General Education Assessment and Review Form
ethics and human values (Group VIII, E) 5/15
Please attach/ submit additional documents as needed to fully complete each section of the form.
Course Information
Department: Management and MarketingCourse Number: BGEN 220 E
Course Title: Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
Type of Request: New One-time OnlyRenew* X Change Remove
Rationale:With the growing impact of business on society and the implications of corrupt and unethical behavior on the part of some corporate and business leaders, various stakehoders are demanding that business organizations conduct themselves in an ethical manner and as good corporate citizens. Consequently, business schools across the country and accrediting bodies such as AACSB International (which accredits SoBA) today require that all business students take courses in business ethics.
BGEN 220 E is part of SoBA’s core curriculum and required of all business majors. The course addresses the traditional philosophical approaches to ethics, including Teleological, Utilitarian, and Kantian ethics, Distributive Rights theory, human rights, and theories of justice such as Ethical Pluralism and Cosmopolitanism. The course is designed to increase student awareness of the field of ethics and its implications for ethical decision making.
*If course has not changed since the last review and is taught by the same tenure-track faculty member, you may skip sections III-V.
Justification for course level
Normally, general education courses will not carry pre-requisites, will carry at least 3 credits, and will be numbered at the 100-200 level.If the course has more than one pre-requisite, carries fewer than three credits, or is upper division (numbered at the 300 level or above ), provide rationale for exception(s).
ii. Endorsement / Approvals
* Instructor: Robert Walsh Signature ______Date______Phone / Email:
Program Chair: Klaus Uhlenbruck Signature ______Date______
Dean: Larry Gianchetta Signature ______Date______
*Form must be completed by the instructor who will be teaching the course. If the instructor of the course changes before the next review, the new instructor must be provided with a copy of the form prior to teaching the course.
iii. Description and Purpose
General Education courses must be introductory and foundational within the offering department or within the General Education Group. They must emphasize breadth, context, and connectedness; and relate course content to students’ future lives: See Preamble
Since theory naturally informs judgment, the Business Ethics and Social Responsibility course begins with an historical overview of various classical and contemporary theories of Ethics from a business perspective, including Self-realization or Self-actualization theory (Virtue Ethics) as this is informed by various cultures both Eastern and Western, Deontology or Duty Ethics, Utilitarianism, Social Contract theory, Distributive Justice theory, Existentialism, Human Rights, Cosmopolitanism, etc., along with some objections to the very possibility of there being any genuine foundation for moral reasoning at all, as is found in Skepticism, Subjective and Cultural Relativism, and Absolutism. Moral judgment is considered from cognitive, psychological, affective, rational, and irrational perspectives. Utilizing moral dilemma scenarios, case studies, ethical analyses, class discussions, and written assignments, students will learn to see how traditional philosophical and psychological moral theories provide a basis for how they actually go about making moral judgments every day in their personal lives and in the world of business. The general goal is to help students prepare for the kinds of moral challenges that they will face in their business careers by providing them with a broad understanding of moral theory focused on making sound practical moral judgments from a pluralistic perspective. Students will learn to see their own moral systems more clearly and to understand how their personal theoretical moral perspective influences the everyday moral judgments they make within the framework of the contemporary business world and what difference this makes to their general desire to live the best possible life.
iv. Criteria
Briefly explain how this course meets the criteria for the group.
- Courses focus on one or more of the specific traditions of ethical thought (either Western or non-Western), on basic ethical topics such as justice or the good life as seen through the lens of one or more traditions of ethical thought, or on a professional practice within a particular tradition of ethical thought.
Various moral topics will be considered in this course in light of both Western and non-Western moral theories, as outlined above. These topics will include, but not be limited to, whether capitalist businesses have any moral responsibility; egoism, effective altruism, and philanthropy; whether individual virtue can survive corporate cultural pressures; whether ethics codes can build true corporate ethics; whether blowing the whistle violates company loyalty; whether immersive advertising to very young children is morally acceptable; whether college athletes should be paid; whether companies should pay for maternity leave; whether crowdsourcing is good for business; whether businesses should use metals mined by child labor, and so forth. These issues will be evaluated from the context of traditional ethical theories in the Western Tradition such as Virtue Ethics, Deontology, Consequentialism, Social Contract, etc.
- Courses provide a rigorous analysis of the basic concepts and forms of reasoning which define the traditions, the ethical topics, or the professional practices that are being studied.
BGEN 220 E provides students with the opportunity to study, analyze, and evaluate numerous critical moral issues, topics, and issue contexts arising in the business world today from within the perspective of moral reasoning derived from various moral theories. Ethical topics include the true purpose of capitalistic business, whistleblowing, social media in the workplace, discrimination against women and others, advertising to children, sex on the job, sweatshops, etc., with a special emphasis on moral issues arising in the global workplace, including global poverty, wealth and income inequality, the ethical responsibility of transnational corporations to supply chain workers, corporate inversions, etc. Moral issues will be presented generally in a pro and con format, using two or more texts drawn from recent business ethics literature, each presenting a different moral perspective on the issue. Students will read, analyze, reflect upon, carefully evaluate, and judge a number of these moral issues using an approach to the analysis and assessment of moral issues which can be found on the Moodle website for the course under “Course Resources,” which has been adapted from the American Accounting Association (AAA) model.
v. Student Learning Goals
Briefly explain how this course will meet the applicable learning goals.
- Correctly apply the basic concepts and forms of reasoning from the tradition or professional practice they studied to ethical issues that arise within those traditions or practices.
A. Students will gain a working knowledge of various mainstream ethical theories including Virtue Ethics, Deontology, Utilitarianism, Existentialism, Cosmopolitanism, Pragmatism, Distributive Justice, etc., focusing on applying the principles of social responsibility to real-world business situations.
B. Students will learn to see the connection between best business practices and the implementation of social responsibility through the study of alternative business models such as Shared Value, Conscious Capitalism, the Triple Bottom Line, etc.
C. Students will learn to see and evaluate various aspects of the business world from an ethical and socially responsible perspective, including: the nature of capitalism, the use of human resources, consumer issues, global objectives regarding poverty, income and wealth inequality, corporate social responsibility, and sustainable environmental policy.
- Analyze and critically evaluate the basic concepts and forms of reasoning from the tradition or professional practice they studied
A. Students will learn how to effectively read, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate numerous specific issues involving Business Ethics questions, including such issues as international corporate social responsibility, sustainability, whistle-blowing, direct to consumer advertising, white-collar crime and the 2008 economic meltdown, corporate personhood, company loyalty, workplace privacy, sweatshops, and many others.
B. Students will learn to see the connection between best business practices and the roots of social responsibility through the exploration of various case studies of national and international firms from an ethical perspective, such as Walmart’s response to the garment industry crisis in Bangladesh, the Keystone XL pipeline, the sustainability of fracking and extraction techniques, etc.
C. Students will learn to make better moral judgments in their personal and professional lives by successfully advancing from pre-conventional and conventional sources of moral judgment to making moral judgments based on sound ethical principles in the service of maximizing both personal welfare and social responsibility.
vi. Assessment
A. How are the learning goals above measured? Describe the measurement(s) used, such as a rubric or specific test questions that directly measure the General Education learning goals. Please attach or provide a web link to the rubric, test questions, or other measurements used.
1. Assessment procedures for determining the extent to which students have achieved the learning goals include exams, quizzes, discussion forums, and other written assignments.
Here are a couple of examples of the kinds of exam questions I use.
A. Overcrowded lifeboat scenario
DIRECTIONS: Read the following scenario. Evaluate the captain's actions from the perspective of Virtue Ethics, Duty Ethics, and Utilitarian Ethics. If you had been on the jury, how would you have decided and which moral theory would you use to justify your judgment.
In 1842, a ship struck an iceberg and more than 30 survivors were crowded into a lifeboat intended to hold 7. As a storm threatened, it became obvious that the lifeboat would have to be lightened if anyone were to survive. The captain reasoned that the right thing to do in this situation was to force some individuals to go over the side and drown. Such an action, he reasoned, was not unjust to those thrown overboard, for they would have drowned anyway. If he did nothing, however, he would be responsible for the deaths of those whom he could have saved. Some people opposed the captain's decision. They claimed that if nothing were done and everyone died as a result, no one would be responsible for these deaths. On the other hand, if the captain attempted to save some, he could do so only by killing others and their deaths would be his responsibility; this would be worse than doing nothing and letting all die. The captain rejected this reasoning. Since the only possibility for rescue required great efforts of rowing, the captain decided that the weakest would have to be sacrificed. In this situation it would be absurd, he thought, to decide by drawing lots who should be thrown overboard. As it turned out, after days of hard rowing, the survivors were rescued and the captain was tried in court for his action.
B. We watched an excerpt from the movie "Sophie's Choice" in class. List two basic themes from Existentialism that are illustrated by the movie clip we watched.
Here is a sample Discussion Forum question
Directions: Please feel free to speak your mind. Your post should make it clear that you have read the articles and given some thought to the arguments on both sides of the moral issue. There is no right or wrong answer and you will not be graded on your judgment per se; but there are more or less clear, succinct, insightful, thoughtful, well-reasoned and well-expressed judgments. What I am interested in is: 1. What is the moral issue? 2. What are the arguments on both sides? 3. What is your judgment about the issue? 4. What reasons and evidence support your judgment?
DISCUSSION FORUM QUESTION: "Should Advertising Directed at Children be Restricted?
[Consider this moral principle: "Above all, we shall not harm children. We shall not participate in practices that are emotionally damaging, physically harmful, disrespectful, degrading, dangerous, exploitative, or intimidating to children.This principle has precedence over all others in this Code.""A position statement of the National Association for the Education of Young Children"]
YES:Ban On Advertising to Children Linked to Lower Obesity RatesCatherine Musemecherequired
YES:Study: Kids' obesity risk starts before school age,Marilynn Marchione, Yahoo News 1/29/14
NO:McDonald's Defends It's Right to Advertise to ChildrenEmily Brooke & Greg Karprequired
Yes & No: Is it Ethical for Psychologists to Help Advertisers Market to Children?Rebecca Clayrequired
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Children as Consumers: Advertising and Marketing, Sandra Calvert, 2008
How responsible are parents for what their children do?Is It a Crime to Raise a Killer?Lisa Belkin 9/2014
Children and Advertising in Europe
Report of the APA Task Force on Advertising and ChildrenAmerican Psychological Association (2004)
Interagency Working Group Proposal on Food Marketing to Children
Advertisers, food industry blast FTC's ad guidelines aimed at childhood obesity Saint Louis Post Dispatch, July 2011
The Advertising Self-regulatory Council
Sugar:
Candy: The next battle in America's health war10/24/2014
Big Soda Prohibition Back on NYC's Agenda10/14/2014
NEW STUDY!Sugar Tied to Fatal Heart Woes: Soda's a Culprit, Lindsy Tanner, AP, 2/3/14
Every Bit of Junk Food / Fast Food Damages Your Arteries, Paves Way for Coronary Artery Diseasenew study, WorldTruth, 5/2013
Violating Children's Rights: International NGO Council on Violence Against Children, 2012
A General Education Assessment Report will be due on a four-year rotating cycle. You will be notified in advance of the due date. This will serve to fulfill the University’s accreditation requirements to assess general education and will provide an opportunity to connect with your colleagues across campus and share teaching strategies. Items VI.B- D will be helpful in compiling the report.
b. Achievement Targets
[This section is optional. Achievement targets can be reported if they have been established.]
Describe the desirable level of performance for your students, and the percentage of students you expected to achieve this:
- The achievement targets or expectations that I have for my students is reflected in a statement from my syllabus concerning what I expect from my students during the semester: “I have high goals and expectations for myself as a professor. I also have high expectations for you as a student in this course. I expect that you will attend all classes and do all the reading, writing, and research assignments by the due dates. I expect that you will spend a minimum of two hours of philosophical focus time outside of class—reading, writing, talking, thinking—for every hour of focused classroom time. I expect that you will abide by the Honor Code for this course. I expect that you will participate in class by taking notes, asking questions, contributing to discussions, and participating in class interactive assignments. I expect that you will actively work with the Moodle online interactive feature of this course. Finally, I expect that your efforts will pay off and that you will successfully achieve a real boost to your intellectual and moral musculature.”
- Based on past experience, I expect that approximately 75-85% of my students will achieve the desirable performance level, as expressed in the above statement.
C. Assessment Findings
[This section is optional. Assessment findings can be reported if they are available.]
What were the results/findings, and what is your interpretation/analysis of the data? (Please be detailed, using specific numbers/percentages when possible. Qualitative discussion of themes provided in student feedback can also be reported. Do NOT use course grades or overall scores on a test/essay. The most useful data indicates where students’ performance was stronger and where it was weaker. Feel free to attach charts/tables if desired.)
Students in BGEN 220E are invited to fill out an anonymous Course Survey toward the end of the course. I have used this survey with every section of the course that I have taught over the last nine semesters. The purpose of the survey is to determine what aspects of the course students thought was beneficial and what aspects were not. I make changes to the course based on survey findings. For example, I initially formed students into working groups charged with putting together a course project. But I found out through the survey that the group approach was more trouble for the students than it was worth because it was stressful and time-consuming for groups to find a satisfactory meeting time outside of class to work on the project. Consequently, I began using groups for in-class work only. Again, feedback from the survey encouraged me to move away from objective type exams and quizzes and to incorporate more assessment procedures using subjective, essay type questions where students have the opportunity to express and defend their judgments of moral issues. I also learn what has worked well in the course from the survey. I found, for example, that students consistently rate classroom discussion and the Discussion Forums positively. Consequently, I have moved to emphasize these elements of the course. The eight survey questions I use are listed below.