GEST3753-1 : Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

Study Programmes 2015-2016

GEST3753-1

Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility

Duration :

30h Th

Number of credits :

Master in business engineering (120 ECTS)		5

Lecturer :

Sybille Mertens de Wilmars, Virginie Xhauflair

Language(s) of instruction :

English language

Organisation and examination :

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Course contents :

Each day, news spotlight unethical behaviors in organizations. Beyond undemanding condemnations of the numerous unethical practices in any industry, we must admit that ethical decision making processes have become very complex in the 2.0 global business world. Every decision we will make in the course of our professional life may potentially affect the life of many other individuals, as the latter's decisions may also impact strongly our lives, our communities, and our environment.
It is thus crucial for each decision-maker to understand this complexity, to grasp the role he/she is playing in this global world, and to improve his/her ability to make ethical decisions.
The purpose of this course is to allow students to enhance this ability by providing them with a pragmatic framework that they can use to identify, analyze, and resolve ethical issues in business decision making. Students will also learn how to deal with conflicts between their personal values and those of the organization. They will finally consider the specific ethical issues they may be confronted with when interacting with the various stakeholders of the corporation.
Part 1: Understanding Business Ethics (BE)
Session 1: Introducing and Framing BE
Introduction to the concept: morals vs ethics
Why BE & why not?
The corporation as part of a wider society
Sessions 2: Evaluating BE and making decisions
Introduction to key normative ethical theories
A pragmatic approach to addressing ethical problems in the business world
Session 3: Managing BE
Introduction to BE management and standards of ethical behaviours
A pragmatic approach to manage stakeholder relations
Tools for assessing ethical performance
Part 2: Contextualising BE
Session 4: Shareholder
Corporate governance and ethical issues
Shareholders and globalization
Shareholding for sustainability
Session 5: Employees
Ethical issues in human resources management
Employees participation
Human resources challenges in network companies
Session 6: Suppliers and competitors
Power relationships in the supply chain
Ethics in negotiation
Ethical challenges of global supply chain networks
Session 7: Consumers
Ethical issues in marketing
Ethical challenges in the global marketplace
Consumer sovereignty and sustainable consumption
Session 8: Government and Regulation
Ethical issues in the relation between business and government
Supranational regulation
Self regulation and partnership in regulation
Session 9: Civil Society
Ethical issues and Civil Society Organisations
Relations between CSO and business
Social enterprises
Session 10:
Synthesis, conclusions and perspectives

Learning outcomes of the course :

Objectives of the course:

Introduce core business ethics issues and ethical concepts relevant to resolving moral issues in business
Present analytical frameworks used to address ethical dilemmas
Apply these frameworks to case studies and identify ethical issues specific to business
Examine and assess the social and natural environments within which moral issues in business arise
Discuss the relevance and resolution of ethical concerns in the management of companies

Learning outcomes of the course:
In coherence with the Intended Learning Outcomes of the Master in Business Engineering 120 ECTs, the course will enable students to:

Tackle some ethical dilemmas they might face in their professional life
Critically think about concrete cases
Understand different ethical framework and tools that will help them to address ethical issues
Based on case studies of ethical issues, assess, discuss and develop reasoning on these

This course contributes to the following Intended Learning Outcomes :

ILO-5: Capacity to research autonomously and methodically the information needed to solve a complex, transversal management problem,
ILO-6: Integrate autonomously researched information, tools, knowledge and context to build and propose, either individually or as part of a team, original, creative and viable solutions to concrete complex management problems whether real or simulated.
ILO 7: Providing concrete solutions to a management problem, integrating modelization methods and/or a dimension of technology, innovation or production.
ILO-11: Developing a critical sense (arguing)
ILO-12: Developing a transversal, global vision
ILO-16: Faced with a management problem, suggesting solutions that are ethical and socially responsible and that respect the principles of good governance.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills :

no prerequisite

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :

Classes will include

Theoretical and conceptual presentations by the teacher, using powerpoint slides
Empirical illustrations, brought by the teacher, in the form of case studies, videos, testimonials, etc.
Open-discussions linking theoretical contributions and field-related data

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :

face-to-face