Philosophy 305:
Business Ethics
California State University, Northridge
Department of Philosophy
Fall, 2011
Syllabus
Course Description
This course investigates the intersection of business
practices and ethical thinking, mainly from a contemporary perspective. Students will learn how to analyze
philosophical arguments about the moral status of various business practices,
then evaluate those arguments.
Practical topics will include:
responsible business practices, business and the environment, diversity
and discrimination in the workplace, whistleblowing, honesty in the workplace
and in marketing, trade secrets and patents, and globalization.
Course Information for Course Number 13316
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Meeting Times................................ |
Wednesdays from 4:00 to 6:45PM |
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Meeting Location............................ |
Jerome Richfield (JR) 246 |
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Website............................................ |
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Reading and Assignment Schedule. |
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Instructor......................................... |
Christopher Lay, PhD |
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Contact............................................ |
christopher.lay@csun.edu (clay@csun.edu) |
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Office Location............................... |
Sierra Tower (ST) 532 |
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Office Hours................................... |
Fridays 4:00 to 6:00PM and by appointment |
Role
in the General Education Program
This course satisfies the Lifelong Learning section of General Education, which has the following goal: Students will develop cognitive, physical and affective skills which will allow them to become more integrated and well-rounded individuals within various physical, social, cultural and technological environments and communities.
Course Goals and Objectives:
1. Gain
familiarity with key texts pertaining to business ethics.
2. Understand
the themes found in the respective texts, drawing upon ideas from the history
of philosophy where necessary and relating to contemporary business issues when
possible.
3. Develop
students' critical thinking capacities to include:
a)
identifying main theses,
b)
identifying support for such theses,
c)
evaluating the strengths of that which supports those theses,
d)
evaluating the validity of the reasoning that takes the reader from that which
supports those theses to the theses themselves,
e)
raising objections,
f)
answering objections, and
g)
suggesting alternative conclusions.
4. Develop the
skills needed to represent other's viewpoints.
5. Develop
skills needed to arrive at your own position, and the skills needed to
represent that position, and the skills needed to support that position with
good reasoning.
6. Learn to
effectively deal with differing perspectives.
Texts
Business Ethics (Third Edition), Edited By: Milton Snoeyenbos, Robert
Almeder, and James Humber.
Published by Prometheus Books (2001). ISBN: 1-57392-903-4.
Course Grade and Assignments
Participation: 10%
In-Class Quizzes: 30%
Midterm Essay: 20%
Final Essay: 40%
Participation
Participation in philosophy is essential. You are expected to do the readings on
schedule (i.e. before the class period indicated) and come to class prepared to
discuss them. Class participation
will decide borderline grades, either up or down, and in rare cases,
extraordinary class participation can boost your final grade up a third (e.g.,
from 'B' to "B+"). Class
participation will mainly be evaluated by the contribution the student makes
toward the learning experience of the class as a whole. Note that discussing the substantive
issues of the course in office hours and via email will also count as class
participation.
Take-Home Essays
You will be given a prompt for all take-home essays, and
approximately a week to write them.
The essays for this class must be philosophical. In line with the Course Goals and
Objectives (detailed above), you will have to represent some thesis from a
text, and then critically engage with it.
As such, your own essay must have a thesis and support for that
thesis. To succeed in writing an
essay in this philosophy course, you will need to constantly and clearly
differentiate the point of view expressed in the text in question from your own
point of view. And once you have
shown that you can critically engage with the philosophical insights found in
the texts in question, which requires you to represent the point of view in
question, you will be encouraged to express your own philosophical
insights. Other, specific expectations
for take-home essays will be spelled out in detail in the respective essay
prompts. For all essays you will be
expected to correct errors in mechanics, usage, grammar, and spelling.
In-Class Quizzes
There will be two, in-class short essay quizzes.
Make-up Quizzes and Late Paper Policy, and Extensions
You will only be able to make up in-class assignments if you
have a credible excuse (e.g., doctor's note, jury summons, obituary notice,
etc.). Likewise, late take-home
assignments will be accepted if you can provide a credible excuse. Extensions for take-home assignments
will be given only when 1) a compelling reason is given and 2) permission is
sought at least three days before the normal deadline. Otherwise, late take-home assignments
will be graded down one third of a letter grade for each day they are
late.
Academic Integrity
If you submit someone else's
ideas, words, or phrases, cite those individuals according to the conventions
of some mainstream guideline, like those set out in the Chicago Manual of Style
or the MLA Handbook. Plagiarism, cheating, or any
other form of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. It is your responsibility as a student
to know CSUN's academic dishonesty policy, as spelled out in the "Student Conduct" appendix to CSUN's
catalogue. Any assignment produced
in an academically dishonesty way will receive an "F" grade, and the
student submitting it will be reported to the Dean of Student Affairs. Students who engage in academic
dishonesty in more than one assignment will receive an "F" grade for
the course. There are no exceptions
to this policy: "I didn't know that what I turned in constituted
plagiarism," "I forgot the quotation marks and citation,"
"It was only one sentence," or "It was an accident, it'll never
happen again" are not valid excuses.
Please, if you don't
understand what plagiarism or academic integrity is, ask me.
Students with Disabilities
This course will accommodate any disability if you have registered
with CSUN's Disability Resources and Educational Services.
Schedule
of Readings and Assignments
(with embedded links to Lecture Notes)
(Unless otherwise noted, all readings are from the textbook, Business Ethics (Third Edition), Edited By: Milton Snoeyenbos, Robert Almeder, and James Humber. Published by Prometheus Books (2001). ISBN: 1-57392-903-4.)
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Week One |
Getting
Started & Business Ethics |
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Wednesday, August 31st |
Overview and Introduction to the
Course |
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Week Two |
Business and Ethics |
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Wednesday, September 7th |
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Week Three |
Social Responsibility in Business Practices |
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Wednesday, September 14th |
"The
Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits" by Milton
Friedman |
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Week Four |
The Stakeholder Theory |
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Wednesday, September 21st |
"A
Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation" by E. Edward Freeman "Why I am
Not a Normative Stakeholder Theorist" by James M. Humber |
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Week Five |
The Stakeholder Theory |
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Wednesday, September 28th |
"A
Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation" by E. Edward Freeman "Why I am
Not a Normative Stakeholder Theorist" by James M. Humber |
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Week Six |
Discrimination and Diversity in the Workplace |
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Wednesday, October 5th |
"Diversity
at Work" by Barbara Hall |
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Week Seven |
Worker's Rights |
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Wednesday, October 12th |
"The
Moral Right to Know in the Workplace" by Robert Almeder and J. D. Millar
"Electronic
Monitoring of Employees: Issues
and Guidelines" by Ernest Kallman |
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Week Eight |
Whistleblowing in Business |
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Wednesday, October 19th |
"Whistleblowing:
Loyalty and Dissent in the Corporation" by Alan F. Westin |
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Week Nine |
Trade Secrets and Patents |
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Wednesday, October 26th |
"Trade
Secrets, Patents, and Morality" by Robert E. Frederick and Milton
Snoeyenbos |
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Saturday, October 29th |
Midterm
Essay Due via email by 11:59PM |
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WEEK TEN |
Honesty in Business Practices |
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Wednesday, November 2nd |
"Honesty
in Organizational Communication" by James M. Humber |
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Week ELEVEN |
Ethics in Advertising |
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Wednesday, November 9th |
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Week TWELVE |
Business & the Environment |
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Wednesday, November 16th |
"People
or Penguins: The Case for Optimal Pollution" by William F. Baxter |
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Week THIRTEEN
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Business & the Environment |
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Wednesday, November 23rd |
"Ecological Ethics" by Manuel G. Velasquez
Second
In-Class Quiz |
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Week FOurTEEN
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Business and Globalization |
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Wednesday, November 30th |
"Ethical
Complexities Involving Multinational Corporations" by James Kiersky |
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WEEK FIFTEEN |
Business and Globalization |
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Wednesday, December 7th |
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Finals Week |
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Saturday, December
17th |
Final
Essay Due via email, by 11:59PM |