Teaching & Learning Guide for Business Ethics: An Overview
Authors: Moriarty Jeffrey 
Published: July 2009

Author’s Introduction

Business ethics is often taught by philosophers, but rarely to students pursuing a degree in philosophy. It is a service course designed primarily for those in business and allied programs (e.g., marketing, accounting). These students typically have little patience for the abstract questions that occupy philosophers. So it is useful to spend time motivating the issues through a consideration of cases drawn from, or modeled on, actual events. Most texts and anthologies are brimming with such cases. From here, the instructor can transition to a careful exploration of the underlying philosophical issues. While the ethical questions raised by business activity are complex and varied, they involve familiar concepts, such as responsibility, autonomy, truth, justice, exploitation, and relativism. The diversity of the field of business ethics allows the instructor to tailor the content of the course to her audience. A course for accounting students may consider the ethical failures leading to Enron’s collapse; one for marketing students may consider the ethics of advertising to children; and another for finance students may consider the ethics of insider trading.

Author Recommends

Most of these articles are widely reprinted.

 Milton Friedman, ‘The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits’, Ethical Theory and Business, 8th ed., Eds. Tom L. Beauchamp, Norman E. Bowie, and Denis G. Arnold (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008), 51–5.

 Friedman argues that, within the bounds of law and ‘ethical custom’, managers should manage the firm as its owners want them to, which usually is to ‘make as much money as possible’.

 R. Edward Freeman, ‘A Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation’, Business in Ethical Focus: An Anthology, Eds. Fritz Allhoff and Anand Vaidya (Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2008), 69–78.

 In the classic counterpoint to Friedman’s shareholder‐centered view, Freeman argues that managers should aim to ‘balance’ the interests of all stakeholders.

 W. Michael Hoffman, ‘Business and Environmental Ethics’, Business Ethics Quarterly 1 (1991): 169–84.

 Hoffman defends the view, against critics such as Norman Bowie, that firms have moral obligations to the environment beyond what is required by law. In doing so, he appeals to the view that natural things besides persons have moral status.

 Tara J. Radin and Patricia H. Werhane, ‘Employment‐at‐Will, Employee Rights, and Future Directions for Employment’, Business Ethics Quarterly 13 (2003): 113–30.

 Werhane, together with her recent collaborator Radin, is an influential contributor to philosophical discussions of job security. This article presents their latest thinking, and contains a helpful bibliography.

 Michael Davis, ‘Some Paradoxes of Whistleblowing’, Business and Professional Ethics Journal 15 (1996): 3–19.

 In this tightly argued article, Davis motivates the problem of whistleblowing, criticizes Richard DeGeorge’s popular justification of it, and presents his own justification.

 Thomas Carson, ‘Deception and Withholding Information in Sales’, Business Ethics Quarterly 11 (2001): 275–306.

 How much information should sales people be required to disclose to customers? Carson critiques others’ views, then articulates, and defends his own theory.

 Colin Boyd, ‘The Structural Origins of Conflicts of Interest in the Accounting Profession’, Business Ethics Quarterly 14 (2004): 377–98.

 This article explores the conflict of interest at the heart of the collapse of Enron and Arthur Andersen and then considers whether the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of United States is an adequate response.

 Michael J. Phillips, ‘The Inconclusive Ethical Case Against Manipulative Advertising’, Business and Professional Ethics Journal 13 (1994): 31–64.

 In this detailed and nuanced article, Phillips identifies weaknesses in many common critiques of manipulative (as opposed to merely informative) advertising, but concludes that this practice remains morally problematic.

 Thomas Donaldson, ‘Values in Tension: Ethics Away from Home’, Harvard Business Review 74:5 (1996): 48–62.

 When in Rome, do as the Romans? Donaldson says ‘no’, and offers practical advice on how to navigate the morally significant cultural differences in international business.

 Ian Maitland, ‘The Great Non‐Debate Over International Sweatshops’, Ethical Theory and Business, 8th ed., Eds. Tom L. Beauchamp, Norman E. Bowie, and Denis G. Arnold (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008), 597–608.

 Maitland rejects a variety of criticisms of ‘international sweatshops’. While the conditions in these factories may seem bad to us, he argues, they are often better than anything else available to those who work in them.

Online Materials

 A History of Business Ethics (Richard T. DeGeorge)

 http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/business/conference/presentations/business‐ethics‐history.html

 A history of the field by one of its most distinguished contributors.

 Business Ethics (Alexei Marcoux)

 http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2008/entries/ethics‐business/

 An up‐to‐date summary of business ethics research.

 The Business Ethics Blog (Chris MacDonald)

 http://www.businessethicsblog.com/

 A topical and frequently updated blog on business ethics issues.

 Knowledge at Wharton/Business Ethics

 http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/category.cfm?cid=11

 Short, accessible pieces covering a range of topics in business ethics.

 United Nations Global Compact

 http://www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/TheTenPrinciples/index.html

 Ten principles for ethical business, explained in detail.

Sample Syllabus

Books on Syllabus

There are numerous business ethics textbooks and anthologies. Textbooks generally cover a wider range of topics, but can lack the ‘punch’ of anthologies composed of articles in which authors defend their own views. Effective anthologies include, but are not limited to:

 Fritz Allhoff and Anand Vaidya (Eds.), Business in Ethical Focus: An Anthology (Peterborough, ON: Broadview, 2008).

 Tom L. Beauchamp, Norman E. Bowie, and Denis G. Arnold (Eds.), Ethical Theory and Business, 8th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008).

 Joseph R. Desjardins and John J. McCall (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Business Ethics, 5th ed. (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2005).

 Thomas Donaldson and Patricia H. Werhane (Eds.), Ethical Issues in Business: A Philosophical Approach, 8th ed. (Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008).

 W. Michael Hoffman, Robert E. Frederick, and Mark S. Schwartz (Eds.), Business Ethics: Readings and Cases in Corporate Morality, 4th ed. (New York, NY: McGraw‐Hill, 2001).

My recommendations that follow indicate in which collection(s) the article appears. The reader can also search for the article online to find its original source. Many are from journals, and can be easily downloaded.

Weeks 1–2: Philosophical Background

A course in business ethics often begins with a brief survey of important moral theories (utilitarianism, deontology, virtue theory) and/or theories of distributive justice (egalitarianism, libertarianism). All of these anthologies contain discussions of these theories. In addition (or instead), it might begin with selections from classic works such as Locke’s Second Treatise, Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, and Marx’s Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. These works engage recurring themes in contemporary business ethics, including the nature and value of property rights (Locke), the efficiency of the market (Smith), and the ethical aspects of wage labor (Marx). Appropriate selections from these readings can be found in [1] and [4].

Weeks 3–4: Corporate Social Responsibility

Milton Friedman, ‘The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits’, in [1], [2], [3], [4], and [5].

R. Edward Freeman, ‘A Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation’, in [1] and [5]. Similar articles by Freeman appear in [2], [3], and [4].

John Boatright, ‘Fiduciary Duties and the Shareholder–Management Relation: Or, What’s So Special About Shareholders?’, Business Ethics Quarterly 4 (1994): 393–407.

Joseph Heath, ‘Business Ethics Without Stakeholders’, in [1].

Week 5: Business and the Environment

Norman Bowie, ‘Morality, Money, and Motor Cars’, in [2], [3], and [5].

W. Michael Hoffman, ‘Business and Environmental Ethics’, in [5].

Amory B. Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins, and Paul Hawken, ‘A Road Map for Natural Capitalism’, in [3].

Weeks 6–8: Employee Rights and Obligations

Ian Maitland, ‘Rights in the Workplace: A Nozickian Argument’, in [3].

Joseph R. Desjardins and Ronald Duska, ‘Drug Testing in Employment’, in [1], [3], and [5].

Michael Cranford, ‘Drug Testing and the Right to Privacy: Arguing the Ethics of Workplace Drug Testing’, in [1].

Richard A. Epstein, ‘In Defense of the Contract at Will’, in [1], [2], and [4].

Patricia H. Werhane and Tara J. Radin, ‘Employment at Will and Due Process’, in [1] and [2]. Similar articles by Werhane appear in [3] and [4].

Sissela Bok, ‘Whistleblowing and Professional Responsibility’, in [4].

Michael Davis, ‘Some Paradoxes of Whistleblowing’, in [2].

Weeks 9–10: Truth in Sales and Marketing

Albert Z. Carr, ‘Is Business Bluffing Ethical?’ in [1], [3], and [4].

David M. Holley, ‘A Moral Evaluation of Sales Practices’, in [5].

Thomas Carson, ‘Deception and Withholding Information in Sales’, in [3].

Michael J. Phillips, ‘The Inconclusive Ethical Case Against Manipulative Advertising’, Business and Professional Ethics Journal 13 (1994): 31–64.

Weeks 11–12: Issues in International Business Ethics

Thomas Donaldson, ‘Values in Tension: Ethics Away From Home’, in [1], [4], and [5].

Ian Maitland, ‘The Great Non‐Debate Over International Sweatshops’, in [1], [2], [3], and [4].

Denis G. Arnold and Norman E. Bowie, ‘Sweatshops and Respect for Persons’, in [2] and [3].

Nien‐hê Hsieh, ‘The Obligations of Transnational Corporations: Rawlsian Justice and the Duty of Assistance’, Business Ethics Quarterly 14 (2004): 643–61.

Focus Questions

 In whose interests should corporations be managed?

 Are there any minimum conditions for work quality (including safety, privacy, and participation) that all firms must observe? Or can any conditions be justified, provided that workers freely agree to them?

 Does the prohibition against deception – and the requirement to be truthful – apply just as firmly in the business world as it does in ‘real life’?

 Do firms have obligations to protect the environment beyond what is required by law? What, if anything, makes the environment worthy of special concern?

 To what extent are firms responsible for the labor practices of their suppliers, especially those in foreign countries?

Project Idea

Debate. Have students conduct formal in‐class debates about the issues covered in the course. Divide them into teams of 3–6 students. Each debate will focus on a single question or topic, and will be between two teams who take up opposing views. Each team will prepare a document stating its case. The teams will exchange documents a day or two before the debate. This gives each team time to digest and prepare a response to the other team’s case. The original cases and responses will be presented in class, followed by further questions and answers from the debaters and other students. Students can be graded on their in‐class performances and work on the supporting documents. (This idea is due to the Wharton Ethics Program.)