Overview of Course

While there is little evidence that we humans are fully rational beings, there is a lot of evidence that we are rationalizing beings. We humans can justify ANY behavior. In the context of organizations - where we collaborate to achieve ends not possible individually - this ability can (and has and continues to) yield disastrous consequences. In this, we first study the processes that contribute to our rationalizing behaviors, and then consider the evidence for more effective ways to hold ourselves to our values and ideals. With an analogy to science, which is a process and tool for falsifying our knowledge with some necessary uncertainty; this class presents Ethics as a process and tool for guiding our choices with some necessary uncertainty as well. This process and tool view of Ethics highlights practical approaches towards promoting ethical behavior both individually and collectively within groups, organizations, societies, and globally.

Starting points for the definition of Ethics are an introduction to ethical theories and their underlying philosophies. These theories are examined in the context of contemporary organizations across a range of societies and cultures. This approach allows for an examination of ethics operating across four interrelated levels: (i) the level of individuals acting in different functions in businesses and organizations, (ii) the level of organizations, such as firms and corporations, (iii) the societal and legal frameworks in which businesses and organizations operate, and (iv) the level of global and environmental systems that define the background of today’s business and organizational activities.

This course will consider a range of examples from recent history, from a variety of films and documentaries, and some of the specific situations facing some of the countries we will be visiting over the semester.