Break

11:15-12:30 Bribery in International Business:

Questionable Payments;A Note on Questionable Payments in Business

12:30-1:30 Lunch

1:30-3 Team Meeting: Case Development and prep for ExxonMobil case

3-3:15 Break

3:15-5 ExxonMobil and the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline

July 18

8-9:30 Danville Airlines

9:30-9:45 Break

9:45-11 Team Cases

11-11:15 Break

11:15-12:30 Team Cases

12:30-1:30 Lunch

1:30-3 Team Cases

3-3:15 Break

3:15-5 Exam Prep and Closing Comments

Colleen Hunter, Program Coordinator

Practical Ethics Center

The University of Montana

Missoula, MT 59812-2808

406-243-6605, 406-243-6633 (fax)

http://www.umt.edu/ethics