Ethics and International BusinessAcademic year 2015-2016

2nd semester, 1st block

Instructorsdr. Chiara Lisciandra (academic coordination, lectures, tutorials)

dr. Wim Westerman (student coordination, tutorials)DUI 858, tel. 050-367088

dr. Raymond Zaal (lectures, tutorials)

Grietje Pol (secretary)DUI 836, tel. 050 363 3685, email: g.pol@rug.nl

OverviewCorruption, responsible sourcing, sweatshops, gender discrimination, cultural relativism –these are only a few of the numerous ethical challenges we face in business and management today. But research in moral psychology shows that we often fail to see what is morally important about a situation. And if we do see it, we often do not know how to deal with it. And even if we know how to deal with it, we often do not act accordingly. This course takes a practical approach to business ethics. Its main objectives are to foster sensitivity to moral aspects of decision making in business and management; to teach analytic skills that help you take a position in moral debates and to give a reasonable justification for your position; and to develop ways to successfully cope with dilemmas and issues that arise. We examine the main theories in business ethics, corporate social responsibility and moral psychology, and we consider specific issues concerning ethics management. The course is set up in highly interactively ways, and we devote a large part of the time to a number of important cases from business ethics by means of collaborative assignments.

ObjectivesUpon completion of the course the student is able to:

1. identify morally relevant aspects of decisions2. explain ways to resolve moral dilemmas3. explain ways to manage ethics4. explain and apply main theories, arguments and concepts from business ethics5. explain and apply main theories, arguments and concepts from corporate social

responsibility6. explain and apply some theories and concepts from moral psychology7. explain how to cope successfully with moral dilemmas in business and management8. distinguish moral issues concerning sweatshops, corruption, and the theory of the firm9. report orally and in written form on moral decision making in business and management10. discuss and debate moral issues in business and management

Credits5 EC = 140 hours, which roughly amounts to 15 hours for the lectures, 10 hours for the tutorials, 55 hours book reading, 20 hours preparation tutorials, and 40 hours final exam preparation

Set-upThere will be seven two-hour plenary lectures (“hoorcolleges”), and five two-hour tutorials (“werkcolleges”).

Enrolment in tutorial groups and teamsStudents have to enrol themselves into tutorial groups as well as in teams via the Student portal course site.

1

Main literature We use one textbook (Crane & Matten, 2016; we call it C&M). We use the fourth edition of the textbook, and older editions are unsuitable.

Andrew Crane and Dirk Matten, Business Ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization, fourth edition, Oxford University Press, 632 pages | 246x189mm 978-0-19-969731-1| Paperback | December 2015

LecturesThere are seven lectures scheduled. Each of the lectures is devoted to a distinct topic, but the lectures are also highly interlinked. Attending the lectures is not mandatory, but please note that the lecturers deal with topics that may not be dealt with in the tutorials or the book, and that the contents of the lectures may be necessary to answer questions at the final exam. For the exact place and time of the lectures, please see the course schedule.

TutorialsThe course is heavily built on collaborative work. It is about learning to identify moral issues, analyse them, and tackle them – in a group, an international team, a board of directors, and sometimes as a sole individual blowing the whistle. You will learn to articulate your position, and justify it with tools from business ethics. You will learn to listen to others articulating their views. And you will learn to defend your own views against the objectives of others – in respectful, open and honest ways, always aware of cultural sensitivities and differences. All this requires class attendance during tutorials, which is mandatory, as well as collaborative participation.

Student evaluations consistently applaud the course for creating a friendly, open, motivating and interactive atmosphere – which is as much due to the students’ input as to that of the instructors. The assignments involve collaborative work, and this is impossible to do without preparation. Active class participation accordingly means that you have read the materials, and that you have prepared assignments, before the deadline. Teams are responsible for organizing the ways they meet and distribute labour. Teams are formed by self-enrolment. Instructions for the assignments that you have to do for the tutorials can be found below.

GradingTutorial class attendance is mandatory. Active and respectful participation in the tutorials as well as handing in assignments will count towards your grade (see below for percentages). You are allowed to miss two tutorials (but please note that a non-pass grade for an assignment counts as having missed the corresponding tutorial). For the assignments corresponding to the tutorial that you miss you will receive the same grade as your team members. However, if your team objects to this, for instance because you did not participate in the preparation of the assignment for the tutorial, you may very well receive the grade 0.

In line with Faculty policy, there is no opportunity for reparation assignments because the total weight of these assignments does not exceed 25 per cent. We also do not distinguish between good and bad reasons for missing a task. As a result, there is no need to inform the instructors about a missed tutorial or assignment.

Again, to be clear: if you miss more than two tutorials, whereby non-pass also counts for missing, the 25 per cent tutorial/assignment part of your grade will be marked 0.

All assignments are group assignments. Each team will receive a grade in the tutorials. Assignment results remain valid when you retake the exam. There is one resit for the course.

The grading schedule for the assignments is a follows (see below). Assignment 1: P/NPAssignment 2: P/NPAssignment 3: 10%Assignment 4: 10%Assignment 5: P/NPAssignment 6: 5 %Assignment 7: P/NP

The final exam counts towards 75 per cent of your grade.

P/NP means that the assignment will be graded as Pass/Non-pass. Members of a team receiving a non-pass for an assignment are considered to have been absent for the tutorial.

Only your overall course grade (25 per cent for assignments, 75 per cent for final exam) determines whether you pass or fail the course. Only the overall course grade will be rounded.

Final ExamThe final exam is a closed book exam. The exam has open questions about Crane & Matten, Chs. 1-11, the material of all of the lectures and of all tutorials.

Resit ExamIf you miss or fail the final exam, you have to do the final exam resit. There is one resit, consisting of a closed book exam with open questions. The assignments and/or tutorials cannot be repaired (see above). It is not possible to do the resit exam abroad or at another date than scheduled.

Course scheduleSee next page.

Overview

Week Activity Lecturer TopicMate-rial

Assignments Gra-ding

1 2-5 February

Lecture 1

Tutorial1

Lisciandra

IntroductionFraming business ethics

Chs. 1-2

Teams formation, practicalitiesAssignment 1: Discussion/debate about two cases (to be introduced during tutorial)

P/NP

2 9-12 February

Lecture 2 Lisciandra

Normative ethical theories

Ch. 3 No Tutorial

3 16-19 February

Lecture 3

Tutorial 2

LisciandraNormative ethical theories

Ch. 3

Assignment 2: Ethics in Action 2.2: Wall Street Journal Article: Private, but Public (C&M, pp. 74-75)Assignment 3: Case 3: Canada’s Oil Sands (C&M, pp. 127-133)

10%

4 22-26 February

Lecture 4 Zaal

Descriptive ethical theoriesManaging business ethics

Chs. 4-5 No Tutorial

5 1-4 MarchLecture

5Tutorial

3Lisciandra

Shareholders and employees

Chs. 6-7

Assignment 4: Case 6: Corporate Governance Football Clubs (C&M, pp. 277-284)Assignment 5: Case 7: The Expen-dables: Migrant Labour in the Glo-bal Workforce (C&M, pp. 332-337)

10%

6 8-11 March

Lecture 6

Tutorial 4

Lisciandra

Consumers, suppliers and competitors

Chs. 8-9

Assignment 6: Teams Debate(see also below) 5%

7 15-18 March

Lecture 7

Tutorial 5

Zaal

Civil society, government and regulation

Chs. 10-11

Assignment 7: Mock exam and review session P/NP

1 April Exam Westerman 09:00-12:00, location check online schedules

22 April Review Westerman 15:00-16:30, DUI 858 (to be confirmed via Student Portal)

6 June Resit Westerma 09:00-12:00, location check online schedules

n

24 June Review Westerman 09:00-10:30, DUI 858 (to be confirmed via Student Portal)

Assignment 1Readings Chapters 1 and 2

What to do? It is advised you read the entire course outline, so you can ask questions about practicalities during the tutorial.

What will we do in class? The tutorial instructor will introduce two cases that will be debated during the tutorial.

Grading Pass/non-pass for participation in discussion.

Assignment 2Readings Ethics in Action 2.2: Private, but Public (C&M, pp. 74-75)What to do? Read the case.

What will we do in class? Class-room discussion.

Grading Pass/non-pass for informed participation in discussion.

Assignment 3Readings Case 3: Canada’s Oil Sands (C&M, pp. 127-133)

What to do? Read the case. Each team prepares answers to the case questions. Write down the answers (one-page A4, good layout, 12pt Times New Roman) and hand this over to the instructor at the beginning of class.

• For each question, first write down the final conclusion and then your supporting argumentation leading up to this specific conclusion.

• So think through and discuss answers and do not write down raw, unprocessed, intuitive, first impressions as final conclusions.

• Make sure to base answers explicitly on the case information, and use and refer to theory from the textbook.

• A page with only key terms or a telegram style argument means a non-pass.• We only want your final conclusions concerning the questions, plus arguments. Do not

write down all the intermediate steps you took to arrive at them!

What will we do in class? We discuss and debate the case in some detail.

Grading Pass/non-pass for printout of answers.

Assignment 4Readings Case 6: Corporate Governance Football Clubs (C&M, pp. 277-284)

What to do? Read the case. Each team prepares answers to the case questions. Write down the answers (one-page A4, good layout, 12pt Times New Roman) and hand this over to the instructor at the beginning of class.

• For each question, first write down the final conclusion and then your supporting argumentation leading up to this specific conclusion.

• So think through and discuss answers and do not write down raw, unprocessed, intuitive, first impressions as final conclusions.

• Make sure to base answers explicitly on the case information, and use and refer to theory from the textbook.

• A page with only key terms or a telegram style argument means failing the assignment.• We only want your final conclusions concerning the questions, plus arguments. Do not

write down all the intermediate steps you took to arrive at them!

What will we do in class? We discuss and debate the case in some detail.

Assignment 5Readings Case 7: The Expendables: Migrant Labour in the Global Workforce (C&M, pp. 332-337)

What to do? Read the case.

What will do in class? Class-room discussion.

Grading Pass/non-pass for informed participation in discussion.

Assignment 6Readings Three mini-cases. See below.

What to do? Meet with your team to prepare assignment and to write a half-page A4 hand-out (good layout, 12pt Times New Roman) with argumentation, and bring sufficient copies to tutorial.

What will we do in class? Three times two teams debate three ethical dilemmas from the book. In the first half hour of the tutorial team 1 presents a position in favour of a particular proposition concerning a dilemma, and team 2 presents an opposing position. In the second half hour, teams 3 and 4 defend contrasting views about a second dilemma. In the third half hour, teams 5 and 6 defend contrasting views about a third dilemma.

Each team meets at least once before the tutorial in order to prepare a half-page A4 bullet point hand-out (good layout, 12pt Times New Roman) with the argumentation in favour of the defended position. The opponent’s team and the audience (the other four teams) get a copy of the hand-out during the tutorial.

The actual teams’ debate is meant to be concise and sharp. It consists of a (maximum) 7-minute presentation of team 1’s position, 7-minute presentation of team 2’s position, 3-minute rebuttal by team 1 of the arguments of team 2, and 3-minute rebuttal by team 2 of the arguments from team 1. And this process is repeated for the other four teams, 3 and 4 as well as 5 and 6, in the second and third half hour of the tutorial. Towards the end of each debate in the rebuttal phase, the larger audience (the other four teams) will be engaged in the debate.

The cases are the following.

First half hour of the tutorial: Teams 1 and 2 debate An Ethical Dilemma 1: No such thing as free drink? (C&M, pp. 6-7). Team 1 defends the position that the barkeeper’s undercharging of her friend is ethical. Team 2 defends the position that the barkeeper’s undercharging of her friend is unethical.

Second half hour of the tutorial: Teams 3 and 4 debate An Ethical Dilemma 7: Off your face on Facebook? (C&M, p. 302). Team 3 defends the thesis that using Facebook and other forms of social media in recruitment is ethical. Team 4 defends the thesis that using Facebook and other forms of social media in recruitment is unethical.

Third half hour of the tutorial: Teams 5 and 6 debate An Ethical Dilemma 8: A fitting approach to shoe selling? (C&M, pp.350-351). Team 5 defends the idea that the sales techniques used by the sales person in the shoe shop are ethical. Team 6 will hold that the sales techniques used by the sales person in the shoe shop are unethical.

It is important that all team members participate in the debate, and this is reflected in the grade the team obtains. Ideally, team members will bring up different arguments for the team’s position. Also a good strategy for some is to focus on countering potential counterarguments against the position.

Assignment 7Readings None.

What to do? Make the entire mock exam (to be found at the Course Documents site of the Student Portal), as a team, and hand in at beginning of class.

What will we do in class? We will go through the exam, give answers, and tips and tricks to prepare you for the final exam. So you will get a kind of ‘structural feedback’ on your exams. This is also a tutorial where you can ask more general review questions.

Grading Pass/non-pass. Please note that we do not grade the exam as though it were a real exam, because you can do the mock exam with the book. The real exam is a closed book exam.

Q&A. Questions and Answers

Q1.What do you mean by “lecture”?A lecture is a plenary event, a “hoorcollege.”

Q2. What do you mean by “tutorial”?A tutorial is an event with a smaller number of students, “werkcollege.”

Q3. Where can I find all the information for this course?You can find all information on the Student portal site of the course.

Q4. Why do you teach a course on Ethics in Business and Management?This course introduces you to a set of concepts, arguments and other tools that you can use when you are confronted with moral issues in your business life – and that you will face moral challenges, from your very first day in business, is beyond doubt. Read the Financial Times or any other newspaper or business blog, and you know what we mean. While we were writing this, for instance, Royal Imtech had lost 90% of its market value since it became clear that several of its officers had not acted with integrity (admittedly, there were other problems with the firm as well). Everyone has to act with integrity. But for business people there is an additional reason: ethical misconduct disasters cost a lot of money.

Q5. Will the lecture slides be posted on the Student Portal site?Yes. They will be made available on the Student Portal site.

Q6. Am I expected to read the entire book?Yes. The book is especially designed for this course. It does not contain any optional material, except Chapter 12. All other material is mandatory.

Q7. Is class attendance compulsory?We would not organize classes if we did not consider them to be useful. However, we know that students may wish to have a formal statement on their attendance. The answer is: it depends. Lectures (“hoorcolleges”) are optional. But everything that is discussed in a lecture is part of the

material for the final exam and is essential for successfully doing lots of assignments. But in the end, it is up to you.

On the other hand, the tutorials (“werkcolleges”) are mandatory. We have detailed the rules above. In short, you are allowed to miss two. The grades you receive for assignments of the missed tutorials are the grades your team receives, unless they object. If you miss more, your mark for this part of the course will be a 0. Following Faculty policy, there are no reparation opportunities for assignments, not in this year and also not in the next year. Q8. What am I expected to do before a lecture?You are expected to read the material as specified in the course calendar.

Q9. What am I expected to do before a tutorial?You are expected to reread the material from the lecture and to prepare the assignment(s). The tutorial instructor can request you to leave if you have failed to prepare the assignment sufficiently well, or if you participate in disrespectful, uncooperative or otherwise unacceptable ways. The instructor’s decision is final and cannot be debated. You will be considered to have failed the attendance requirement for this tutorial. This may sound harsh, and it must be pointed out that this rule has only very rarely been used. But it is there to ensure that we can discuss ethics in an open, honest and respectful way.

Q10. What happens if I do not come to the lecture?Nothing, but please do note that a lecture is not just a discussion of the chapters of the book, but includes more material that may be relevant to the final exam.

Q11. What happens if I do not attend a tutorial?You are expected to be present at all times. However, you are allowed to miss two tutorials. If you do not attend sufficiently many tutorials, the 25 per cent part of the grade will be marked with a 0. As a result, your maximum grade will be a 7.5 (if you score a 10 on the final exam). Following Faculty policy, this is irrespective of reasons, because everyone who has failed in this respect can still continue with the course, and the tutorial and assignment part only covers 25 per cent of your grade. Please understand that given these regulations, we do not respond to emails announcing your absence, requesting changes in tutorials, or honour requests for leniency with deadlines.

Q12. Who makes the teams in the tutorials?Students have to enrol themselves into tutorial groups and into teams via the Student Portal course site.

Q13. Why do we work in teams?Ethics in business requires collaboration, and collaborative assignments are better suited to give you a realistic impression of what it means to discuss difficult ethical issues in business. But please note that the largest part of your final grade will be determined by individual work on the final exam.

Q14. Can I change tutorials?No. The university has carefully planned the tutorials, so please do not approach us with requests about changing tutorials. You are enrolled in a full time study programme, and we expect you to follow the programme as we develop it for you. Except for students who are following a so-called Top Sports programme (who have different rights granted to them by the university), we will not honour requests to switch to another tutorial, once or more than once, or for the entire course.

Q15. Can we change teams?No.

Q16. Is there an opportunity to repair failed assignments?No. If you underperform on the assignments, you cannot repair this, following Faculty policies.

Q17. How many exams are there?The course has one final exam (and also seven assignments).

Q18. What is the exam material?The exam material is everything as discussed during lectures and tutorials, all the reading materials outlined in the course calendar, all slides and/or hand-outs provided by instructors (not the slides and hand-outs provided by fellow students). Although it is not compulsory to come to the lectures (the tutorials are mandatory, though), please be advised that anything discussed during the lectures is part of the exam material and is likely to be necessary for answering questions on the exam and to do well on the assignments.

Q19. When are the exams?Please check the course calendar. But do not forget to check schedules websites for last-minute changes.

Q20. Can we review the exams?Yes, the course calendar indicates the review sessions. But do understand that review sessions are not to bargain a better grade. They are meant to facilitate feedback for those who want or need, and to correct grading mistakes.

Q21. What are the historical success rates?Last year, the results were fine, the first exam pass rate was more than 80 per cent. We hope you will join us and make things even better this year!

Q22. What happens if I do not pass an exam?Not passing means you have a final grade lower than 5.5, that is, the grade obtained after weighting all the scores for all assignments and the final exam. If you do not pass the course, there are two options. (i) Retake the whole course in the next academic year. (ii) Resit the final exam. There are no reparations for tutorials and assignments.

If after having chosen for option (ii) and your final grade is still below 5.5 (so after you have taken the resit), you will have failed the course. You will then have to redo the exam. The grades received for assignments will be stored for the next year, but the final exam grades will not be stored. If you also take the tutorials again, you have to do it all, that is with all presence requirements, assignments, exams and other requirements that come with it.

Q23. How is the final grade calculated?The final grade is the weighted sum of the grades received for the assignments (if class attendance is sufficient), the final exam (or the resit). Please check the grading discussion above for the weights.

Q24. If I am dissatisfied with my final grade, can I take an assignment resit?No. If you happen to miss an assignment or if you hand in substandard assignments getting grades below 5.5, you cannot repair this.

Q25. If I am dissatisfied with my final grade, can I take the final exam resit to get a higher grade?Yes of course. And then we will let the highest grade count.

Q26. Is there a trial exam?We have copied a mock exam on the Student Portal, and we will spend ample time to discuss it in class during the last tutorial.

Q27. Why don’t you fully discuss all reading materials during the lectures?You can read faster than we can speak. Hence it would be boring for you if all chapters would be discussed at length. Moreover, not all reading materials are equally difficult to understand. What we know to be more difficult will be explained during the lectures and/or tutorials. But you will have to cover a substantial part of the material by means of self-study.

Q28. I did not pass the course last year. What to do?Have a look at the specific document for resit students, to be found at the very end of this document.

Q29. What if I have a question that is not on this list?We are there to help you. However, we trust that you understand that our time is limited and that we wish to help all of you equally. To make that possible, please do not ask us questions that you can answer yourself by means of a reasonable amount of work. Frankly, we will not respond to such requests. For example, do not send us emails asking us what book will be used. And please do address us properly, as we will also do the same with you. Don’t approach us in terms of “hey, why did you forget to put the material on the web? I haven’t got all week to wait”, or something similar (we don’t make this up, this is a real example). For those of you who find it difficult to know how to address people in English, there are innumerable resources on the web that contain examples. Google: “email to instructor” or something like that.

Q30. Is Ethics in Business and Management a nice course?Of course! We do not only think that our theme is important, but we also aim for making the course a nice experience to you. The course consistently gets very positive evaluations, and together we strive to make something worthwhile to remember out of our efforts. And of course, we sincerely appreciate your feedback to further develop the course!

Course Manual for Ethics in Business and Management Resit Students 2015-2016

Ethics in Business Management 2014-2015, 2nd semester, 1st block

Q1. Am I a Resit student?An Ethics and Business and Management Resit student is a student, who…• took the Ethics in Business and Management course last year (2014-2015), course

registrations for the other partly similar courses are not valid. • took part in the tutorials, the group assignments and/or the final exam, and whose final course

grade was at a non-pass level.• and who is still registered for the course Ethics in Business and Management (2014-2015).

Q2. Do I need to retake the whole course? No, you do not. Last year’s grades on the tutorial assignments are still valid. So, you do not need to attend classes, and to participate in the tutorial group assignments. In any case, the final exam should be done by you, however. When you have a pass mark for the tutorial group assignments, we assume that you will not retake classes. If you assume that the risks of failing will be too high, you should retake the whole course as a regular student. For the rest, you are treated as a regular 2015-2016 Ethics in Business and Management student.

Q3. Am I also allowed to take the Resit in June?You are allowed to take part in both the regular exam and the resit exam.

Q4. When should I choose what to do?Do it right now. Be so kind to your fellow students as to not change your mind after already having taken a few lectures/tutorials. Either you participate actively from the beginning in a student group, or prepare yourself individually for the final exam without obligations to others and at your own speed.

Q4. Suppose I do change my mind, what happens?You loose all your points earned for last year’s assignments as soon as you hand in an assignment this year.

Q5. I recognise a lot of stuff. Do I need to retake?The course Ethics in Business Management is this year indeed very similar to last year. Benefit from it, but do not become lazy. And by the way, the answer to the question is “yes”, as far as the final exam is concerned and “no” if you mean the tutorials and the group assignments.

Q6. What about course information and organisation?As to all kinds of practical issues, including the lectures and tutorials schedules, the tutorial assignments, and the final exam, grading issues, etcetera, we kindly refer to the Ethics in Business and Management 2015-2016 course manual and Student Portal course site. Note that we do not use the 2014-2015 Student Portal site for giving additional information.