The University of Texas at Arlington
Graduate School of Business Administration
Department of Management
Management 5337
Ethics and the Business Environment
Dr. Gary C. McMahan
“If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay that way, but if you treat him as if he were what he could be, he will become what he could be.”
Goethe
SUMMER 2009 8 Week Session
Communication: Telephone 817-460-3850
Office: COBA Room 224 Fax: 817.272.3122
INTRODUCTION:
The societal issue in the management of organizations is an evolving, timely, dynamic reality in firms. Societal issues in management refer to the emerging body of knowledge that is concerned with the integration of corporate strategy and behavior dealing with the complex, messy, sloppy, unstructured problems in the political/legal, global/international, social/cultural/ecological, technological, and economic environments. In an attempt to be as cutting-edge as possible, we will attempt to study these issues through the frameworks of “business ethics” (or ethical skepticism) and a “futures perspective” (or scenario planning) that many feel we need to return to or start to employ.
The course will have two primary streams of focus. The first deals with current and ethical issues surrounding the social, technological, economic, global, and political/legal environments of business organizations. The second stream focuses our attention on the future; particularly on the ways we can begin to understand the dynamics likely to face managers and their firms. Of course, both these streams happen together and may be tough to distinguish at times without ample thought and attention.
Through design, I have attempted to assure that we earn an appreciation not only of the purely competitive/economic environment but an understanding and appreciation of other important realities (i.e., environments). Therefore, we will attempt to examine what I have coined as E-STEP-ING: An ethically, (international) global perspective of our external environments (i.e., social/cultural/ecological, technological, economic and political/legal environments). It is through these environments that we can attempt to discover the “true” external environment that business organizations must operate.
One major argument I make is that leaders have probably been too narrow in their focus on increasing value via EPS (earnings per share and/or immediate return to investors) for our owners and ourselves at the risk of ourselves, employees, investors, communities, and others because we ignore (if we are honest) other performance indicators which may contribute to the long term sustainability and profitability of our organizations and communities. I do make the assumption that profitability and sustainability/survival are goals of organizations.
Although I have attempted to be inclusive in defining the external environment, I am sure there are some additive elements we will develop as we go through this course. The important point is we are committed to assuring that our MBA’s are directly exposed to the complex, ambiguous, messy, and non-linear reality which impacts our responsibilities as executives, leaders, managers, employees, and citizens/residents/visitors.
Method of Instruction:
Numerous methods are used to enhance the potential for you to take responsibility for your own learning and integrating this material into your life as a manager. My role in this course is facilitating your learning and creating an appropriate environment in which we can all participate in learning. This learning involves class discussions, case analyses, exercises, and a “futures report” aimed at enhancing your analytical insights and understanding of strategic uses of multiple environments and futures concepts. The following are among the instructional methods I may use in this course:
· Class discussion of current events and other course material
· Rigorous case analyses (application of the readings/theories to cases, DVDs, etc)
· Written assignments and examination
· Brief lectures
· Experiential exercises
· Book Club Reading, multimedia learning and debates
· Individual and group presentations/panels
Strong emphasis is placed on individual student participation and group performance with this course format. Essentially, the participative-based nature of the course means that it is your responsibility as a student to come to class fully prepared to discuss and analyze the assigned materials in depth. Readings should not be approached as a body of ideas to be memorized, but rather as a basis for the development of your own ability to analyze, understand, and come to a decision about managing and relating to “total environment” issues from a company’s and its management team’s perspective. When you make any statement in class, the burden of proof of your comment is on you. You will need to substantiate your analysis, to provide appropriate evidence (from the cases, DVDs, assigned readings, or from outside sources/experiences) for the development of your (and others) ideas, and to come to conclusions that are based on analysis rather than pure conjecture, opinion, learned positions, or “feeling.” I will attempt to do the same.
Evaluation:
Those of you who are familiar with my style know that I highly recommend multiple forms of evaluating the performance of any individual, team or organization. It is in that spirit that the following evaluation system will be employed that will allow for the evaluation of five elements to help me differentiate your performance from that of your peers:
Participation, Presentations/Group Cases 20 points
Individual Book Analysis (MEMO) 20 points
Individual Issue Futures Report 20 points
Examination 40 points
TOTAL 100 points
A traditional formula of 90-100= A; 80-89= B; 70-79= C; 60 and below=F can be assumed, however, Dr. McMahan reserves the right to employ a “natural breaks” model in making final evaluations.
Required and Recommended Reference Readings:
A. Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases, 7th Edition, Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2008. Houghton/Mifflin Publishers. Paperback Edition. Required.
B. Business Ethics and Ethical Business. Robert Audi, Oxford University Press, 2009. For this section only, this book is Recommended.
C.* The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World. Peter Schwartz. Currency/Doubleday Press, 1996. Paperback Edition. Reference.
D. BOOK CLUB: Selected Popular Business Press Book (students select/assigned from attached list with Dr. McMahan approval). Required.
Also, additional readings or handouts may be assigned throughout the course all of which the student is responsible.
Requirements:
Individual Book Analysis MEMO TO MANAGEMENT (20 points)
Assume that you have been selected by your employer to critically evaluate one of the books from the optional book list. Prepare a two-page (single-spaced, double between paragraphs) MEMORANDUM to management that:
Evaluate and analyzes an important relevant theme from the book. This discussion will provide: What does this book indicate about the issues that will face companies in the future? Do you agree or disagree? Justify. Based on your analysis, how significant are these issues to businesses and organizations? Given the topic of the book and in particular the theme you have selected, to what should leaders be paying attention? Why?
Note: Please be creative! Somehow make the reader pay attention to this topic, theme, idea, and your recommendations. Papers that are just book reports, i.e., merely reporting what was said without significant analysis and applications of relevant theories, frameworks, course ideas, or are simply descriptive is not acceptable graduate level work.
Group Book Presentation
Groups will form around each book. Everyone who has read the same book (book groups) should exchange copies of their individual two-page analyses and integrate their ideas into an interesting, formal 30 minute presentation to the class. The presentation should be a lively and engaging way to convey the important contents of the book, hold the class’s interest and attention, and is professional and polished, as it would be for an executive group. The presentation should briefly summarize the book’s important ideas to convey then to the class. At least half the presentation time should be devoted to questions and answers. The ideas in these books may well be used in the final examination; it is up to each group to make certain that the ideas are adequately and comprehensively conveyed to the class.
Futures Reports: “Pressing business issue” (20 points)
There are many ways of understanding and coping with the future. We will use a form of “future search,” tapping your research and analytical skills, to project the future of a current issue of relevance to management within one of these environments from current data, trends, analyses, and dynamics into the future. Each student will select an aspect of one of the E-STEP-ING environments and create a major report (be sure to use appropriate citations and references). The guideline of the Academy of Management Journal is a reference source for proper paper format. The report will be 5-7 text pages long, double spaced, and comprised with data and trend-rich information, analytical projections, extensive use of the research through the library and the internet. Note that the internet sources should be respectable references, meaning electronic journals, etc. I will not accept www. citations for representing the source of the information you are using. Ask your reference librarians in the business school or your college English/Writing instructor on how to write a research paper/report. If you are in this class, you have been exposed to these required skills prior to registering.
The STEP environments are:
Social/ecological/cultural: major social issues, business-community relations, education, workforce issues, demographic shifts, work-family policies, business and economic development, racial and gender issues in the workplace, implications of restructuring, environmental issues, some global issues, and new ways of working;
Economic: conditions of production, distribution, and exchange, trade relations, economic trends, global economic conditions and differences, emergence of trading blocs globally, labor relations, cost of labor and wage rates;
Political/Legal: tends and implications of law and public policy, state of global standards in different arenas, governance, democracy, politics, and business practice(s);
Technological: developments, trends, and implications of technological advances in and/or across multiple domains, dot-com phenomena, infomate and automate considerations.
All environments will involve multiple reports. In a perfect, utopian class, each “environment group” is to consider itself a team and should meet to determine how they are jointly defining the elements of the relevant environment so that it is covered as fully as possible. The team should also make a determination as to which aspects of the environment will be studied by each member to avoid overlap, and when papers have been drafted, should exchange papers to assure that there is a comprehensive and shared knowledge of the complete environment across the team. Each team will make available their Future Reports to the rest of the class on request.
Complete a report that you will be proud of and conveys a comprehensive understanding of the current and future aspect of the issue in the environment you have chosen. Your report should include:
Ø Data and evidence (including good arguments) to support claims or assertions you
have made;
Ø Evidence of a significant amount of Library and Internet research (be careful on
the quality of the web sources). Don’t just read a couple of articles or websites
and expect that a general discussion will suffice. You need to become the expert on your issue and your report needs to demonstrate that expertise;
Ø Identification and analysis of trends in the particular environment so that you can
project into the future (projections for the future with implications for the E-STEP-NG of your issue will greatly enhance your trends analysis);
Ø Consideration of the managerial implications of your issue from a global (not just
domestic) perspective;
Ø Use of scenario analysis as appropriate, as explicated in the Schwartz book;
Ø Consideration and analysis of the social, ethical, political. legal, technological, and economic aspects of the aspect of the environment your have selected;
Ø Analysis of the stakeholder implications of the issue;
Ø Conclusions (and possibly recommendations) based on your analysis of the scenarios you develop.
Panel Discussion Presentation
Environment teams are well advised to spend some time in thinking about how they can generate involvement and lively insights and conversation about their topics from the class. Particular attention to the entire E-STEP-ING environment for each issue discussed should be evident. The panel discussion should be interesting and provocative. Each panel will have 20-30 minutes (depending on class size) including question and answers. It should be clear to all listeners as to the environment analyzed and why the particular issues were researched and included. Your evaluation will correspond to the level of effort, interest, accuracy and learning enjoyment that your panel discussion creates.
Please provide a one page handout to the class that states the particular Panel Environment and the title and author of each paper. Also, please provide an email address to receive a copy request from each member of the class.
Examination (40 points)
There will be one traditional form of an examination. This form of evaluation will be given at the midpoint of the course. The form of the exam will be announced no later than the last class session prior to the examination. The exam will cover the reading material of the textbook(s), class discussions, DVD’s and discussions, and lectures, at minimum.
Class Participation Case Group Performance and Presentations (20 points)
Active and lively participation in class and case discussions and presentations is required as a means to enhancing your and other students’ ability to formulate and reformulate their values, question and understand their assumptions, and develop their insights with respect to managing in the social environment. As a result, regular attendance is essential. You cannot contribute to your own or others’ learning processes if you are not present, nor can you participate. Class participation will be evaluated primarily on the quality of thinking, use of analytic (logical) frames, and the relevance of comments to the discussion. Comments that reflect the application of the conceptual material and readings to the case discussion or to the reading will be particularly valued. Mere attendance does not constitute participation. Group cases, in-class assignments, and other legitimate formal and informal ways of participation are each considered part of the evaluation elements I use in making this determination. I may also employ group evaluations so your peers who you worked closely with will have input into this decision.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)