TR 9:30 (03) & 11:00 (04) - 403VLW
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Instructor Contact Information
Office Hours
Textbook & Course
Materials
Course Description
Course Goals and Objectives
Course Requirements
Important Notes Regarding Tests
Attendance
Students with Disabilities
Course Strategies
Additional
Reading
Syllabus
COURSE AND CONTACT INFORMATION
| INSTRUCTOR | Dr. J. Brooke Hamilton, III. |
| OFFICE | O.K. Allen 107 |
| PHONE | Office: 318/482-6427
Home: 318/235-6791 (leave a message) |
| OFFICE HOURS | TR 12:30-3:30 p.m; FRI 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Others by appointment |
| TEXTBOOK | Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases (Fourth Edition), Manuel G. Velasquez. (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall,1997). |
| ADDITIONAL COURSE MATERIAL | On reserve in the library.
Class Notes packet at CompuCopy & Hard Copy and on this Web site. |
The purpose of this course is to give you some basic tools for thinking through ethical problems that arise in professional life. Decision principles will be taken from the utilitarian approach, Kant's ethical principles, and the approaches based on rights and justice.
You will practice using these conceptual tools by discussing contemporary ethical issues, with a primary emphasis on those which arise in business on the personal level. Corporate and systemic level questions will also be discussed.
No prerequisites but Junior or Senior standing strongly recommended.
Specific learning objectives are provided so that you will have no trouble identifying what you will be responsible to know. By the end of the course, you should be able to explain the following concepts in their own words and apply them to the analysis of cases involving ethical situations:
IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING TESTS:
The two or three exam grades will be averaged together. No grades will be dropped. Exams will be essay exams based on case analysis.
Because of the time it takes to grade essay exams and because of the large number of students in two sections of the course, exams will not be returned the period following the exam.
Makeup exams will be available if you are unfortunate enough to miss an exam for a legitimate reason.
A ten point grading scale will be used for letter grades.
Anyone found cheating on assignments or exams will be dropped from the class and assigned a grade of F for the course.
You are responsible for all material covered in class even if you are absent from class and are responsible for all assigned reading whether or not it is discussed in class.
Because of the discussion format, attendance is required. You are allowed 4 absences, either excused or unexcused, after which each additional absence will subtract one point from your final average.
Please do not enter the class more than 10 minutes after class has started since this entry breaks the flow of the discussion. After 10 minutes, you will be counted as absent.
If you come in after roll is taken, it is your responsibility to remind me after class that you are marked present. Any claims at the end of the semester that you were present on the days you were marked absent will be heard with a great deal of sympathy but no change in the roll.
Students requiring special arrangements for examinations must notify the teacher at the beginning of the semester and at least one week before each exam during the semester.
For emergency evacuation procedures, a map of this floor is posted near the elevator marking the evacuation route and the Designated Rescue Area. This is an area where emergency service personnel will go first to look for individuals who need assistance in exiting the building. Students who may need assistance should identify themselves to the teaching faculty.
The discussion of these chapters will be case driven: read the case first and consider the discussion questions after the case. Then read the chapter to find conceptual tools needed to answer the questions. Class time will not be spent reviewing point by point what is presented in the textbook. Some time during most class periods will be devoted to small group discussions of particular questions about the case or the concepts needed to discuss the case. These small group discussions give each student a chance to participate and have been shown to greatly enhance the learning of the material. It is important that you read the case and the chapter before coming to class or you will not know what the discussion is about.
As can be seen from the learning techniques discussed above, this class is not aimed at the rote learning level where students are asked to learn and repeat what is learned, or at the recognition level where students simply recognize the correct answer from among several possibilities on a multiple choice test. We are aiming for the understanding-application level were students understand the ideas discussed and are able to apply them in new situations which have not been discussed. Retention at this level of learning is considerably higher than at the rote or recognition levels.
You will be encouraged to participate in class discussions through the small groups and by being asked specific questions by the instructor. Introverts who would like a short time to think before responding can simply hold up an open hand toward the instructor who will give then briefly distract the rest of the class while they are thinking. Since not all students come to class 100% prepared all the time, students may avoid embarrassment to themselves and their classmates by simply saying "Pass" when asked a question they are not prepared to answer. Students should be aware that saying "Pass" too many times is probably a good indication that they will not do that in the course.
For additional help in understanding the material presented in the class, several books are on reserve which cover these topics. Use the index or table of contents to locate the subject matter you wish help with. Often reading about a subject as it is explained by different authors will help you to understand it better.
Boatright, J.R.: 1993, Ethics and the Conduct of Business (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey).
DeGeorge, R.T.: 1990, Business Ethics (Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, New York).
Rachaels, J.: 1986, The Elements of Moral Philosophy (McGraw-Hill, New York).
Please Note
You are assumed to have read and accepted the information in the syllabus unless objection is made before the second week of class and the syllabus is changed. The instructor may change the course requirements and schedule as necessary, with changes announced in class.
If a case is assigned, read the case first and then consult the chapter for conceptual tools to help analyze the case.
Abbreviation Key
"V: " page references are to Velasquez' 4th edition
"N:" is Class Notes
"R:"
indicates Articles on Reserve in the Library.
Course Outline
January 15
Chapter 1: Ethics & Moral Reasoning
Introduction - Discussion of
Syllabus
January 20
Merk & River Blindness
B.F. Goodrich & the Air Force Brake
1.1- Nature
of Business Ethics V: 1-18, N: 1-5.
January 22
1.2-Moral Development V: 24-30
Kohlberg & Gilligan N: 5-8.
Moral
Reasoning V: 30-35.
For & Against Bus. Ethics V: 35-43.
January 27
Religion based ethics
N: 10-12.
January 29
Ch 2. Ethical Principles in Business, N: 12-17.
Caltex Oil, V: 67-70
Nice &
Trim - video
Utilitarian principle: maximize happiness V: 72-85, N: 19-21.
February 3
Maximize happiness continued: The Welfare Study N: 18-19.
February 5
Kant's three principles, V: 93-95.
K-1:Don't make exceptions for self
(universalize & reverse).
N: 21-22
February 10
K-1 continued
K-2: Let others make their own choices (information and
freedom).
V: 95-97, N: 22-23.
February 12
K-2: continued
K-3: Publicity test.
N: 23.
February 17
Coca-Cola in Guatemala V: 85-87.
A Right to Bury My Garbage N:
23.
Rights: Respect others' rights V: 85-93, N: 23-27, V: 97-102.
February 19
Justice & fairness: Veil of Ignorance
Rawls' Principles: maximum liberty, aid
least advantaged, equal opportunity V: 102-120, N: 27-28.
February 24
Mardi Gras! Enjoy!!
February 26 Group Study Day
Cosmer's Dilemma, Murphy Brown, N: 46-47.
March 3
Review Brown & Cosmer results.
Malden Mills, V.120-121.
Ethics of Care:
Exercise caring, V: 122-126.
March 5
Integrating these rules.
V:127-130.
Case review.
March 10
Case review continued.
March 12
1st EXAM
March 17
Exam post mortem
Exams will not be handed back today. See Important Notes Regarding Tests , above.
1.2 - Moral Responsibility
p. 31-45.
Excuses, N: 28-31, V:43-52
March 19
Organizational blocks to ethical conduct N: 31-33.
Waters (1978): "Catch 20.5:
Corporate Morality as an Organizational Phenomenon," (R).
General Electric Prices V:
238-245.
March 24
Excuses and Organizational Blocks continued
Paine (1994): "Managing for
Organizational Integrity." HBR, 72 (2), p.106-117 (R).
March 26
Moral Standards for Multinationals
H.B.Fuller, V:58-663
Pepsi,
V:159-163.
Multinationals V: 18-24,139-143.
Donaldson "Moral Minimums for
Multinationals,"(R), N: 33-37.
March 31
DeGeorge, "International Business Ethics and Capitalism," S.B.E. 1994 (R).
N:
38 & 39-40.
April 2
A Japanese Bribe V:245-248, 231-232.
Cummins Principles N: 38-39.
April 7
Case day for multinational ethics.
April 9
Easter Holidays! Enjoy!!
April 14
Review
April 16
2nd Exam
April 21
Ethics of consumer protection & marketing: Contract, due care, and social costs views of duties to consumers V: 318-341, N: 40-43.
April 23
Truth Telling & Disclosure
Bill Moyers Video in class
April 28
2nd exam returned.
Review for optional exam #2
April 30
Review for optional exam #1
Optional Exam: (9:30 sec.) Wednesday, May 7th: 8:00 a.m.