Unit information: Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in 2014/15

Unit name	Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
Unit code	MGRCM2014
Credit points	15
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Phillips
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Management - Business School
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

Recent controversy surrounding such issues as environmental misuse, rewards to senior managers, the exploitation of third world workers and corporate fraud have made business ethics front page news and helped the concept emerge as an integral part of Management education. It is no longer possible for business organisations or managers to ignore the ethical and social implications of their business practice. This unit is intended to prepare students to identify and manage ethical issues as they arise, to increase awareness of the ethical dimension of business conduct, to develop analytical skills for identifying and resolving ethical issues in business; and to practice decision making about ethical issues. During the courses, students will be required to examine various ethical cases and problems from a number of different viewpoints and suggest how they might be resolved or dealt with. Through the use of topical case studies on such companies as Enron, Arthur Anderson, Nike, and Shell, they will be asked to question the role of business in global society.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Identify and describe a range of issues relevant to business ethics and CSR
• Explain and discuss theoretical approaches to business ethics and CSR
• Analyze and appraise practice through the application of relevant theory
• Critically evaluate the theory and practice of business ethics and CSR
• Conduct independent research using a range of sources and gain awareness of the provenance and credibility of such sources.
• Demonstrate developing essay writing skills.

Assessment Information

Summative One 3000 word coursework assignment which will assess a student’s ability to:

• Identify and describe a range of issues relevant to business ethics and CSR
• Explain and discuss theoretical approaches to business ethics and CSR
• Analyze and appraise practice through the application of relevant theory
• Critically evaluate the theory and practice of business ethics and CSR
• Conduct independent research using a range of sources and gain awareness of the provenance and credibility of such sources.
• Demonstrate developing essay writing skills.

Reading and References

• Beauchamp, T.L. & Bowie, N.E. (2004). Ethical Theory and Business, Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
• Blowfield M & Murray A (2008) Corporate Responsibility: A Critical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Crane, A. & Matten, D. (2010). Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship & Sustainability in the Age of Globalization, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Useful Journals:

• Journal of Business Ethics
• Business Ethics Quarterly
• Organization
• Organization Studies
• Business & Society