Business Ethics and Society
Module leaders: Dr Sarah Gregory and Chris Saunders
Duration and timing: total of 24 hours, Summer Term
Overview
This module gives you an opportunity to critically explore philosophical perspectives on ethics and morality to determine their relevance for managers and business today. These are then linked to wider issues in society, considering the specific issues that managers face and that businesses are involved with.
In the first of three sessions, you will be exploring some of the philosophical perspectives on ethics. The work of key philosophical moralists will be discussed as part of the critical discussion on ethics.
The second session focuses on the practical application of ethics to situations which managers face in their daily working lives. There will be consideration of issues such as diversity, gender and race and the way these affect individuals in organisations. Case studies will be used to examine a range of more everyday ethical issues that managers face in organisations.
The final session explores the relationship between business and society from both theoretical and practical perspectives. We will consider the multiple purposes that companies have for implementing a CSR strategy, examining these purposes against the theories of justice set out by Friedman, Nozick, Rawls and Singer. Evidence for what CSR actually achieves on a social scale will be examined.
The session will examine practical examples of CSR strategy being enacted with the expressed aim of reducing poverty. In this context, we will cover ideas such as cause-related marketing, fair trade and the strategic work of Porter and Prahalad on CSR and developing economies will be covered. You will be asked to consider whether you believe CSR provides an answer to the global issues it is said to address.
Assessment
Individual portfolio approach, consisting of two 2,000 word assignments:
- a reflective piece on the philosophical perspectives on ethics and how they relate to your own perspectives
- a reflection on your own perspective on a social issue, using the philosophical perspectives on ethics
