Applied Legal and Ethical Decision Making for Managers, Professionals and Executives

Curriculum Guideline

Effective Date:
Course
Discontinued
No
Course Code
BUSN 4490
Descriptive
Applied Legal and Ethical Decision Making for Managers, Professionals and Executives
Department
Business
Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
201520
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15 Weeks X 4 Hours per Week = 60 Hours
Max Class Size
30
Contact Hours
Lecture: 2 Hrs. Seminar: 2 Hrs.
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Learning Activities

Lectures, seminar discussions, case analyses, role playing, interactive exercises and formal presentations. 

This is a fourth year seminar class.  Student presentation and interactive discussions will form an integral part of the learning experience.

Course Description
This course is intended for senior students in the applied business degree programs. It is an application driven course that will focus on real world cases and examine thereby both the theory and practice of legal, moral and social decision making in the 21st century. The emphasis, however, will be on practice as opposed to theory. The course will begin with a brief introduction to the various leading theories of business issues in this business area, and then focus on the process of how managerial decisions are made or not made. The students will be introduced to several models to apply and hopefully emulate in their personal careers, followed by an intensive look at numerous real world cases that will challenge and compel students to examine their own values, morals and choices in life. Cases will be drawn from the private, public and non-profit sectors of our society and economy. The last quarter of the course will focus on the role of leadership in the successful implementation of management decision making and practice
Course Content
  1. The basics of moral reasoning in the context of business ethics; the distinctions between and overlapping of morality and law.
  2. Ethical organizational behaviour and outsiders: social and shareholder governance and accountability, environmental issues, advertising issues, governmental and community relations, consumer protection, and international cultural differences.
  3. Ethical organizational behaviour and insiders: the role of whistleblowers, employee and employer conflicts over power, discrimination and recognition of human rights, health and safety issues, respect for the law, and the development of employee autonomy, success and happiness.
  4. Ethics for professionals: the role of codes of conduct, legal sanctions and protections, conflicts of interest, ethical issues unique to our leading professions (e.g. auditing issues for accountants, taxation compliance or avoidance, etc.), governmental regulation.
  5. The role of leadership in the ethical process: various leadership theories and their manifestations in our world; charismatic and ‘hero’ leadership models, transformational and values based leadership, and Robert Greenleaf’s ‘Servant Leadership’ concept.
Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

  1. describe and demonstrate knowledge of the leading ethical theories introduced in this course;
  2. utilize a decision making model to explain and understand how an ethical decision is made;
  3. think critically, on a continuing basis, about the moral issues surrounding business and professional practice and imbedded in all executive decision making;
  4. apply ethical decision making models to real world business, public sector and professional moral issues, controversies and dilemmas facing practitioners in a 21st century organization;
  5. explain the ethical decision making processes, or lack thereof, that occurred in the numerous cases studied in depth in this course; 
  6. demonstrate an understanding of the role and importance, for both leaders and followers, to develop a moral compass that will guide and influence them in their future careers.
  7. recognize and develop the practices upon which moral leadership is derived.
Means of Assessment

Evaluation will be based on the following in accordance with Douglas College policy:

Quizzes, short written assignments and/or participation  10%
Written essay  25%
Mid term exam  25%
Formal written case analysis  20%
Formal presentation of case analysis  20%
  100%
Textbook Materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students

Texts will be updated periodically.  One or more of the following will be used:

Beauchamp, Tom. Case Studies in Business, Society and Ethics (Latest Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Brookes, Leonard J. Business & Professional Ethics for Directors, Executives & Accountants (Latest Edition). Thomson Southwestern.

Hartman, Laura P. Perspectives in Business Ethics (Latest Edition). McGraw Hill.

Newton, Lisa, and Schmidt, David P. Wake-Up Calls. (Latest edition) Thomson.

Post, James, The Collapse of Enron. (Latest Edition) McGraw Hill.

Wexler, Mark N. Confronting Moral Worlds: Understanding Business Ethics. (Latest Edition). Prentice Hall Canada.

 Handouts of the instructor, from time to time.

Prerequisites

 [BUSN 4420 or (BUSN 1320 and BUSN 2420)] and (any one of PHIL 1101, PHIL 1102, PHIL 1122 or PHIL 3320), and ENG 1130 (with a C grade or better)