Course Syllabus
Course # and Title
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Course Meeting Time
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Required Textbook: Manuel G. Velasquez, Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases, 8th ed.
(New York: Pearson, 2018).
Course Description
This course is designed to provide an examination of significant ethical issues and challenges in
today’s professional business arena, including the manager’s social and environmental
Course Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
● Demonstrate an understanding of key ethical principles and philosophies and the
importance of ethical behavior in the business world
● Analyze the available literature on business ethics to broaden the understanding about
ethical challenges in various sectors of business
● Identify the obligations and responsibilities of business corporations towards the
environment and society
● Apply critical thinking skills to evaluate ethical issues and conflicts in the corporate
world and arrive at measures to resolve them
● Apply ethical theories to real-life business situations and to make rational decisions
● Apply knowledge of ethical principles and dilemmas to the corporate world
● Demonstrate effective oral and written communication to respond to ethical issues
Course Policies
● In a Business Ethics course, it is critical to understand that your success, as well as the
success of others, is dependent upon participation in activities and assignments. As such,
you are expected to attend class and actively participate in class discussions and
activities. Your final grade will be lowered one full letter grade after three unexcused
absences. Two late arrivals or early departures are equivalent to one absence.
● There are three written tests that cover materials from the textbook, class
discussions/lectures, group activities, an individual project, and supplementary materials.
Grading Procedure
Your grade for this course will be based on your performance on the following assignments. As
you receive your grades, you should record them in the third column.
Assignment
Percentage
Grade
Analysis Paper
30%
Test 1
10%
Test 2
10%
Test 3
10%
Final Exam
25%
Group Project
15%
Sixteen-Week Course Outline
Week
Chapter
Topic
Activities
1
1
Ethics and Business
Select activities from IM
2
2
Ethical Principles in Business, Part One
2.1 Approaches to Moral Decision Making
2.2 Utilitarianism 2.3
Rights and Duties 2.4
Select activities from IM
Justice and Fairness
3
2
Ethical Principles in Business, Part Two 2.5
An Ethic of Care 2.6
Integrating Utility, Rights, Justice, & Caring
2.7 An Alternative to Moral Principles:
Justice Ethics 2.8
Unconscious and Conscious Moral
Decisions
Select activities from IM
4
3
The Business System: Government,
Markets, and International Trade
Select activities from IM
5
Exam #1
6
4
Ethics in the Marketplace
Select activities from IM
7
5
Ethics and the Environment
Select activities from
IM, Environmental
Ethics Group Project
8
6
The Ethics of Consumer Production and
Marketing, Part One 6.1
Everyday Consumer Risks 6.2
Markets and Consumer Protection 6.3
The Contractual View of the Manufacturer’s
Duties to Consumers
Select activities from IM
9
6
The Ethics of Consumer Production and
Marketing, Part Two 6.4
The Due-Care View of the Manufacturer’s
Duties to Consumers 6.5 The Social
Costs View of the Manufacturer’s Duties to
Consumers 6.6 Advertising Ethics
6.7 Consumer Privacy
Select activities from IM
10
Exam #2
11
7
The Ethics of Job Discrimination, Part One
7.1 Divided Over Discrimination 7.2
The Nature of Job Discrimination 7.3
The Extent of Discrimination in the United
States
Select activities from IM
12
7
The Ethics of Job Discrimination, Part Two
7.4 Discrimination: Utility, Rights, and
Justice 7.5
Affirmative Action
Select activities from IM
13
8
Ethics and the Employee
Select activities from IM
14
Exam #3
15
Cumulative Review
Analysis paper
16
Final Exam
Ten-Week Course Outline
Week
Chapter
Topic
Activities
Exams
1
1
Ethics and Business
Select activities from
IM
2
2
Ethical Principles in Business
Select activities from
IM
3
3
The Business System:
Government, Markets, and
International Trade
Select activities from
IM
Exam #1
Ch. 1–3
4
4
Ethics in the
Marketplace
Select activities from
IM
5
5
Ethics and the Environment
Select activities from
IM; Environmental
Ethics Group Project
6
6
The Ethics of Consumer
Production and Marketing
Select activities from
IM
Exam #2
Ch. 4–6
7
7
The Ethics of Job Discrimination
Select activities from
IM
8
8
Ethics and the Employee
Select activities
from IM
Exam #3
Ch. 7–8
9
Cumulative Review
Analysis Paper
10
Final Exam