Course Outline

2011
Mgmt 331: Business Ethics(15 POINTS)

Semester 1

Course Prescription

An examination of ethical issues which arise in business contexts. Several frameworks for
resolving such issues are presented. Three main areas are covered: ethical dilemmas
facing individuals in organisations, ethical issues for organisations and fundamental
questions about the ethical nature of business.

Programme and Course Advice

Pre-requisite : MGMT 231

Goals of the Course

This course aims to create a lively and open space within which students can develop a
deeper and more integrated understanding of personal, institutional and cultural ethics
and the dynamics that exist between these domains.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course it is expected that the student will be able to:

1. Identify more clearly where, when and how ethical issues arise in business
2. Suggest creative solutions to ethical problems that are consistent, defensible and
adaptive both personally and professionally
3. Understand the nature of their own values and how these relate to personal action
4. Understand major ethical theories and how they apply to everyday decisions
5. Have a clearer vision of what a better society might look like and how business
might contribute to its emergence
6. Engage improved communication skills and work more functionally as members of
constructive teams.

Content Outline

The course will cover a lot of ground in an attempt to broaden and deepen student’s
abilities to identify and resolve some of the critical challenges that business faces as we
look towards a changing future. We will be engaging discussions of personal values,
business practice, ecological context, cultural dynamics and psycho-social processes in an
attempt to build resilient understandings of a complex nature. We will do this by moving
sequentially through a series of exercises and focussed debates designed to prompt on-
going discussion, reading and research.

Theme 1. The Future.

We will begin the course by establishing what it is we believe a better future might look
like and the personal qualities (or virtues) necessary to get us there. We will then look at
how the social and economic context is facilitating or debilitating the attainment of these
outcomes. A range of targeted exercises and discussions will help clarify many of these
issues. The point of this learning is supply us with a robust framework within which we
can evaluate a range of business and personal practices.

Theme 2: The Dynamics of Business.

Having identified the common ground of values that the class wishes to see actualised,
we will look in detail at a range of business functions in an attempt to critically discern
where, when and why business performs well and poorly on ethical dimensions. These
judgements will be increasingly informed by readings, materials students are asked to
contribute, by open discussion and by the values we agree on as being of critical
importance in building a better world. As we consider a range of business functions from
procurement to waste-disposal we will be working to find defensible and articulate
viewpoints that stand up to scrutiny and applied analysis.

Theme 3: Proposing an Ethical Model of Business.

We will build upon our discussions of social ideals, personal values and business
functioning to work towards proposing practical forms of business that could be seen as
being truly ethically progressive. For this block of material students will work in groups to
identify new models of business which could be developed and which could contribute to
building a better future. These will be compared with and informed by a range of positive
forms already in place at the most progressive edge of business practice.

Learning and Teaching

The content referred to above is only part of this course and major emphasis will be
placed on the process of developing adequate perspective. As a third year course this
class should involve us in active as opposed to merely passive learning and the set up of
questions, themes and exercises is aimed at encouraging students to voice their opinions
and assumptions openly and constructively. This is then designed as a collaborative
learning experience through which students will help each other to develop resilient and
defensible perspectives on ethics. It will not be a class dominated by silent note-taking
and uni-directional monologue from the front.

In order to encourage engagement a series of exercises and discussion topics will be

coordinated and these will involve students in a constant series of activities. It is very
strongly recommended that all participating in this class realise the structured demands
of sequential learning and reserve six hours per week for out of class work. This may be
reading, writing, discussing or doing exercises and given the collaborative nature of the
class, this commitment is key for an optimal learning experience.

The group will be working in a constantly responsive mode whereby we will build upon
preceding discussions to direct our energies in constructive ways. This flexibility means
that there can be no rigid pre-ordering of what will be talked about on any particular day.
Rather, the essential themes will be woven together constructively as we follow
discussions and interests raised by the members of the class. All of the above will be
covered but exactly when depends on the particular dynamics of the group.

Teaching Staff

Dr Rachel Wolfgramm, Senior Lecturer, Management and International Business,

University of Auckland Business School
Office : Rm 467, Level 4, Owen G Glenn Building, 12 Grafton Road
Tel : 373-7599 (extn. 84847)
E-mail r.wolfgramm@auckland.ac.nz
Learning Resources

There is no set textbook for this course. However, some course material will be drawn
from:
Ferrell, O.C., Fraedich, J., Ferrell, L (2011) Business Ethics, Ethical Decision making and
cases, 8th Edition, Cengage, South Western, USA
A resource library of readings and other resources will be made available through CECIL.

Assessment

Assessment for this class will be broken into three sections. All assessment is internal,
each component aims to facilitate the outcomes identified previously and there is no final
examination. Instead we will be assessing on the following basis

1) Formal essay 40%

2) In-class presentations 20%
3) Final take-home test 40%

The specifics and timings of these will be fixed in agreement with the class and
formalised in week 2 of teaching. Taken together these assessments will facilitate all of
the learning outcomes specified above.