SUMMARY SYLLABUS

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

Academic Year 2010-2011 Prof. Antonino Vaccaro

1st Trimester E-mail: vaccaro@lisboa.ucp.pt

Why do Ethics matter in business? What are the ethical responsibilities associated with
being a manager, an accountant or a financial trader? What are the main
communalities and differences of recent corporate scandals such as Enron, Parmalat,
Nestle and Nike? Is it possible to adopt individual and organizational strategies to
prevent new ones? Are your ideas related to ‘being an ethical manager’ compatible with
the real day-to-day life in professional practice?

This course will assist students to answer such questions through the analysis of ethical
issues and dilemmas in the context of business, financial and accounting professional
practice. Alternative theories on how to act ethically in global environments will be
presented. Perspectives will include professional and applied ethics, law, public policy,
organizational design, strategy, and organizational behavior. The course will be equally
divided in the presentation of applied ethics theories in support of managerial and
professional decision making and in the analysis and discussion of controversial
corporate scandals such as Enron, Nestle, Nike and Union Carbide.

Outline of the Course

Class 1: Introduction. A short History of Ethics. Business Ethics, an Oxymoron?

Suggested Readings

1. João César das Neves, INTRODUÇÃO À ÉTICA EMPRESARIAL, Principia, 2008.

pp, 13-38.

2. Andrew Crane, Dirk Matten. 2008. Business Ethics Managing Corporate Citizenship
and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization Second Edition. Oxford University Press.
Chapter 1.

3. Lloyd Sandelands. The Business of Business is the Human Person: Lessons from the
Catholic Social Tradition. Journal of Business Ethics. 2008. DOI 10.1007/s10551-008-
9751-y
Class 2: Corporate Social Responsibility

Suggested Reading

1. João César das Neves, INTRODUÇÃO À ÉTICA EMPRESARIAL, Principia, 2008.

pp, 411- 458

Class 3: Case study – Enron, Role of Professionals in the Enron Debacle

Reading

1. Ashish Nanda. Broken Trust: Role of Professionals in the Enron Debacle. HBS Case
Study 9-903-084

Class 4: Normative Ethical Theories.

Suggested Readings

1. João César das Neves, INTRODUÇÃO À ÉTICA EMPRESARIAL, Principia, 2008,

pp. 92-132

2. Andrew Crane, Dirk Matten. 2008. Business Ethics Managing Corporate Citizenship
and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization Second Edition. Oxford University Press.
Chapter 3.

Class 5: Case Study – The Bhopal Disaster

Reading

1. Suzanne Hull, Julia Kou. Union Carbide’s Bhopal Plant (A). HBS Case Study 9-795-
070.

Class 6: Descriptive Ethical Theories

Suggested Reading

1. Andrew Crane, Dirk Matten. 2008. Business Ethics Managing Corporate Citizenship
and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization Second Edition. Oxford University Press.
Chapter 4.
Class 7: Employees and Business Ethics

Suggested Readings

1. João César das Neves, INTRODUÇÃO À ÉTICA EMPRESARIAL, Principia, 2008.

pp. 298-327.

2. Linda Treviño, Brown, M.E. 2004. Managing to be ethical: Debunking five business
ethics myths. The Academy of Management executive. 18(2), 69 -81.

3. Harold Hassink, Meinderd de Vries, Laury Bollen. 2007. A Content Analysis of

Whistleblowing Policies of Leading European
Companies. Journal of Business Ethics, 75:25–44

Class 8: Case Study – IKEA Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugas and Child
Labor

Reading

1. Christopher A. Barltlett, Vincent Dessain, Anders Sjoman. IKEA’s Global Sourcing

Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A). HBS Case Study 9-906-414.

Class 9: Consumers and Business Ethics; Suppliers, Competitors, and Business

Ethics

Suggested Reading

1. João César das Neves, INTRODUÇÃO À ÉTICA EMPRESARIAL, Principia, 2008.

pp, 247-277.

Class 10: Ethics in Technology and Innovation

Readings

1. Martin Sandbu, Jeisun Wen 2007. Dicing with Death? A case study of Guidant
Corporation’s implantable defibrillator business. Wharton Case Study Working Paper.

2. Debora Spar, Where Babies come from, Harvard Business Review, 2006, Reprint
R06002h

Class 11: Case Study – Death, and Property Rights: The Pharmaceutical Industry
Faces AIDS
Reading

1. Debora Spar and Nicholas Bartelett. Death, and Property Rights: The
Pharmaceutical Industry Faces AIDS (A), HBS Case Study

Class 12: Ethics in Marketing and Conclusions

1. João César das Neves, INTRODUÇÃO À ÉTICA EMPRESARIAL, Principia, 2008.

pp, 379-409.

Grading

Grades will be based upon the following:

Class participation 20%
Final exam (Closed book) 80%.

Blogs

Here is a list of blogs of top scholars and consultants that work in Business Ethics and
Corporate Social Responsibility. Please, do not forget to look at them! They are a
source of fresh ideas and a very good thermometer of what’s going on. We will use
them in class for discussion and comparison with the insights of the readings.

1. The Business Ethics Blog by Chris MacDonald

http://www.businessethicsblog.com/

2. Crane and Matten Blog by Andrew Crane and Dirk Matten

http://craneandmatten.blogspot.com/

3. Philosophy of Information Blog by Luciano Floridi

http://www.philosophyofinformation.net/blog/index.html

4. Ethical Corporate Blog

http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content_list.asp?m=ct&ct=64

Additional Readings
I do not expect you will have time to study these additional readings. But, if you suffer
from insomnia ...or you want to deepen your understanding of a specific topic, here is a
list of very interesting articles and books. You fill find them divided according to the
structure of the course. Should you need additional readings...please do not hesitate to
contact your instructor!
Class 1

1. MacIntyre, Alasdair (1998) A Short History of Ethics, 2nd edition, University of Notre
Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana.

2. Donaldson, T. 1989. The Ethics of International Business. Oxford University Press.

3. De George R.T. 1994. International Business Ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly 4(1),
1-9.

Class 2

1.Malcom Salter. Innovation Corrupted. The Origins and Legacy of Enron's Collapse.
Harvard University Press, 2008.

2. Sims R.R., Brinkmann J., 2003. Enron Ethics (Or: Culture Matters More than Codes),
Journal of Business Ethics, 45(3), 243-256.

Class 3
Brandt, R. Ethical theory: The problems of normative and critical ethics. Prentice Hall,
1959.
Class 4

Andrew Crane, Dirk Matten. 2008. Business Ethics Managing Corporate Citizenship and
Sustainability in the Age of Globalization Second Edition. Oxford University Press.
Chapter 6.

Class 5.

1. Broughton, E. 2005. The Bhopal Disaster and its aftermath: a review, Environmental
Health 4(6), 1-6.
2. Bhopal Information Center, http://www.bhopal.com

Class 6

Andrew Crane, Dirk Matten. 2008. Business Ethics Managing Corporate Citizenship and
Sustainability in the Age of Globalization Second Edition. Oxford University Press.
chapter 7 and chapter 8.

Class 7

Andrew Crane, Dirk Matten. 2008. Business Ethics Managing Corporate Citizenship and
Sustainability in the Age of Globalization Second Edition. Oxford University Press.
chapter 9 and chapter 10.

Class 8

Christopher A. Barltlett, Vincent Dessain, Anders Sjoman IKEA’s Global Sourcing

Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (B). HBS Case Study, 2006.

Class 9

1. Leonard J. Brooks. Business and Professional Ethics for Directors, Executives, and
Accountants, South-Western College Pub; 4 edition, 2006.

2. Steven M. Mintz and Roselyn E. Morris. Ethical Obligations and Decision-Making in

Accounting: Text and Cases. McGraw-Hill/Irwin; 1 edition, 2007.

Class 10

1. Deborah. Johnson. Computer Ethics. Prentice Hall; Edition 8th , 2008.

2. Herman T. Tavani. Ethics and Technology: Ethical Issues in an Age of Information

and Communication Technology, Wiley 2006.

Class 11

1. Debora Spar and Nicholas Bartelett Phase Two: The Pharmaceutical Industry
responds to AIDS. Harvard Business School Case Study. 9-703- 005.

Class 12

1. Debora Spar, Cate Reavis. The Business of Life. HBS Case study 9-704-037.

2. Debora Spar. The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the
Commerce of Conception, HBS Press 2006.