Management Ethics

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• apply a logical and structured form of ethical analysis;
• to be familiar with some ethical concepts and distinctions.
• recognise the impacts of managerial decisions, both positive and negative, upon other people;
• develop skills of problem definition, analysis, problem solving and decision taking;
• recognise the mixture of benefits distributed and harms allocated, of rights exercised and rights denied, that constitute an ethical problem;
• gain the confidence to convincingly express your decisions to others;

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• how to avoid unethical business behaviour.
• some of the causes and consequences of unethical behaviour in individuals and organisations;
• ethical theories and concepts relevant to organisations;

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• communicate complex issues in a clear and coherent manner.
• Show problem-solving skills

Topics covered in this module will include:

• Moral basis of economic theory – assumptions and externalities.
• Critique of ‘classical’ perspectives against business ethics.
• Stakeholder perspective, stakeholder analysis.
• Examples of issues in Business Ethics e.g., advertising, environmental practices, job design, digital surveillance etc.
• Ethical theories and moral philosophers: Deontological ethical theories e.g. Kant; Consequentialist theories e.g. Utilitarianism; Justice theories e.g. Rawls; Rights theorists; Virtue theorists e.g. Aristotle. Immanent ethics, e.g., Foucault and Deleuze.
• Modern ethical theories e.g., immanent ethics.
• Ethical theories from socio-psychological perspectives
• Application of ethical theories to case studies.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include:

• Lectures,
• Seminars,
• Case studies,
• Activities,
• Conversational discussions,
• Group work

Learning activities include:

• Individual and group assignments (group or individual)
• Case study
• Problem solving activities
• Private study

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Brenkert, G.G., and Beauchamp, T.L. (2010). The Oxford Handbook of Business Ethics. Oxford University Press.

Crane, A. (2016). Business Ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External