Management Ethics

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

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

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

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• develop experience of working in groups, and negotiating group decisions
• communicate complex issues in a clear and coherent manner.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• 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;
• develop skills of problem definition, analysis, problem solving and decision taking;
• recognise the impacts of managerial decisions, both positive and negative, upon other people;
• to be familiar with some ethical concepts and distinctions.
• apply a logical and structured form of ethical analysis;

Ethics and the law. Codes of conduct, ethics policy, guidelines.

Moral basis of economic theory – assumptions and externalities.

Critique of ‘classical’ perspectives against business ethics (e.g. the view of Milton Friedman).

Stakeholder perspective, stakeholder analysis.

Examples of issues in Business Ethics e.g. bribery, taxation, pricing, environmental practices, human rights, corruption.

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. Modern ethical theories e.g. feminist ethics.

Ethical Absolutism vs. Ethical relativism. Hypernorms vs cultural norms.

Application of ethical theories to case studies.

Causes and consequences of unethical behaviour. How to make an organisation more ethical. Giving Voice to Values.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include:

• Lectures
• Tutorials
• Case studies
• Games
• Simulations
• Videos
• Online discussions
• Group work

Learning activities include:

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

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Hosmer, L. T. (2008). The Ethics of Management, McGraw-Hill. McGraw-Hill.

Hartley, R. F (2005). Business Ethics: Mistakes and Successes. John Wiley & Sons.

Goodpaster, K. E. (2007). Conscience and Corporate Culture. Blackwell Publishing.

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