A101 Management and Ethics PDF

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Carolus Magnus University
A 101 - Management and Ethics - Study Guide
Welcome to "Management and Ethics" - What do you have to expect
In this document (Study Guide) I want to offer a brief overview about the content, the structure and the learning objectives of this "Management und Ethics"-course. When ever you will feel or get lost in the next weeks, just take again a look at this overview. Its nothing else than a kind of a guidepost in the virtual environment.
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1. Introduction
Basic facts about the course
This course will introduce you to the theoretical approaches, dimensions and practical oriented techniques of Business Ethics. You will be engaged in discussions and exercises reflecting the theory and requiring the application of theory to practical problems. Ultimately, the course will position you to provide additional value to your individual management style and/or to your capability to realize a different, more sustainable management style. In short words, the subject of Management and Ethics addresses what can be considered morally right and wrong in the way businesses make decisions and conduct their activities. The course covers the foundations of business ethics and applying these theories, concepts and tools to each of the corporation's major stakeholders. It considers the implications of three major challenges facing the corporation: corporate citizenship, globalization and sustainability. The purpose of this Study Guide is to provide you with all the rules and requirements of this course, with selected additional material beyond what is provided in the textbook and supplementary materials to make the study of Management and Ethics more relevant, interesting, and valuable to you. As the main literature base I will use the textbook "Business Ethics" from Crane and Matten (see below). Since you will need the textbook from the first until the last day of the course, I request you to borrow a copy of the textbook at the Wolframstrasse-library. There are round about 40 copies available.
Crane, A., Matten, D.: Business Ethics, 2th ed., Oxford, 2007. The course material is written to link with and supplement this textbook. The textbook will be a valuable resource not only for this course, but also for your future work. Since there are additional resources to the text book online, please take a look at the page: Oxford Press; Online Resource Center
Table of contents of this Study Guide

1. Introduction to Management and Ethics and to the course About Management and Ethics
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Learning Objectives
Course Overview 2. Course Planning Study and Work Plan Final Grades Weekly Discussions Case Work Major Individual Assignment 3. Lessons Introduction to Management and Ethics Theoretical framework and Business Ethics management tools Employees and Business Ethics Consumers and Business Ethics Shareholder and Business Ethics Suppliers and competitors and Business Ethics Civil society, NGO's and governments and Business Ethics Future perspectives of Business Ethics
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About Management and Business Ethics

A short summary of the topic
Simply put, ethics involves learning what is right or wrong, and then doing the right thing -- but "the right thing" is not nearly as straightforward as conveyed in a great deal of business ethics literature. Most ethical dilemmas in the workplace are not simply a matter of "Should Bob steal from Jack?" or "Should Jack lie to his boss?" Many ethicists consider emerging ethical beliefs to be "state of the art" legal matters, i.e., what becomes an ethical guideline today is often translated to a law, regulation or rule tomorrow. Values, which guide how we ought to behave, are considered moral values, e.g., values such as respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility, etc. Statements around how these values are applied are sometimes called moral or ethical principles. The concept has come to mean various things to various people, but generally it's coming to know what it right or wrong in the workplace and doing what's right -- this is in regard to effects of products / services and in relationships with stakeholders. Consequently, there is no clear moral compass to guide leaders through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. Note that many people react that business ethics, with its continuing attention to "doing the right thing," only asserts the obvious ("be good," "don't lie," etc.), and so these people don't take business ethics seriously. For many of us, these principles of the obvious can go right out the door during times of stress. Business ethics has come to be considered a management discipline, especially since the birth of the social responsibility movement in the 1960s. In that decade, social awareness movement raised expectations of businesses to use their massive financial and social influence to address social problems such as poverty, crime, environmental protection, equal rights, public health and improving education. The emergence of business ethics is similar to other management disciplines. As commerce became more complicated and dynamic, organizations realized they needed more guidance to ensure their dealings supported the common good and did not harm others -- and so business ethics was born. Today, ethics in the workplace can be managed through use of codes of ethics, codes of conduct, roles of ethicists and ethics committees, policies and procedures, procedures to resolve ethical dilemmas, ethics training, etc. Many people are used to reading or hearing of the moral benefits of attention to business ethics. However, there are other types of benefits, as well. The following list describes various types of benefits from managing ethics in the workplace. Attention to business ethics has substantially improved society. Ethics programs help maintain a moral course in turbulent times. Ethics programs cultivate strong teamwork and productivity.
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Ethics programs support employee growth and meaning. Ethics programs are an insurance policy -- they help ensure that policies are legal. Ethics programs help avoid criminal acts "of omission" and can lower fines. Ethics programs help manage values associated with quality management, strategic planning and diversity Management. Ethics programs promote a strong public image.
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Learning Objectives
What you will learn in the course
By the end of this course -assuming you have attended classes, completed the assessments and undertaken the recommended amount of independent study - you should be able to:
describe, explain and apply concepts relating to ethical reasoning and frameworks for ethical analysis in a business context; discuss the extent and nature of ethical problems and concerns as they face business decision makers; discuss issues pertinent to business from an ethical perspective; understand the social and environmental demands that impinge on business decision makers; undertake a thorough investigation of an area of ethical concern in the realm of business.
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Course Overview
Content oriented structure of the course
The course is structured in 8 lessons. Each of the lessons contain a different subject and/or a different perspective of the overall topic Business Ethics:
Lesson 1 Lesson 1 provides an introduction to Business Ethics. It will give you an understanding of the main issues of the topic and it will provide a frameworks that have proven useful to putting ethics into corporate action (Chapters 1-2 of the textbook).
Lesson 2 Lesson 2 introduces the theoretical fundament of business ethics. It will be started with a discussion of ethical theories. Secondly the decision-making process in order to find out about organisational settings that accommodate ethical virtue will be analysed. Finally tools and techniques of ethics management within a business corporation will be demonstrated (Chapters 3-5)
Lesson 3 Lesson 3 examines ethical issues in the employee-employer relationship. Employees' rights will be assessed carefully and the issues of employment ethics will be put under the light of globalization and sustainability (Chapter 7).
Lesson 4 Lesson 4 outlines the ethical issues and problems faced in business-consumer relations. Based on the specific stake that consumers have in corporate activities consumer related issues in context of globalization will be discussed. Furthermore the challenges posed by sustainable consumption will be examined. Finely arguments for more responsible marketing practices and notions of corporate citizenship in relation to consumers will be presented (Chapter 8).
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Lesson 5 Lesson 5 discuss the nature of shareholder relations to the corporation and analyses the rights and the duties of shareholders. Several of the specific ethical problems and dilemmas arising in the relation between companies and their shareholders will be analysed and it will be presented how shareholders can influence corporations towards ethical behaviour and sustainability. Considering the global reality of business activities its also necessary to discuss the differences in shareholder roles and corporate governance in various parts of the world (Chapter 6).
Lesson 6 Based on the fact that suppliers and competitors exist in mutual interdependence with a given organisation the ethical issues and problems that arise in an organisations dealings with its suppliers and competitors are examined in Lesson 6. It will be discussed whether corporations should assume some degree of responsibility for the ethics of their suppliers. Furthermore the arguments suggesting that attention to business interrelationships and the network economy may contribute to more sustainable business models will be assessed (Chapter 9).
Lesson 7 Lesson 7 deals with the role played by various types of civil society organisations in society as important stakeholders of corporations. The appropriate relationships between business and civil society and the role of civil society in providing for enhanced corporate sustainability will be discussed. As an addition it will be examined which tactics such groups might employ towards corporations to achieve their purposes. Furthermore the specific stake that governments have in corporate activities, the challenges posed by sustainability to business-government relations and the importance of strong governmental regulation for achieving potentially sustainable solutions will be outlined (Chapters 10-11).
Lesson 8 Lesson 8 summarises the entire content with a future oriented perspective. It reiterates the role, meaning, and importance of business ethics, summarises the influence of globalisation on business ethics, assess the value of the notion of sustainability, recapitulate the role and significance of stakeholders as a whole for ethical management and reviews the implications of corporate citizenship thinking for business ethics (Chapter 12).
I hope you will enjoy the course!
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2. Course Planning
Formal information
I am working on the assumption, that you are not very familiar with E-Learning lectures at the Carolus Magnus University Brussel. Therefore I integrated a detailed description of the main elements and tasks within this course. Of course its always possible to ask me directly or to send me a mail. So please don't hesitate to contact me, when ever you need some further clarification or when ever a problem will raise. Before you begin to study a course, take some time to read the entire Study Guide. Make note of the course assignments and their timing, and pay particular attention to the section "Final Grade". Once the course starts, begin to work through the lessons in the textbook and the Study Guide, following the instructions therein for completion of assignments and interactive activities. As a general rule, you should study one lesson every week, complete the interactive activities as directed, and submit assignments as required. The key to your success in this course will be the development of learning conversations with your fellow students. This means engaging with them in a dialogue that will illuminate key ideas, assumptions, understandings, and skills. Be aware, it is my firm conviction that working with your fellow students is as important as working with the learning resources provided. Therefore a big portion of your final grades will be derived from your participation in the interactive activities of the course. To get pass in the course, you must pass its participation components. Let me offer a rough overview about the main structural elements of the course. For details and for a more meaningful description of the elements take a look at the according subsections in this Study Guide:
Weekly Discussions: The main element of this course are discussions and/or learning conversations. That mean you will not be "teached" in any way, but you have to work out the content presented in the textbook for your own and you have to expand your knowledge through a dialogue with your fellow students. In the first place students will learn from the course material and from each other and not from the Professor. The Professor's role is to enable and to moderate your discussions, teaching the basics as in a traditional classroom is not part of his job. Case Work: In two of the eight weeks I will post a business case instead of a "normal" discussion question. The case work tasks will be offered in two different ways: The first case is just an individual task, that means every student will develop an individual case which will be graded. The second case is a group work activity, that means all the members of a group will participate in the development of one single group solution. The grades for each student will cover both, the quality of the case solution (similar grades for all group members) and the individual contribution to this solution (different grades for each student).
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Study and Work Plan

The weekly structure in detail
In addition to the lesson-based structure the course is also characterized by a strict weekly-based structure. Each lesson has a duration of one week or the other way round each week covers one of the lessons. In the following table you will find a detailed description of the week-lesson correlation. Furthermore the table contains the corresponding readings and the main tasks for each of the sections.
eek
Topic
Content
Chapters in the textbook
Weeks's activities
Lesson 1 provides an introduction to Management and Ethics. It will give you an Week Lesson 1: understanding of the main 1 Introduction issues of the topic and it will provide a frameworks that have proven useful to putting ethics into corporate action.
Chapters 1 and 2 Weekly (Introducing Discussion Business (Lesson 1 Ethics; Framing topic) Business Ethics)
Lesson 2 introduces the theoretical fundament of Chapters 3-5 business ethics. It will be started with a discussion of (Evaluating ethical theories. Secondly the Business decision-making process in Weekly Ethics; Making Lesson 2: Week order to find out about Discussion Decisions in Theoretical 2 organisational settings that (Lesson 2 Business framework accommodate ethical virtue topic) Ethics; will be analysed. Finally tools Managing and techniques of ethics Business management within a Ethics) business corporation will be demonstrated.
Lesson 3 examines ethical issues in the employee-employer Week Lesson 3: relationship. Employees' 3 Employees rights will be assessed carefully and the issues of employment ethics will be put under the light of globalization
Chapter 7 (Employees and Business Ethics) Case Exercise 1
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and sustainability.
Lesson 4 outlines the ethical issues and problems faced in business-consumer relations. Based on the specific stake that consumers have in corporate activities consumer related issues in context of globalization will be Week Lesson 4: discussed. Furthermore the 4 Customers challenges posed by sustainable consumption will be examined. Finely arguments for more responsible marketing practices and notions of corporate citizenship in relation to consumers will be presented.
Lesson 5 discuss the nature of shareholder relations to the corporation and analyses the rights and the duties of shareholders. Several of the specific ethical problems and dilemmas arising in the relation between companies and their shareholders will be analysed and it will be presented how shareholders can influence corporations towards ethical behaviour and sustainability. Considering the global reality of business activities its also necessary to discuss the differences in shareholder roles and corporate governance in various parts of the world. Based on the fact that suppliers and competitors exist in mutual interdependence with a given organisation the ethical issues and problems that arise in an organisations dealings with its suppliers and competitors are examined in Lesson 6. It will be discussed whether corporations should assume some degree of responsibility for the ethics of their suppliers. Furthermore the arguments suggesting that attention to business interrelationships and the network economy may contribute to more sustainable business models will be assessed.
Weekly (Consumers Discussion and Business (Lesson 4 topic) Ethics)
Chapter 8
Week Lesson 5: 5 Shareholder
Weekly Discussion (Shareholders and Business (Lesson 5 topic) Ethics)
Chapters 6
Chapter 9 Weekly (Suppliers, Discussion Competitors (Lesson 6 and Business topic) Ethics)
Lesson 6: Suppliers eek 6 and competitors
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Lesson 7: Week Civil society, 7 NGO's and government
Lesson 7 deals with the role played by various types of civil society organisations in society as important stakeholders of corporations. The appropriate relationships between business and civil society and the role of civil society in providing for enhanced corporate sustainability will be discussed. As an addition it will be examined which tactics such groups might employ towards corporations to achieve their purposes. Furthermore the specific stake that governments have in corporate activities, the challenges posed by sustainability to business-government relations and the importance of strong governmental regulation for achieving potentially sustainable solutions will be outlined. Lesson 8 summarises the entire content with a future oriented perspective. It reiterates the role, meaning, and importance of business ethics, summarises the influence of globalisation on business ethics, assess the value of the notion of sustainability, recapitulate the role and significance of stakeholders as a whole for ethical management and reviews the implications of corporate citizenship thinking for business ethics.
Chapters 10 and 11 (Civil Society Weekly and Business Discussion Ethics; (Lesson 7 Government, topic) Regulation, and Business Ethics)
Lesson 8: Week Future 8 perspectives
Case (Conclusions Exercise 2 or a similar and Future Perspectives) group task
Chapter 12
Week 9
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Continuation Case Exercise 2 or a similar group task
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Grading Schema
Grading Schema
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Final Grades
How you will be graded
In this Management and Ethics course you will be graded in several different ways. Each task within the course (Weekly Discussions, Cases, Major Individual Assignment) will be graded separately on a mark based grading schema. Your final grade will be determined as outlined below. Please ensure that you plan your time accordingly. For more information on what is required for each component of your grade, click on the according section at the right.
Assignment Weekly Discussions Case work Total
Marks (Grade Distribution)

60 (60%) 40 (40%) 100 (100%)
To be successful and/or to get a "pass" in this course you have to reach a performance level of at least 60%. To keep you updated as much as possible about your performance level during the course you will get a performance feedback after each week.
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Case Work
Guidelines for the case work
General statements with respect to case work activities
Case work is included in this course for several reasons:

To give students the experience of working in a group to discuss a typical work problem. To provide experience in using a rigorous approach to the analysis of an issue. To encourage the application of a variety of course concepts to operational situations.
Learning Objectives
After completing the required cases, you will be able to do the following:
Understand and appreciate the course concepts from the experience of application and discussion. Write complete and persuasive analyses independently. Effectively plan and execute your Major Individual Assignment. Critically evaluate proposals posted by your group members. Work effectively as a member of an ad hoc group. Recognize opportunities to apply course concepts to your professional life.
You will complete two cases during Week 3 (case 1) and Weeks 7 and 8 (case 2). The cases will put you in the position of a manager who must make decisions within complex and uncertain environments. Although the main idea of both cases is similar the case work progress will be different.
Case 1 will be solely an individual task. Each student will develop an individual case solution. Therefore the grades for case 1 are assessed on an individual basis; there are no group grades. Case 2 will be a group task. The entire group has to develop one single case solution or a similar group task. The grades will be based on a group grade (weight: 50%) which considers the quality of the solution and an individual grade (weight: 50%) which will consider the contribution of each group member to this solution.
The specific parameters of the assigned cases will be posted in Weekly Discussion & Case Exercise forum during the case exercise weeks. The statements below provide important information concerning the case work process and the timing of the case exercises.
Philosophy of the case exercise
The case exercise (individual submissions) resembles a typical exam format insofar as you will read the case and write your answer in a short period of time. The feedback you will get here applies directly to your work and you will have an opportunity to address your weaknesses and build on your strengths in further case exercises. The intention of this approach is to give you good practice with case methods, and
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to help you independently think about objectives, assumptions (making good assumptions is a skill in itself), analyses, and recommendations. Your submission should be uploaded with the special link "Case 1 solutions" at the main page of the course. This process helps to ensure that your response is not influenced by a response from another student. In the second case you (as a group) will be required to work together to develop a case solution. The idea of this collaborative task is to offer you the chance to get to know the special requirements of team work in a virtual environment and to practice this special kind of team work. Since team work cases are much more tricky than individual cases I strongly suggest to keep the timeline in mind. For example I suggest to put together a draft presentation for the case 3-4 days prior to the Case Presentation date (end of week 8). It takes a lot of time to pull things together as a final version.
My role as the coach I will provide feedback and guidance as necessary during case work. This might include calling on individuals to complete their initial case responses on time, calling on a particular group to discuss specific issues, questioning the input for consistency and completeness, or suggesting further areas to be discussed. However, I will not provide solutions.There is no right answer to a case, although there may be a large number of unsatisfactory answers consisting of off-the-wall, inconsistent suggestions. At the end of the case weeks I will provide general as well as individual feedback on the case and the group's participation during the case work.
Presentation Guidelines for the Case Exercise
The following guidelines apply to the case studies and are meant to address such common problems as poor writing, poor analysis, and misunderstanding of expectations. General Guidelines Each case presentation must be no more than 1,000 words in length and contain no more than three appendices. Ensure that you follow proper referencing as well; weaknesses with respect to references issues could be interpreted as "Plagarism" and therefore could easily lead to a fail of the entire course. You should provide a managerial writing piece that shows you have made an informed decision: one made after taking into account all the relevant known and assumed elements in the environments facing the organization. This means that the reader has to understand what it is you want to do and why you want to do it. Your writing must, therefore, be clear and concise. As a final check on your comfort level, ask yourself, If I were in the position of the decision maker, would I feel comfortable proceeding as this paper recommends?
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Size and Submission Each case study is limited to 1,000 words exclusive of the Executive Summary and Appendices. Appendices with paragraphs in them will be included in the word count. You may have a maximum of three appendices. These may be used for detailed calculations or other material that would otherwise interrupt the flow of your analysis. Remember that the body of the report itself should stand alone; the appendices provide supporting information only. Reports over 1,000 words will be penalized (I will just grade the first 1,000 words). Use the Word Count facility under the Tools menu in MS Word to calculate the word count. Elements of the Paper These elements need to be covered in your case presentation:
This contains the name of the case, the course title, the coachs name, your name, the date of submission, and the word count. A detailed Table of Content is absolutely necessary!
Title Page
Table of Contents
Having read the executive summary, the reader will know:

Why the report is needed the situation. What the objectives and perspective(s) are (issues or criteria may be included). How the problem was investigated the methodology. What is recommended to resolve the situation the plan of action.
Executive Summary
Nothing that follows in the body of the presentation should be a surprise to the reader. The executive summary can be considered analogous to the abstract of an academic paper.
Assumptions provide context for the analysis, whereas scope provides focus. Any factors outside your analysis that could impact its applicability and resulting recommendations should be listed here. Confine yourself to those that are significant or potentially significant.
Assumptions and Scope
If something in the case is unclear or contradictory, state an interpretation here as an assumption. Remember that you may be challenged on your assumptions. Scope is likely to be well defined by the case and the questions set. If not, state here what is outside of your analysis. Somewhere between zero and six assumptions and scope statements should suffice. Bulleted lists are fine. Justification in the presentation is not required, but assumptions and scope
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statements should be necessary, realistic, consistent with the information in the case, and their significance made clear.
Major Issues
Issues are what youre going to address in your analysis and recommendations. What are they and why are they important? Issues may be problems or opportunities. If issues are not provided in the case questions, select two to five, the resolution of which will have the most impact on the organization. Do not assume that all, or even the most important, issues have been identified in the case questions. Write a paragraph or two of explanation, if required, but state each issue succinctly first.
Objectives are the results your recommendations are designed to positively influence. They are the key result areas of the organization or operation under study. Thus, objectives often transcend issues and survive the implementation of recommendations as ongoing organizational concerns. The quality of the recommendations is determined by their impact on these key results areas.Any recommendation, not just those in your paper, will be evaluated against these desired outcomes. The preferred recommendation (or set of recommendations) is the one that best satisfies these objectives. The form of outcomes must be SMART:
Specific an observable behaviour or outcome which is linked to a rate, percentage, or frequency. Measurable usually a numeric indicator of progress toward the objective. Achievable will reasonable effort, properly directed, produce the desired result? Relevant do those charged with the objective have the necessary knowledge, authority, and skill? Time bound start, finish, or milestone date(s). A balanced set of objectives are mutually exclusive; collectively represent operational success; reflect the interests of all major stakeholders; are weighted according to their relative importance.
Objectives
Examples of operational objectives might be ROI, quality, inventory turns, or throughput. Managerial objectives might be cost, staff turnover, occupancy, or certification. From a consumer perspective, objectives might be price, availability, or lead time. There should be no hint of assumptions or recommendations in objectives. Issues are explored in the analysis; recommendations are assessed against the objectives. A bulleted list of no more than six items is fine.
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This is where you apply rigorous analysis to the issues you have raised. Base your arguments on data in the case. Here you demonstrate your critical thinking ability, creativity, and insight, as well as appropriate use of the tools provided in the text or in previous courses. Often you will evaluate alternative courses of action, contrast and compare perspectives, identify chains of causality, and show costs and benefits. Every issue you identify should be carefully explored in light of the qualitative and quantitative data you have marshalled. Label opinion as such. Tables, charts, or graphs may be used to display your data. Avoid depicting the same data in both a table and a graph. There is no need to reproduce case data, simply incorporate it by reference. The analysis is likely to be the major portion of your paper, so logical ordering and clarity are important. Make the rigour of your thinking evident, while avoiding overwhelming your reader with pages of unrelieved, dense text. Analysis is not an exercise in coming to a consensus of opinions. It is looking into an issue deeply enough that your reader is assured you have gotten to the heart of the matter. Each of your recommendations must be thoroughly supported by this analysis.
Analysis
This is the statement of your results. Outline the specific steps to be taken, when and how they are to be completed, and by whom. Do these steps collectively address the issues? Do they positively influence the objectives? Are they justified by the facts of the case in the analysis? State each recommendation as the first sentence of a paragraph, "I recommend ...." Be decisive, declarative, and definitive. Avoid weasel words such as 'could,' 'might,' or 'perhaps.' The rest of the paragraph is supportive explanation: key data, impact on objectives, alternatives considered. Previous exposition need not be repeated, but may be incorporated by reference. Avoid multiple recommendations in a single statement. If there are contingencies or uncertainties beyond the scope of your analysis, address them in If ..., then ... statements. Avoid recommendations suggesting further study; you will get no credit for them. Use diagrams, flow charts, and so on as required. Often, fewer recommendations have more impact than many. Your reader should be left convinced that your
Recommendations and Plan of Action
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recommendations, as a group, represent the best course of action.

The conclusion does three things. First, it highlights the major conclusions of the paper and their significance. It pulls the papers arguments together and defines their impacts; that is, it states what the paper has demonstrated. The overall impact of the recommendations on the objectives should be stated and balanced against the cost of implementation.
Conclusion
Second, it points out the limitations of the paper. Additional issues may have surfaced or areas for further investigation have become apparent. A review of the assumptions and scope chosen may prompt some specific cautions. The methodology of the analysis or the extent of the recommendations in a paper of this length may have introduced some limitations. What additional data would strengthen the analysis? Are there directions for further research? Third, it should provide closure, leaving the reader satisfied that the paper explored a situation that led to a meaningful conclusion. Many times, readers will skim the executive summary and conclusion to determine whether or not to read the entire paper. Make sure that the conclusion leads the reader to confidence in the papers scope, methods, and recommendations. Aim for one to three paragraphs.
Provide evidence that you combed the Internet, searched the library, and networked to find original sources. At a minimum, all the data and quotations in your presentation must be referenced. Breadth, balance, currency, creativity, and diversity are advantageous. One page is sufficient. Hypertext links are a nice touch. References
Use footnotes for the references and for offering additional explanations of the matter in the text. Furthermore list the references at the end of the paper.
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Weekly Discussions
Guidelines for the weekly discussions
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General statements with respect to the discussion part of the course
The purpose of the weekly discussions is to:

help you engage with the material from the textbook and Study Guide; stimulate application thinking that relates to issues from your own experience; see a variety of applications and to hear various perspectives on the material; support the development of one anothers thinking through questions, comments, and responses.
Discussions are a way to link your life experiences to the course material for the benefit of everyone in your group. Ideally, a rich discussion will create knowledge. That is, insights will emerge that no individual (including me) held before the discussion began. Therefore the objective of each discussion is to share ideas and resources, challenge convention, try new ideas, and recognize each others contributions. Generally, I am looking for postings which:
add to the academic value of the conversation by presenting new information, arguments, insights, concepts, constructs, or references; add experiential value: connect or contrast ideas, concepts, and skills to actual experiences; challenge or question prevailing ideas and assumptions with new evidence or alternative perspectives that are well argued and substantiated; connect contributions made by other students in a way that is more than summarizing; that is, make connections so that synergies are created; substantiate generalizations by using specific observations and/or data, explaining the connection between what is observed and what is inferred; acknowledge the influence of personal feelings or biases on the reasoning process.
Postings seldom add value when they:

are not relevant to the questions or discussion or are difficult to interpret or understand; contain no new observations, information, insights, perspectives, or experiential value; uncritically accept conventional wisdom; echo contributions made by other students without adding something to the exchange; merely regurgitate materials found in the textbook or Study Guide; arbitrarily reject other points of view, or worse, demean them; seek a particular piece of information out of curiosity; are primarily speculative or judgmental.
Guidelines for the Weekly Discussion
Posting the Weekly Discussion Question: I will post the Weekly Discussion question by Saturday afternoon. If I'll be travelling that day or otherwise engaged, I may post it earlier. In any event, you'll have the question in time so that on a given weekend you can wrap up one week and get started on the upcoming week's question if that's the way you want to organize your work. Time Frame for Posting Responses: This is a discussion, not an assignment forum. We can only develop insightful discussion threads if we have time for interaction. Therefore it is important that you
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post your initial response to the Weekly Discussion question no later than mid-day Wednesday. This provides a chance to enter into a dialogue with one another for the balance of the week. The discussion does not work if people sit back and wait to dump their thoughts in batch mode at the end of the week. Weekly Learning Posting: Towards the end of the week, I would like to see a summary of the discussions during the week from each one of you. I am convinced, that this will result in "value addition" for all of us. Therefore, towards the end of the week, when discussions are wrapping up, I would like each group member to post their learning of the week. I will create a discussion thread in the forums each week under which learning postings will be made. Please post your individual summary (weekly learning posting) until Sunday midnight each week. Discussion Cutoff: There's another question in the wings, and this course moves fast. Also my marking will be based on postings within the assigned week i.e. as per the schedule of placing initial responses by Wednesday, having the ensuing dialogue carry on through Sunday, and posting a Weekly Learning by Sunday evening. My Participation: I definitely will participate in the Weekly Discussions. While I read all the postings, in a given week I will not necessarily directly respond to everyone in the discussion. Over the 8 weeks of the course I do make a concerted effort to respond to each of you as often as possible. Problems: If you have problems responding to the Weekly Discussion question (travel, technical problems, personal problems), please let me know as soon as possible. I do not need to know the details of your situation, professional or personal, but I and your team-mates do ask that you let us know if you will have trouble participating in a given week and/or if your participation has to lapse for a few days. Keep us all informed!
Marking your contribution to the Weekly Discussions
As mentioned above the objective of the weekly discussion is to widen your appreciation of the possible applications of the course material as well as to ground the theory in your own experience. Your participation in the weekly discussion represents 60 out of 100 marks or 60% of your final grades. Heres how I calculate the marks. Each week I monitor and record your participation on a spreadsheet. In each discussion week (week 1,2, 4, 5, 6 and 7) you get:
4 points (maximum) for answering the weekly question fully data, comparisons, applications, references, or challenges. Youll get one point for less complete answers. 4 points (maximum) for insightful questions and/or responses in the discussion probing,
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supportive, adding information or perspective; not just interest or approval. 2 point for an insightful weekly learning posting. In total: 10 discussion points maximum per week. (10 x 6 weeks = 60) 20 case points per case (20 x 2 cases = 40) 100 points maximum total. Everyone can get this 100 points!
Initial postings need to be received by mid-day Wednesday for full credit. Grading of a weeks discussion ends on Sunday evening. Please contact me with any questions. Well know were on the right track when the discussions are both exciting and challenging.
My expectations
Initial Posting / Response to Question

Using the concepts and issues discussed in the reading to frame your analysis Depth of thought; answered the weekly question fully; providing data, comparisons, examples, and references. Relevant and accurate interpretation of the issues as they relate to your experiences / industry practice
Quality of Interaction; responses & questions posed to others that further the dialogue
Make a conscious attempt to have your comments / questions of others "dig deeper" re: the weeks topic & the intended focus of the question. Again use concepts and issues discussed in readings to frame your questions and responses Probing, supporting, adding information or perspective - not solely expressing interest or agreement with someone elses posting. Maintains focus, i.e. keeps the discussion on topic as opposed to "drifting off" Proactive in pushing the dialogue along & responding to follow-up questions asked of you.
Synthesis; wrap-up / weekly learning

Depth of thought; a "well considered reflection of the weeks readings & discussion Does in fact synthesize the lesson and the personal "take-aways" from the readings & dialogue (not simply summarizing)
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Your participation in the group is crucial to the success of the other group members. Lack of participation is unfair to those who are actively participating. Participation in your group is crucial to your own success as well, because without a passing grade in the participation component of each course, you will not receive a pass or credit for that course in its entirety.
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3. Lessons
Summary of the course content
With the following sections (Lesson 1- 8) I want to offer you a short summary of the main facts presented in the textbook. The idea of this summary is to offer a bit more flexibility. If you are traveling or if you will not work at a fix place (home office, university and so on) you could always take a quick look at the main issues, concepts, tools and so on, mentioned in the textbook.
You should keep in mind, that this Study Guide is just a short summary of and not a substitute for the textbook. Its absolutely not sufficient to reduce the required reading just to the Study Guide. You definitely have to read the textbook itself.
Since the content of this summary is solely based on the textbook I decided to abstain from individual references but to make a general reference. The entire content and all the figures are taken from Crane, A., Matten, D.: Business Ethics, 2th ed., Oxford, 2006.
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Lesson 1
Introduction to Business Ethics
Overview and objectives What is Business Ethics Why are Business Ethics importan? Globalization and Sustainability Framing Business Ethics Weekly Discussion
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Overview and objectives Overview

In this Lesson we take a first broad look at what business ethics are and what they are concerned with. Some intuitive questions arising from the topic's nature shall be discussed more directly. Hence, we will set the base for understanding business ethics. We will point at two major phenomena that have been challenging the business world demanding ethical response, namely globalization and sustainability, and provide typical frameworks that have proven useful to putting ethics into corporate action.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to Define business ethics and argue for its relevance. Outline globalization as a major context for business ethics. Present the 'triple bottom line' of sustainability as a potential goal for business ethics. Analyze the responsibilities corporations have towards society and their nature. Provide differentiated views on the scope and variety of a firm's stakeholders. Examine the meaning of Corporate Citizenship.
Required Readings
Please read chapters 1 and 2 of your textbook (Crane and Matten) and explore the
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online resources related to those chapters.
What is Business Ethics Business Ethics Defined

Is there an ethical sphere in business? Business sometimes is called a game equal to poker, where deception and lying are perfectly permissible. But, one has to admit that these 'bad' ethics still are ethics of a kind and that business activities would hardly be possible if every businessman always lied, if buyers and sellers never trusted each other. It thus makes sense to try and understand why certain decisions should be evaluated as ethical or unethical, or right or wrong and why such decisions get made and to try and discover whether more acceptable business decisions and approaches can be developed. That's how business ethics appear as a phenomenon and as a subject of studies. There will, however, inevitably be disagreements about what exactly constitutes 'ethical' business. Here is a definition of the subject itself:
Business Ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of morally right and wrong are involved and addressed.
Why are Business Ethics important

Figure 1.1 depicts why ethics have become an important part of business and lists some of its benefits.
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Figure 1-1: Why Business Ethics are important
Globalisation and sustainability

Business ethics have been constantly changing their focus since its expressive occurrence. In recent times and thus most relevant for today's businesses, globalisation and sustainability can be seen as the two major challenges that businesses face in ethical perspective.
Figure 1-2: Globalisation and sustainability as key contexts of Business Ethics
Framing Business Ethics

Numerous approaches have been undertaken aiming at bringing business ethics into corporate practice. The most fundamental question in doing so is whether a corporation can be moral - and thus responsible for its actions. Corporations itself are, broadly spoken, artificial persons in terms of the law that are owned by
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shareholders but exist independently of them. The corporation's decisions are made by managers that must protect the investments of the shareholders. But as any corporation, just as an individual, has an internal decision making structure and a set of beliefs and values (organizational culture), the corporation itself can thus been seen to be as moral as their managers and employees. Figure 1.3 discusses some of the most common ways of the integration of corporate responsibilities.
Figure 1-3: Framing Business Ethics: Corporate Social Responsibility, Stakeholder Theory, Corporate Citizienship I
Weekly Discussion Weekly Discussion & Case Exercise

Weekly question(s) of week 1
Follow take a look at the review of the book The Corporation by Joel Bakan. After your review please answer the following question (until Wednesday) and discuss the answer of the other goup members (between Thurday and Sunday).
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Set out your position on Bakans description of the corporations nature as psychopathic. Do you agree or disagree to the statement (of course you should explain/justify your position!)
Please consider the following notes:

Please use the forum below for your initial posting and for your discussion contributions. You are not expected to start Week 1 discussions before Monday. Weeks run Monday to Sunday and only your responses which fall between this period are graded.
Please turn to the Weekly Discussion & Case Exercise forum and discuss the Week 1 question(s) or participate in the Case Exercise.
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Lesson 2
Theoretical Framework
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Overview and objectives Normative ethical theories Decision-making in Business Ethics Tools of Business Ethics management Weekly Discussion

In this lesson we will assess the more theoretical fundament of business ethics. We start over with an approach to traditional and contemporary ethical theories, showing us the broad range of thoughts on how we can find out about what is right and wrong. Secondly we look at what influences the decision-making process in order to find out about organisational settings that accommodate ethical virtue. Last, we take a quick glance on tools and techniques of ethics management within a business corporation.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to Locate the role of normative ethical theory within the ethical decision-making. Provide an overview and explore the potential of traditional and contemporary ethical theory. Examine why ethical and unethical decisions are being made in the workplace. Delineate key individual and situational influences on ethical decision-making. Examine different ways of organising for the management of business ethics. Critically assess the relevance of organisation culture and leadership for business ethics.
Required Readings
Please read chapters 3, 4 and 5 of your textbook (Crane and Matten) and explore the online resources related to those chapters.
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Normative ethical theories Business Ethics Defined

Ethical theories are the rules and principles that determine right and wrong for a given situation. Wherever values come in conflict (which is what primarily happens in any conflict), we all have some prior knowledge of what is right or wrong that helps us to decide. This internal knowledge is rarely reflected upon and often uncommon with others. In a business setting, however, a systematic, rational and widely understandable and thus efficient decision-making is indispensable. That's where ethical theories come into play and help to understand and explain different normative settings, of what is right and wrong.
Figure 2-1: Perspectives on ethics: Extreme positions and the middle way Figure 2.1 gives a general overview of how ethical theory can be systematized and briefly explains each of the main positions found. Figure 2.2 consequentially shades some light on what is known as traditional ethical theory. It as well takes a look to some major ethical theories that have shaped our understanding of right and wrong during past millennia.
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Figure 2-2: A system of traditional ethical theory with example
In contrast to traditional ethic theories, the contemporary ethical theories suggest less imposing and more intuitive, integrative solutions in order to make ethical decisions.
Figure 2-3: Overview of contemporary ethical theories
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Decision-making in Business Ethics

Whenever decisions are likely to have significant effects on others and/or leave different courses of action open to decide for or against, it is likely to be a question of moral status. Recognizing the morality of an issue is the first step in taking a moral decision. Thus, awareness is a crucial factor for ethical behaviour. After making a moral judgement, a moral intent can be established that might be followed by a moral decision. However, in this process of ethical decision-making individuals are influenced by a number of factors, individual and situational ones. Figure 2.4 lists the most significant individual influence factors.
Figure 2-4: Individual factors of influence on ethical decision-making Beside individual characteristics, most people are easily influenced by the situation that they are exposed to. Both, the issue in question and the context of the decision play important roles. Both are shortly listed and explained below (Figure 2.5). Examples can be found in the textbook pages 149-162.
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Figure 2-5: Situational factors of influence on ethical decision-making
Tools of Business Ethics management

Business ethics management is the direct attempt to formally or informally manage ethical issues or problems through specific policies, practices or programmes. It typically contains mission/values statements, codes of ethics, communication channels for reporting and advice for transparency, risk analysis and management, ethics officers and committees, the involvement of external ethics consultants, ethics training for staff and some kind of reporting. Two main topics from a broader range outlined in chapter 5 of the textbook are depicted in Figure 2.6.

Theoretical Framework:
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Christina is the CVO in an IT consulting company. There have been hard times for the company because they had financial problems and lost many customers to their main competitor so that they already had to decruite several employees. After another exhausting working day, Christina and her husband invited his sister to dinner. Usually theyre not speaking about business because the sisters working for the competitor but at this day she told that shes very dissatisfied with her job. Earlier she has always been at the clients and was able to invoice much money to become bonuses. But since the management of the company changed, her bosses are always giving her internal things to do, so that shes too occupied with minor tasks and cant receive premiums through customer-related projects. She claimed that this is just a pretense from her bosses to begrudge her the bonuses due to the fact that shes a woman. Because of her annoyance, the sister offers her a paper with confidential details about the business strategies including the financial investments of the company and the previously undisclosed annual report. As a counterperformance, she wants to apply in the company of Christina and expects to get a good job there with her support. Due to the fact that the company is at a risk to become insolvent, this could provide a good chance to play off the main competitor. Part1: Please outline the ethical wrongdoings for Christina and her sister-in-law. Should Christina accept this proposal and use the business documents from the competition for her own purpose? Which options of acting does she have? Evaluate them by reference to the ethical theories from the coursebook.
Part2: To which degree do you think are ethical and legal behavior compatible in general?
Please turn to the Weekly Discussion & Case Exercise forum and discuss the Week 2 question(s) or participate in the Case Exercise. The discussion for Week 2 or the Case Exercise will focus on topics covered in Lesson 2.
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Lesson 3
Employees perspective
Overview and objectives Employees as stakeholders Ethical issues in Human Resource Management (HRM) Ways of tackling discrimination: Affirmative Action (AA) Employing people in the context of globalisation and sustainability Weekly Discussion
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

In this week's lesson we examine ethical issues in the employee-employer relationship. Even if one can argue for the employer to deserve control and set the rules how people, that he pays, shall behave, workers have rights - as well as duties - that have to be discussed and respected and nevertheless are often compromised. We will assess these employees' rights carefully and put the issues of employment ethics under the light of globalization and sustainability.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to discuss the role of employees among the various stakeholder groups. identify core ethical issues of employees' rights and duties. explore the employers' involvement in enabling employees to live up to their duties. explain basic issues of managing employees in a globalised world as well as in terms of sustainability.
Required Readings
Please read chapters 7 of your textbook (Crane and Matten) and explore the online resources related to this chapter.
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Employees as stakeholders
Dealing with employees is probably one of the areas where most of us are the most likely to encounter ethical issues and dilemmas. Be it a question of fair wages and conditions, discrimination in the workplace or simply taking advantage of company resources for private purposes like using the phone or internet. Employee-related ethical issues are very likely to be present wherever managers work. Many of them can be legally fixed through regulations and contracts. Others lay more in the surrounding of a work relationship. They mean investments, costs and dependencies for both sides, that aren't mentioned in any contract but can lead to reflexive compensation behaviours. Figure 3.1 gives an overview of such 'hidden' costs that lead to what is called 'moral hazards'.
Figure 3-1: Hidden costs and moral hazards of work relationships
Ethical issues in Human Resource Management (HRM)

The first potentially ethical issue within HRM that catches one's eye is the term itself. To make employees out to be just one of the resources within the black-box of value adding systems is close to treating them as a means only, which, in Kantian terms, can be regarded unethical. From such a view point people primarily are an expensive resource that competes with other resources, most notably new technology and cheaper (labour) resources overseas. Staff of course is employed for a special purpose, for a means. But it must, however, not be treated as 'a means only'. So, since employers and employees both are human beings, they deserve mutual respect and are entitled to certain rights and duties. Both shall be briefly outlined in Figure 3.2.
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Figure 3-2: Rights of the employee
Typically, duties belong to every right. That's why the duties of the employee have to be discussed, too. The main duties of the employee are To comply with the labour contract. To respect the property of the employer. To provide an acceptable level of performance. To make appropriate use of the company time and resources. To refrain from illegal activities such as fraud, theft and embezzlement. However, research has shown that employee behaviour heavily depends on the organizational climate. It thus remains the responsibility of the employer to ensure that employees can live up to their duties.
Ways of tackling discrimination: Affirmative Action (AA)
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'Affirmative action' means special efforts to tackle shortcomings or defects like underrepresentation of a minority group in employment or universities. Figure 3.3 shows several AA-strategies.
Figure 3-3: Ways of fighting discrimination in the working place
Employing people in the context of globalisation and sustainability

Globalisation entails the mobility of people, the mixture of cultures, values and understandings. This leads to a number of ethical challenges. In the context of sustainability, too, we shall shade some light on how this in interconnected with the topic of employment (Figure 3.4).
Figure 3-4: Employment in the contexts of globalization and sustainability
Weekly Discussion
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Weekly Discussion & Case Exercise

Weekly question of week 3 (Case 1)
Within the last years, a great transformation of working environments came up. The competition of young high potential working forces from abroad (like China or India) and increasingly tight time schedules are just examples for the occurring change. The fear of being decruited or replaced is leading many employees to work more actively. Over 60 working hours per week and 24/7 availability for customers is "the order of the day" for many employees. Please write a Case Study about the topic from the perspective of a responsible Human Relation manager within a company. You should manage to deal with the resource employee to prevent that your employees are used, unmotivated and burned-out after a few years. Use the Case Presentation Guidelines provided in the Study Guide (section Case Work) as a guide for the design and the structure of your report. Once you have developed your written report make sure you follow the specific instructions in terms of when and how to upload your individual case solution.
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Lesson 4
Consumers perspective
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Overview and objectives Consumers as stakeholders Ethical issues within the marketing mix The consumer in the context of globalisation and sustainability Weekly Discussion

In this week's lesson we will assess the specific stake that consumers have in corporate activity. We outline ethical problems that can arise from advertising and other marketing practices and strive towards solutions and approaches of ethical and sustainable ways of dealing with consumers in the local and global marketplace.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to specifically delineate key ethical threats towards consumers. explore the notion of consumer rights. explain consumer sovereignty as a goal for ethical marketing. provide an overview of and explore ethical issues within marketing management, marketing strategy and market research. critically assess the risks and opportunities of consumer relations in the contexts of globalisation and sustainability.
Required Readings
Consumers as stakeholders
The question of dealing ethically with consumers crosses a wide range of problems. In order to start looking at them, figure 4.1 offers an intuitive view, the
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Figure 4-1: Approach to the consumers' stake in the corporation
Ethical issues within the marketing mix

Most ethical issues concerning business-consumer relations refer to the main tools of marketing management, commonly known as the 'marketing mix' - product policies, marketing communications, pricing approaches and distribution practices. Others appear in marketing strategies, that companies employ in order to attain their goals, as well as in market research, which has come under closer scrutiny due to modern information technology. Figure 4.2 provides with a briefly explained overview of at least potential ethical problems in marketing practice.
Figure 4-2: Ethical issues in marketing management, marketing strategy and market research
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The consumer in the context of globalisation and sustainability

Business ethics management is the direct attempt to formally or informally manage ethical issues or problems through specific policies, practices or programmes. It typically contains mission/values statements, codes of ethics, communication channels for reporting and advice for transparency, risk analysis and management, ethics officers and committees, the involvement of external ethics consultants, ethics training for staff and some kind of reporting. Two main topics from a broader range outlined in chapter 5 of the textbook are depicted in Figure 2.6.
Figure 4-3: Consumers in the contexts of globalization and sustainability

Consumers and Business Ethics Nowadays the virtual world offers consumers not only the possibility to do bank transfers and online shopping, but also booking of business travels and e-government services like requesting a new passport. For operators of websites and advertising agencies this implies an increasingly relocation of marketing and ad campaigns to the internet. Currently not only the general problem of manipulation through advertising is something to question. Especially the form of personalized and behavioral advertising causes the persuasion to
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be a vitreously customer within the internet. This leads to concerns about the record, storage and use of personal data. Users are having a lack of transparency and feeling discomfort about the fact that they couldnt do something against it. To prevent an introduction of governmental adjustment of personalized ad and to counteract the suspect of users, the Future of Privacy Forum in Washington tries to build more trust for users by launching a symbol for personalized advertisements on websites. It gives more information about the coherence between ads and user behavior and provides an insight into the responsible control and use of personal data (see: Future of privacy).
Critically evaluate this form of communication with consumers in the virtual environment. In how far could it provide a way to more ethical conduct? Can you imagine other ways to establish a more trust based relationship that ensures autonomy and a reasonable handling with customers and their data for the future?
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Lesson 5
Shareholders perspective
Overview and objectives The shareholder as stakeholder Ethical issues in coporate governance Shareholders in the context of globalisation and sustainability Weekly Discussion
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

In this week's lesson we set out the ethical stake of the stockholder and those with a financial interest in the firm. Shareholders are largely excluded from the ethics literature and subject, perhaps because they already play a substantial enough role in business, generally. We will, however, explore, in what ways shareholders really get involved in the firm (corporate governance) and how and why their interests and rights can get undermined. We will look at ethical issues in share trading and accounting as we will explore shareholding in the contexts of globalisation and sustainability.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to define the notion of corporate governance. discuss shareholder rights and manager duties. explore ethical issues in corporate governance. outline the ethical content of mergers and acquisitions, financial markets, insider trading and accounting practices. provide an overview of ethical problems of shareholders in a globalised environment. specifically delineate approaches to sustainable stockholding.
Required Readings
Please read chapters 6 of your textbook (Crane and Matten) and explore the
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online resources related to this chapter.
The shareholder as stakeholder

In former times companies were typically managed by their owners. Today, this is rarely still the case. Most large corporations are shareholder owned and experience a separation of management and ownership. This separation introduces the need of some kind of management of interest, communication and control between those who own and those who run the companies. These structures and policies are called corporate governance. Corporate governance describes whom the organization is there to serve and the way in which the purposes and priorities of the organization should be decided. The relation of owners and managers is basically defined through a set of rights for the shareholders and duties of management (Figure 5.1).
Figure 5-1: Shareholder rights and manager duties to define their relationship Consequentially there is an inherent conflict of interest between shareholders and managers. Shareholders want profits and share price rises, which include hard efforts from managers and may suggest low incomes. Managers want high salaries and might pursue power and prestige to the possible shortcoming of the shareholder. Corporate governance seeks to set structures that assert shareholders interests and control managers. Corporate Governance of course experiences different approaches in different cultural districts (read further on pages 222-225 in your textbook). However, the shareholder-manager-relation can broadly be regarded as a prime host for ethical problems in a business environment.
Ethical issues in corporate governance

Ethical dilemmas may always arise when personal and someone else's interests collide. The probability therefore is especially high for those, who survey (supervisory board) and for those who act (executives) within a corporation (Figure 5.2). Figure 5.3 outlines four more business areas where financial interests and their management are likely to face ethical content.
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Figure 5-2: Ethical problems in the corporate governance body
Figure 5-3: Ethical contents of shareholding and share trading
Shareholders in the context of globalisation and sustainability
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Weekly questions of week 5
Corporate Governance Have a look at the scandal of the Indian software and consulting company Satyam (see Business Week). Part 1: After the scandal became public, Ramalinga Raju expressed himself in the following way: It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten. Evaluate the significance of Corporate Governance based on the incidence and the relationship between Raju and the shareholders of Satyam. What are your personal expectations of Corporate Goverance and which possibilities do you see to prevent such cases in the future?
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Part 2: In June 2009, Satyam published its new presence as Mahindra Satyam with a focus on customers and a high standard of Corporate Governance, Corporate Citizenship and ethical values (see Satyam). What do you think about this out warded change of image and stakeholder focus? Which impact does the factor globalization has within this context?
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Lesson 6
Suppliers and competitors perspective
Overview and objectives Suppliers and competitors as stakeholders Ethical issues with suppliers and stakeholders Suppliers and competitors in the context of globalisation and sustainability Weekly Discussion
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Most commonly, the supplier and competitor business relations of companies do not enjoy the spotlight of media attention. That might be why they tend to be overlooked in ethics consideration. However, there is substantial terrain for unethical behaviours. In this week's lesson we examine suppliers and competitors as legitimate stakeholders of the firm. We assess ethical issues that arise in dealing with both of them. Then finally we put suppliers and competitors into the context of globalisation and sustainability.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to define the stake of suppliers and competitors in the corporation. provide an overview of ethical issues with suppliers. point out ethical issues with competitors in the marketplace. outline how globalisation reframes these problems. discuss whether corporations should assume some degree of responsibility for the ethics of their suppliers.
Required Readings
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Suppliers and competitors as stakeholders

Models of organizational stakeholders have tended to vary somewhat on their definitions of what constitutes them. Many conceptualizations distinguish between primary (mainly economic) and secondary (non-economic) stakeholders. Formulations tend to include suppliers and most, if not all, tend to exclude competitors. Figure 6.1 seeks to explore some of the arguments why competitors should of course be considered a stakeholder. A base of analysis is provided by our earlier provided definition of stakeholders.
Figure 6-1: Suppliers and competitors as stakeholders
Ethical issues with suppliers and competitors

Purchasing and sales staff is often confronted with a whole host of ethical dilemmas on a day-to-day level. Figure 6.2 provides with an examination of typical ethical problems occurring in supplier relations.
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Figure 6-2: Ethical issues with suppliers
Figure 6.3, now, refers to the ethical problems with competitors. Competitors are generally seen rather pessimistic, either wanting to undermine its ones' practices or colliding with us for an advantage. Cases like the one described on page 376 of our textbook show, however, that competition - if it is 'fair and legal' is quite wanted. The case is about three Coca-Cola members trying to sell trading secrets to PepsiCo. Instead of profiting from the offer, PepsiCo gave a tip-off to the FBI. However, it's more than likely that the following ethical issues in dealing with competitors play a considerable role in business reality.
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Figure 6-3: Ethical issues with competitors
Suppliers and competitors in the contexts of globalization and sustainability
Figure 6-4: Suppliers and competitors in the contexts of globalisation and sustainability
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Ethical sourcing within the IT sector Could Green IT as a transfer of the fair trade concept to the IT sector represent a sustainable business model, or is it just a means to greenwashing the company? Please answer the question particularized covering supporting factors of the idea and also possible conflicts of interests that might be affected.
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Lesson 7
Public, government and NGO's perspective
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Overview and objectives Defining civil society, government and regulation The stake of CSOs and governments in the firm Ethical issues in the raltions between business with CSOs and governments CSOs and governments in the context of globalisation and sustainability Weekly Discussion

In this week's lesson we discuss the stakeholders outside of the immediate economic realm of the corporation: the civil society and the government. These constituencies, as we shall see, also have important stakes in the firm, and various ethical problems and issues can arise in the company's dealing with such actors. We will define the exact meanings of what we mean by the terms of civil society organisations, government and regulation and examine the specific stakes of each of these groups and outline the ethical issues arising. Finally we will look at them from the perspectives of globalisation and sustainability.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to define what is meant by the terms civil society, government and regulation. set out the specific stake, that civil society organisations like e.g. NGOs and governments hold in the firm. explore main ethical issues of CSOs and governments in dealing with business organisations. outline the way in which globalisation and sustainability reframe these stakeholders.
Required Readings
Please read chapters 10 and 11 of your textbook (Crane and Matten) and explore the online resources related to those chapters.
Defining civil society, government and regulation
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Civil society has made itself meaningful for corporations through specific civil society organisations (CSOs), comprising pressure groups, NGOs (among the most famous are Red Cross, Greenpeace, WWF, Amnesty International), charities, religious groups and other groups that are neither business nor governmental in origin. CSOs vary in constitutional type, scope, structure, settings of activities and their issue focus. Governments, in contrast, represent a whole society, or as the EU-government, even a whole continent. They are empowered by democratic votes and have the power to make legally binding rules and to enforce them. But apart from law, there are many more kinds of regulation that direct business behaviour, such as policies, directives, goals, strategies etc. They all seek to set norms apart from the law.
The stake of CSOs and governments in the firm

CSOs can certainly affect, or be affected by, the performance of businesses. They receive donations, organise employee resistance to labour practices, lead consumer boycotts or force corporations towards taking or refraining from a certain action. They mainly represent the interests of individual stakeholders from the society or of non-human stakeholders such as animals or the environment. Figure 7.1 explains the government as a stakeholder of the firm. It presents them once as a representative of the citizen's interests that maintains the framework in which business shall work. But governments also have the interest of staying in power. That for they need to achieve goals. This goal-achievement depends on business a lot of the times. Another way governments and business are interconnected is by having own economic entities running that compete with private owned firms.
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Figure 7-1: Government as a stakeholder
Ethical issues in the relations between business with CSOs and governments
Figure 7-2: Ethical issues in business-CSO and business-government relations
CSOs and governments in the contexts of globalization and sustainability
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Figure 7-3: CSOs and governments in the contexts of globalisation and sustainability

Part 1: Relationships between governments and companies Googles self-censorship in China arose many questions about governmental regulations of companies. Especially the lately withdrawal of Googles services in China after the hacker attack allowed discussions to develop. After that, some students and programmer decided to launch a pirate edition of Google, called Goojje. How do you judge the taken decisions? Keep in mind the main ethical concerns and interests of the respective stakeholders in this case.
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Which impacts could a participation in initiatives like the Global Compact have related to this context? Part 2: In preparation for the final group work in the upcoming weeks each group has to develop a Code of Conduct (follow the link below for additional information about the term and the content of such a Code of Conduct). Please post your final Code of conduct in a seperate task of the according discussion forum, so that its easy to find it again in the coming weeks. Please keep in mind, the Code of Conduct you will develop this week will or should be the base for your peer evaluation of the group work in week 8 and 9. Therefore I strongly recommend to take this task really, really seriously!!! Of course I will not grade the content of the Code of Conduct; I will just grade the overall engagement of the group and your individual contribution to develop such a group code.
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Lesson 8
Future perspective
Overview and objectives The nature of business ethics Globalisation as a new context for business ethics Sustainability as a new goal for business ethic The contribution of normative ethical theories to business ethics Influences on ethical decision-making The role of management tools in business ethic Weekly Discussion
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

In this last week's lesson we will seek to reiterate and summarize the topics studied during this course. We want to round up the course and take an overall perspective to revise the work done. We will do so mainly by asking challenging questions on the lesson learned and the understanding that has been built up so far, comprising the changed, or at least influenced, mindset on business ethics. In this finalizing chapter of the course we mainly want to discuss our ideas and reconcile conflicting topics and issues in business ethics.
Objectives
At the conclusion of this chapter you will be able to find out some details about your personal skills of ethical reflection. apply issues surrounding business ethics in current and future situations of your personal working field.
Required Readings
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The nature of business ethics Business Ethics Defined

During the course we have been discussing a broad range of issues, starting with what business ethics actually are. The nature of business ethics, however, couldn't be framed in a stable, lawful sense. Existing problems go away or become matter of legislation while new problems arise and new possibilities of ethical abuse do not cede to crop up in the ever globalising business world.
Globalisation as a new context for business ethics

Throughout the course, we have quite extensively discussed ethical issues in the context of developing countries, and it is fairly reasonable to expect them to remain on the top of the business ethics agenda for the foreseeable decades. Secondly, we outlined that globalisation creates a social space beyond the governing influence of single national states, namely the global financial markets. In filling this 'transnational gap of regulation', self-regulation and initiatives by CSOs have been mentioned.
Sustainability as a new goal for business ethics

As we have seen, sustainability has made quite significant progress in terms of reporting, sustainability share indexes, industrial ecosystems, work-life balance etc. However, the triple bottom line of sustainability seems to remain a hard one to elaborate. Secondly, look at the pyramid of corporate social responsibility as represented on page 49 in your textbook and in the article 'Corporate Social Responsibility - Eine Bestandsaufnahme theoretischer Konzepte, Argumentationsmuster und Erklrungsanstze' by Mildenberger and Thiede (see the copy in the Downloadcenter).
The contribution of normative ethical theories to business ethics

In the beginning of the course, providing the theoretical fundament of ethical
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considerations, we provided quite a broad range of theories, ranging from the very traditional ones to more intuitive modern answers. In many cases and features that the textbook provides, we tried to make ethical dilemmas most vivid possible for the mind to think about.
Influences on ethical decision-making

The moral framing of ethical issues in the work place, like organisational norms, work roles and value settings deeply influence the ethical decision-making as we saw earlier in the course.
The role of management tools in business ethics

The tools of ethics management are far less 'ready-to-use' ones than instrument sets in other business disciplines as finance or marketing. To see, how much of the presented ways you adher to, try to outline a short but pregnant approach on the following task.

Weekly questions of week 8/9
Please have a look at the pretexting scandal from Hewlett Packard in 2006 (published in: Jennings, M.: Business Ethics Case Studies and selected readings. 6th edition, 2009; see the link below t a copy of te case text). Your group members have been appointed to the new ethic commissioners for the company and have to write a study that implies possible courses of actions for Mark Hurd how to proceed with the situation after the scandal became public. Please also cover the factors that lead to the pretexting and furthermore the judicial perspective of this occurrence. How to prevent such debacles? As mentioned in the Study Guide the group task (Case 2) will be graded in a different manner in comparison to all other tasks of the Management and Ethics course. I will grade the quality of the group solution (10 out of 20 points) and the group members of each
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group will grade the participation level of all other group members within the group (Peer Evaluation). The scale for the Peer Evaluation is between -10 and +10. -10 means that the group member did not participate at all and +10 means that the participation level of the group member was excellent. For example: If your group solution will be scored with 10 and the average results of the Peer Evaluation will be -5, your final grades for case 2 will be 5 out of 20. If the average result of the Peer Evaluation will be +9 your final grades for case 2 will be 19 out of 20.
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Carolus Magnus University

A 101 - Management and Ethics - Study Guide

Welcome to "Management and Ethics" - What do you have to expect

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Table of contents of this Study Guide

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About Management and Business Ethics

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I hope you will enjoy the course!

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Study and Work Plan

Chapters in the textbook

Chapter 7 (Employees and Business Ethics) Case Exercise 1

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Weekly (Consumers Discussion and Business (Lesson 4 topic) Ethics)

Week Lesson 5: 5 Shareholder

Weekly Discussion (Shareholders and Business (Lesson 5 topic) Ethics)

Lesson 6: Suppliers eek 6 and competitors

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Lesson 7: Week Civil society, 7 NGO's and government

Lesson 8: Week Future 8 perspectives

Case (Conclusions Exercise 2 or a similar and Future Perspectives) group task

Continuation Case Exercise 2 or a similar group task

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Assignment Weekly Discussions Case work Total

Marks (Grade Distribution)

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Case work is included in this course for several reasons:

Philosophy of the case exercise

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Presentation Guidelines for the Case Exercise

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Having read the executive summary, the reader will know:

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Recommendations and Plan of Action

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recommendations, as a group, represent the best course of action.

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General statements with respect to the discussion part of the course

The purpose of the weekly discussions is to:

Postings seldom add value when they:

Guidelines for the Weekly Discussion

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Initial Posting / Response to Question

Synthesis; wrap-up / weekly learning

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Overview and objectives Overview

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