Course Code BUSINESS ETHICS AND CORPORATE Credit

COM-509 3
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) Hours
Pre-
NONE Semester V
Requisite
The objectives of this course are:
• To sensitize the students to the ethical dimensions of business and to train
them to identify ethical dilemmas, analyze them systematically and resolve
them based on ethical principles and moral theory.
• To examine the ethical dimensions of business from different perspectives
(American/British, European/Japanese, etc) and to introduce tools of ethical
analysis of management decisions involving difficult choices between right
and right and wrong and
wrong.
Objectives
• To convey the importance and functionality of core values, codes of
contact and a culture of ethical behavior as powerful management tools in
the workplace and sources of trust and reputation in the marketplace
• To differentiate between responsive and strategic CSR in terms of
shareholder and social value, competitive advantage and sustainability.
• To help participants evaluate the CSR standards of their own companies,
identify CSR initiatives and convey competencies for their effective
implementation and evaluation.

COURSE OUTLINE
1. INTRODUCTION

Meanings/Definitions of Ethics and Social Responsibility; Basic Principles, Use/Scope etc. of

everyday ethical dilemmas

2. WHY BE ETHICAL?
Who cares? Who bothers? The “amoral” majority, Unconscious biases
3. BUSINESS/PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
Definitions, The case for and against ethics in business, Why the law cannot do it? Do
Business Ethics make economic sense? The invisible hand and market failures; Distinction
between Social Ethics and Professional/Business Ethics
4. COMMON ETHICAL DILEMMAS IN BUSINESS
Human resource issues, Conflict of interest issues, Customer confidence issues, Use of
corporate resources, Blowing the whistle
5. ETHICAL THEORIES
Consequentialist or teleological theories (ethical egoism and utilitarianism), Non-
consequentialist or deontological theories (normative ethical relativism, golden rule and
Kantianism), Virtue ethics and defining moments, Rawlsian Theory of Justice, Stakeholder
theory of management
6. ETHICAL DECISION MAKING AND GOVERNANCE
Eight steps to resolving ethical dilemmas and conflicts, Applications to Ethical dilemmas of
managers - Ethical dilemmas of organizations
7. CORE VALUES AND CODES OF CONDUCT AS MANAGEMENT AND
BRANDING TOOLS
Asymmetry of information and adverse selection, Principal-agent problems and imperfect
contracts, the market value of trust and reputation.
8. FUNCTIONAL AREA APPLICATION OF BUSINESS ETHICS
Ethics in finance and accounting, Ethics in marketing and advertising, Ethics in human
resource management, Ethics in governance and leadership
9. ETHICS IN THE GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

10. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

CSR as an ethical responsibility of business towards society, Responsive vs. strategic CSR,
Choosing the right CSR initiatives to create shared social and business value, Implementing,
evaluating and scaling up CSR to maximize shared value.
11. DOES IT PAY TO BE ETHICAL AND SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE?
The time horizon: short term vs. long term, Empirical evidence
12. CASES
Enron , Procter & Gamble Co. Aluminium Co of America Nestle
Hooker Chemical Company , EC, The
Wall Street effect McDonald’s
Polysterene Case
Philip Morris , The Markin Mining Company Texaco
Other old and latest Cases from Pakistan’s Corporate Sector etc.
Recommended Books:
1. Code of Corporate Governance 2013 or Latest, issued by SECP
2. Business and Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder Management, Latest Edition
Archie B. Carroll, Ann K. Buchholtz South-Western College Publications, Cengage
Learning
3. Business and Society: Stakeholders, Ethics, Public Policy, Latest Edition Anne T Lawrence
and James Weber McGraw-Hill/Irwin
4. Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility, Latest Edition, Paul Griseri and Nina
Seppala CENGAGE Lrng Business Press

Reference Books:

cs European Review

Responsibility Issues