IBE-MB14

IBE-MB14
MBA 2014-16: Term-VI

International Business Ethics

Credits	3.0
Faculty Name	Prof. GK Agarwal
Program	MBA
Academic Year and Term	2014-16 Term VI

1. Course Description
Global business with transnational operations and cross-cultural interaction has to operate in complex cultural environment, high risk of political interference and unstable socioeconomic system. The local laws, rights and duties vary from nation to nation. The growth and survival of international business depends on proper culture sensitive handling of (i) commercial stakeholders (e.g. Suppliers, Competitors, Distributers, Retailers),(ii) host culture, standards and values (e.g. Local employees, Pressure groups, Host country Government, Host country community, Host country environment) (iii) Home culture(Domestic) standards and values (e.g. Domestic country employees, Shareholders, Domestic country customers Domestic Government).

So International Business as a field of study has ethical implication of more complex kind than what a business enterprise confined to a specific country has. In order to conduct business in an international context special care has to be taken about the value systems of both the home and host country. One has to be extra careful about prevailing moral standard of different geographical regions.

This course aims to discuss some basic concepts of international business and will critically examine the cultural environment of international business. It will sensitize the students to different dimensions of culture and culture specific value system. This course will help students to properly handle the ethical issues and formulate moral standards, which are rationally acceptable across the cultures.

2. Student Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, students should:

· Be able to critically examine the cultural environment of international business
· Be able to understand different dimensions of culture and culture specific value system
· Be able to apply ethical reasoning and critical analysis to real-world scenarios, and
· Be able to properly handle the ethical issues and formulate moral standards, which are rationally acceptable across the cultures

3. Pedagogy

The course will be carried out using real life cases on companies and important concept based readings along with regular classroom discussions and lectures. The students would also be assigned cases and/or articles which they will need to analyse in detail in teams. Evaluation of the Team project will be based on the presentations made by the Team in the class and the reports submitted. Throughout this course, students will need to continuously analyze and prepare the given cases and readings. Their level of understanding will be evaluated on the basis of quizzes, constructive class participation, presentations and examination.

4. Tentative Session Plan

*S. no.*	*Topic/s*	*Essential Readings*	*Book chapters and Cases*
1	Overview & Introduction: Why study International Business Ethics?
2 & 3	The Strategy of International Business; Mode of Entry and Strategic Alliances
4 & 5	Concept & Theories of Business Ethics; Ethical Dilemmas	1. “An introduction to Ethics” by Andrew C Wicks 2. “Values in Tension: Ethics Away from Home”, an Harvard Business Review (HBR) article, September 1, 1996, by Thomas Donaldson	Case: Parable of Sadhu
6	Ethical Decision Making in Business	“How (Un)Ethical Are You?” by Banaji, M.R., Bazerman, M. H., & D. Chugh, HBR, December 2003	Case: “Google in China (A),” by John A. Quelch, Katherine E. Jocz
7 & 8	Concept and Dimensions of Culture: Impact of Cultural dimensions on international business environment.		Case: Nissan Renewal Plan
9	The Economics of Ethics; Shareholders vs. Stakeholders;	“The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits” by Milton Friedman
10 & 11	Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility	1. “The Pyramid of CSR” by Carroll, Archie B 2. “Strategy & Society” by M. Porter and M.Kramer
12 & 13	Ethics & Corporate Governance		Case: Enron
14 & 15	Environmental Ethics, Global Dumping	1. “Beyond Greening: Strategies for a Sustainable World” by Stuart L. Hart 2. “Business and Environmental Ethics” by W. Michael Hoffman
16	Sustainable Development; UN Initiatives: Global Compact, Sustainability Development Goals	“An Ethical Framework for the Global Market Economy”, By Hans Kung.
17 to 20	Team Project Presentations
	End Term Exam.

5. Required Reading Material
· Following Reference books are useful for the Course. Relevant and interesting Articles will be compiled and distributed to the students.
· Other Articles & books may be recommended during the course as felt necessary.

Reference Books:

1. Hodgett, Richard M, and Luthans: International Management McGraw Hill, New York 1997.
2. Thomas Donaldson: The Ethics of International Business, Oxford University Press- 1989.
3. Laura P. Hartman and Joe DesJardins: Business Ethics McGraw Hill Inter. Edition, 2011.
4. Charles W.L.Hill, Chow-Hou Wee and K.Udayasankar: International Business: An Asian Perspective, McGraw Hill, 2012.
5. O.C. Ferrell, John Paul Fraedrich and Linda Ferrell, Business Ethics, Ethical Decision Making and Cases, Biztantra, 2006.
6. Bob Tricker and Gretchen Tricker: Business Ethics, A stakeholder, governance and risk approach, Routledge 2014
7. Bartlett, C.A. and Sumant Ghosal: Managing Across the Borders: The Transnational solution, Harvard Business School Press 1989.
8. John Kline, Ethics for International Business: Decision-Making in a Global Political Economy

6. Course Requirements & Evaluation

1. Participation (20% of grade)

Class participation is a very important part of the learning process in this course.

The goal of class discussion is to arrive at a collective analysis while building on different perspectives. One of the primary goals of this course is to help students develop the ability both to clarify one’s own position on issues related to

business ethics

and to be able to articulate and defend it clearly. Prior preparation of the cases and assigned readings is essential.

Besides regular and timely attendance, evaluation on this component will be based on both the quantity and the quality of the student’s contributions and insights (with the latter being weighed more heavily). Quality comments would be assessed on the following attributed:

n offer a different or unique, but relevant, perspective
n build on or constructively challenge comments from other students
n apply concepts from the readings to the class discussions
n contribute to moving the discussion and analysis forward

2. In-Class Quizzes (20% of grade)

3. Team Project (20% of grade)

In order to further solidify the learning during the course, students will work on a project which will be undertaken by teams of students. Each Team will be assigned a case or an article for detailed analysis which will be presented in the class and a report submitted.

4. Final Exam (40% of grade)

The course grade will, thus, be based on the following:

¨ Class Participation 20%
¨ Quizzes 20%
¨ Team project 20%
¨ Final Term 40%

7. Professionalism/Good Manners/Academic Integrity:

Academic honesty is crucial to the success. There will be zero tolerance on academic dishonesty of any form in this course. Students caught plagiarizing, cheating, or helping others to cheat will receive zero points for the assignment or exam in question.

Counterproductive, disruptive or rude behavior (like side conversations with the neighbor, reading a newspaper, using mobile phone/laptops etc. in the class distracting students or the instructor) will negatively affect the final grade.

Created By: Alora Kar on 11/17/2015 at 02:47 PM
Category: BM-II T-VI Doctype: Document

...........................