135.301.xx –Ethics, Governance and Accountability – Instructor’s Name -- Page 2 of 14
/Ethics, Governance & Accountability
3 Credits
135.301.xx
Class Day/Time & Start/End dateSemester
Class Location
135.301.xx –Ethics, Governance and Accountability – Instructor’s Name -- Page 2 of 14
Instructor
Full Name
Contact Information
Phone Number: (###) ###-####
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Office Hours
Day/s Times
Required Text
Hartman, L. P., & Desjardins, J. (2011). Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility, 2nd edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Irwin.
Articles and Chapters on Blackboard
Badaracco, J. (1997). Defining moments. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Pp. 1-24.
Bok, S. (1980, Summer). Whistleblowing and professional responsibility. New York University
Education Quarterly, 11. In Donaldson, T., & Werhane, P. (2008), Ethical issues in business:
A philosophical approach, 8th ed.. (pp. 128-35). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Freeman, R.E. (2007). Managing for stakeholders. In Donaldson, T., & Werhane, P. (2008), Ethical
issues in business: A philosophical approach, 8th ed. (pp.39-53).. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson.
Friedman, M. (1970, September 13). The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.
The New York Times Magazine.
Hamilton, S. (2003). Case study: The Enron collapse. In Donaldson, T., & Werhane, P. (2008),
Ethical issues in business: A philosophical approach, 8th ed. (pp.39-53). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson.
Kidder, R. (2003). How Good People Make Tough Choices: Resolving the Dilemmas of Ethical
Living. New York: HarperCollins. Chapter 1.
Magretta, J. (1997, March-April). Will she fit in? HBR case study. Harvard Business Review.
Mead, E., and Werhane, P. (2007). Case study: Cynthia Cooper and WorldCom. In Ethical issues in
business: A philosophical approach, 8th ed.. Edited by Thomas Donaldson and Patricia
Werhane. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/ Prentice Hall.
Pinker, Porter, M. E., and Kramer, M. R. (2006, December). Strategy and society: The link between
competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review.
Prentice, R. (2010). Student guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, 2nd Edition. Mason, OH: South-
Western Cengage Learning.
Schein, E. (1990). Organizational culture. American Psychologist, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 109-119.
Films and Audio Clips
Friedman, Thomas (2004), The other side of outsourcing. Washington, DC: Discovery Education.
Frontline (PBS). (2004, November 16). Is Walmart good for America?
Gibney, A., Director. (2005) Enron: The smartest guys in the room. New York: Magnolia Pictures.
Mann, M. Director (1999). The Insider. Burbank, CA: Touchstone Pictures.
Blackboard Site
A Blackboard course site is set up for this course. Each student is expected to check the site throughout the semester as Blackboard will be the primary venue for outside classroom communications between the instructors and the students. Students can access the course site at https://blackboard.jhu.edu. Support for Blackboard is available at 1-866-669-6138.
Course Evaluation
As a research and learning community, the Carey Business School is committed to continuous improvement. The faculty strongly encourages students to provide complete and honest feedback for this course. Please take this activity seriously because we depend on your feedback to help us improve so you and your colleagues will benefit. Information on how to complete the evaluation will be provided towards the end of the course.
Disability Services
Johns Hopkins University and the Carey Business School are committed to making all academic programs, support services, and facilities accessible. To determine eligibility for accommodations, please contact the Carey Disability Services Office at time of admission and allow at least four weeks prior to the beginning of the first class meeting. Students should contact Rachel Pickett in the Disability Services office by phone at 410-234-9243, by fax at 443-529-1552, or email: .
Important Academic Policies and Services
· Honor Code
· Statement of Diversity and Inclusion
· Student Success Center
· Inclement Weather Policy
Students are strongly encouraged to consult the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Student Handbook and Academic Catalog and the School website http://carey.jhu.edu/students/student-resources/university-and-school-policies for detailed information regarding the above items.
Course Description
This course examines the role of ethics in business decision making, with an eye to corporate governance and accountability. Beginning with an exploration of their own values and beliefs, students develop an awareness of the role of emotion, reason, and culture in moral judgments. Through readings, films, and discussion, students sharpen their ability to argue and negotiate from ethical principles. They then apply these tools to an examination of issues impacting contemporary business, ranging from employment and human resources issues to intellectual property, whistle-blowing and insider trading. The course concludes with a look at recent scandals (Enron, WorldCom, the sub-prime mortgage crisis) and the role of boards of directors, shareholders, managers, employees, governments, rating agencies, and other stakeholders in holding businesses accountable, in the U.S. and globally.
Prerequisite(s): None
Course Overview
From Enron to Goldman Sachs, corporate scandals of the 21st century have raised questions about how well business schools are preparing leaders to grapple with moral temptations and dilemmas. What is the purpose of the corporation? Is it to generate profits for shareholders or does it have a social responsibility to a larger set of stakeholders? How do managers, boards of directors, shareholders, government regulations, media, and the non-profit sector contribute to corporate governance? What institutions are in place to keep the power of multinational corporations in check as the global economy continues to evolve? Can corporate social responsibility be seen not merely as an onerous obligation but as a strategic advantage for firms? What tools are there to guide managers in making ethical decisions? What roles do—and should—culture, reason, and emotion play in the decision-making process? What challenges do cultural relativism, egoism, subjectivism, and religion pose for morality in a secular society? Through readings, case studies, films, and class discussion, this course addresses these and related questions
Student Learning Objectives for This Course
All Carey graduates are expected to demonstrate competence on four Learning Goals, operationalized in eight Learning Objectives. These learning goals and objectives are supported by the courses Carey offers. For a complete list of Carey learning goals and objectives, please refer to the website http://carey.jhu.edu/faculty-research/learning-at-carey/learning-assessment.
The learning objectives for this course are to help students
1. Understand and apply ethical frameworks and codes of conduct that guide personal and organizational decisions and conduct.
2. Reason from ethical principles and build logical arguments in addressing issues.
3. Reflect on their own values and beliefs and their role in decision making.
4. Understand the mechanisms of corporate governance that keep organizations accountable to a variety of stakeholders, locally and globally.
5. Identify—and develop strategies to address—the needs of diverse stakeholders in business decisions and ethical dilemmas.
6. Understand the relation between culture and ethical value systems and the issues that arise when doing business globally.
The course will also reinforce undergraduate competencies in team building, oral and written communication, and analytical and critical thinking.
Attendance Policy
Students are expected to attend all class sessions. If you must miss a class, you are nevertheless responsible for all information covered. Failure to attend two or more class sessions will likely impact your final grade; if you must miss a class, you should inform the instructor in advance. Out of respect to your classmates and instructor, you should plan to arrive on time in this course, and to be courteous and respectful in all class interactions. Turn off cell phones and laptops in class unless they are needed for a group project.
Assignments
All students are expected to view the Carey Business School Honor Code/Code of Conduct tutorial and submit their pledge online. Students who fail to complete and submit the pledge will have a registrar’s hold on their account. Please contact the student services office via email if you have any questions.
Students are not allowed to use any electronic devices during in-class tests. Calculators will be provided if the instructor requires them for test taking. Students must seek permission from the instructor to leave the classroom during an in-class test. Test scripts must not be removed from the classroom during the test.
Class Participation (15%)
Active participation in classroom discussions and debates is a requirement of this course. Criteria include not only timeliness and regularity of attendance but the quality and quantity of student comments and contributions to group exchanges. As this is the one area in which learning objective #3 will be measured, your participation in exercises examining your own moral vision, moral code, and defining moment will be an important part of this grade
Reading Assessment (15%)
There will be four short quizzes (25 multiple choice questions each) on the reading.
Short Essay 1: The Insider and Whistle-blowing (15%)
Analyze the film The Insider using the notion of defining moments and right-versus-right ethical decisions. Identify what you think are the right-versus-right dilemmas facing Jeffrey Wigand and Lowell Bergman and the factors that enter into their decisions—personal and professional, emotional and rational. What makes whistle-blowing particularly difficult for an employee? To what extent do utilitarian and deontological perspectives enter into their decisions? What do you think is each character’s defining moment in the film? Combine your answers to these questions into a coherent, unified essay with a thesis and supporting argument. Using APA style for format and documentation, apply the course readings by Kidder, Bok, Badaracco, and Hartman & Desjardins, with at least one citation for each work and a list of references at the end. Do not use any other outside sources beyond these four. Do not provide an abstract. Scope: four pages (1000 words), double spaced, 12-point font.
Team Presentation I: Corporate Culture and Values (10%)
You will be assigned a team and the team will be asked to choose an organization. In the first presentation, you should describe to the class the mission, structure, values, and culture of the organization and the role of its leaders in shaping these. Each team will have 15 minutes to present, and every member should participate in the presentation. You will be evaluated as a group on your team’s knowledge of the company, your use of time and AV, your ability to engage the audience, the quality of your research sources, and your ability to coordinate with one another. Individuals will be evaluated on their preparation, knowledge, presentation skills, and ability to answer questions.
Essay II: Enron (15%)
Using the template for ethical analysis, analyze the Enron case and identify the key ethical issues that arose. What were the salient facts in the case? Who were the key decision makers and stakeholders? How did Enron’s culture contribute to the wrongdoing of its leaders and traders? How did the internal and external mechanisms of Enron’s governance structure fail? Look particularly at conflicts of interest among managers and the role of Enron’s investors, board of directors, partners, auditors, government agencies, and the press. What provisions in the Sarbanes Oxley Act address each of the major issues that arose? Combine your answers to these questions into a coherent, unified, well developed essay and consider how Enron might have foreseen and avoided the mistakes made by its leaders. Apply class readings where appropriate, providing citations and references. Use APA style.
Scope: 4 – 5 pages (1000 - 1250 words), double spaced, 12-point font.
Team Presentation II: Corporate Strategy and Social Responsibility (10%)
Your team should select a multinational company and conduct a CSR audit. First examine the company’s governance structure and how its board, shareholders, top management, and employees hold each other accountable. What governance tools does the company have? Does it have a code of conduct? A values statement? How do these relate to its mission? What reports does it generate? In what corporate wrongdoing has firm been involved? What criticisms of the firm’s responsibility to society can you find? How has it erred in the past? Then apply Porter and Kramer’s article, “Strategy and Society,” to the firm’s CSR initiatives. You should provide a brief overview of what some of its CSR initiatives are, and then focus on one major effort that is international in scope and that illustrates Porter and Kramer’s thesis, that corporations and society can be mutually beneficial and not antagonists. The authors give as an example Nestlé’s network of dairy farms in India.
Each team will have 20 minutes to present, and every member should participate in the presentation. You will be evaluated as a group on your team’s knowledge of the company, the quality of your research, your use of time and AV, your ability to engage the audience, your ability to apply the Porter & Kramer model to your firm. Individuals will be evaluated on their preparation, knowledge, presentation skills, and ability to answer questions.
Essay 3: Corporate Strategy and Social Responsibility (20%)
Using the information gathered by your team, you should write up your own analysis of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts. Your analysis should present an argument, taking a position on whether the company has demonstrated strong or weak responsibility to its various stakeholders, as well as society in general, and whether the initiative on which your team focused exemplifies the kind of synergy between business and society that Porter and Kramer advocate.
Your essay should demonstrate critical thinking, giving both positive and negative accounts of the firm you are examining. It should also show a detailed understanding of the article by Porter and Kramer: what the authors see as the deficiencies of traditional arguments in favor of CSR; what they mean by value proposition and value chain; and how their model maps a company’s CSR efforts onto its value chain through inside-out and outside-in linkages. You should apply at least four course readings (including the Porter and Kramer) and at least four additional sources related to your firm. Follow APA format and citation guidelines. Scope: 5 pages (1250 words), double spaced, 12-point font.
Evaluation and Grading
The following percentages apply to the assignments. Criteria for assessment are indicated in the instructions for each assignment (above), in the rubrics for writing and team presentations that follow, and in the APA style checklist.