WELCOME TO BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIETY

MBA 665 / Fall 2020 (3 CREDITS) THURSDAYS ONLINE VIA ZOOM

October 26 - December 29

This is a hybrid class:

Hybrid Class: Students must have PRE-READ the material and viewed any videos for that week before the face-to-face classes on Thursday. I expect you to come prepared to engage!

Zoom Classroom information listed on your Moodle course page. WWW.MOODLE.STMARTIN.EDU

Zoom classes will be be recorded and posted here: https://www.professornewman.com/resources/cloud-recordings

You will need and use a camera. I expect you to come prepared to engage! We have a small class so I will be calling on each of you!

It is critically important to get started ASAP and manage your time wisely. Do not wait for me to contact you - this class is difficult and very time-consuming. Success requires hard work, motivation, persistence, discipline and effort. If you attend the Zoom classes, take notes,* read my emails, participate in class discussions, submit all materials on time, and master the content materials, you have a shot to excel, not only in this class but in your career. If you do not have self-discipline or cannot commit that time and effort, do not take this class!!

Course Description: Advanced law course involving accelerated overview of contracts, bankruptcy, uniform commercial code [UCC], property, business organizations and government regulations. I've put a link to the syllabus below, but note this is subject to change depending on class progress and current events. Therefore, look to the course Moodle page.

It is critically important to get started ASAP and manage your time wisely. Do not wait for me to contact you - hybrid and online classes are very time-consuming. Success requires hard work, motivation, persistence, discipline and effort. If you log into the class regularly, participate in class discussions, submit all materials on time, and master the content materials, you have the potential to excel, not only in this class but in your career. If you do not have self-discipline or cannot commit that time and effort, do not take this class!!

MBA 665 Course Description: This course examines the foundations of moral reasoning and the analysis of ethical issues that arise in a wide range of contemporary business practices, both domestically and globally. This course is designed to inform and stimulate thinking on ethical issues, corporate social responsibility, conscious capitalism, and professional challenges encountered in business. The course material should enable student to recognize and manage ethical issues and to formulate their own standards of integrity and professionalism.

MBA 682 Course Description: This course examines ethical issues that arise in the administration of the non-profit and for-profit healthcare business models. With the increasing complexity in technology and administration of care systems, ethics has become a pressing concern in our society. The course surveys fundamental questions that arise when business or legal concerns bump head-to-head with the ideal of provision of patientcentered healthcare. These concerns encompass reproductive health, neonatal care, emergency services, care for the debilitated or terminally ill, care using new experimental methods, and other areas. The aim is to engender in students the thinking and practical skills to resolve hard ethical cases that arise for administrators of the healthcare system.

Course Objectives/Outcomes: This course covers the importance of business ethics in any industry. Many students and managers alike find themselves unfamiliar with the ethical challenges, behaviors, and regulations industries face. In turn, many organizations struggle with ethics.

In this course, you will learn what needs to be done to fix the moral ills of an organization. By the end of the course, you will know:

1. How to design and manage ethical organizations

2. How to make ethical decisions

3. How to be an ethical person

The scientific method can be pursued for addressing the moral ills of organizations.

1. Managers must recognize and identify the moral problems.

2. Managers must understand the causes of organizational moral imperfections.

3. Managers must have a vision, and understand the benefits, of a morally healthy organization.

4. Managers must understand and implement strategies that will result in achieving the vision of a morally healthy organization.

By the end of this course, students will be equipped with an array of best practices in business ethics that can be implemented soon after graduation.

Student Learning Outcomes [SLOs] from Graduate Catalog: In addition to program-specific learning outcomes, all Saint Martin’s University students, supported and nurtured by faculty and staff, will aspire to …

1. CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS: Develop the ability to raise vital questions, gather evidence while suspending judgment, and critique and construct compelling arguments.

2. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: Develop values-based convictions and act upon them. Show concern for issues that transcend their own interests and participate in civic life.

3. LIFELONG LEARNING: Cultivate a lifelong engagement in intellectual growth.

4. COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Listen carefully and thoughtfully and express ideas effectively through writing and speech.

5. GLOBAL AND INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCIES: Demonstrate an awareness of diverse perspectives in understanding issues and interacting with others as well as show an appreciation of diverse cultural values and the interconnectedness among cultures.

6. LEADERSHIP SKILLS: Assess critical needs of a situation and create a vision to address those needs. Motivate and inspire people to engage with that vision.

Instructor: Professor Shawn Newman, J.D. (short bio & contact information; law practice website and media)

Office Hours: I will be available before/after class. I am also available by appointment and via email at snewman@stmartin.edu. I try to respond to emails within 24 hours. Note these etiquette tips for emailing your professor and submitting materials.

Resources: I have added a book since some of you are taking this course for the Health Care Concentration ethics elective

• SMU E-mail account: You must have an active SMU email account as I send articles of interest, quizzes and exams via email.

• Required Books:

  • Business Ethics: Best Practices for Designing and Managing Ethical Organizations, Second Edition, by Denis Collins. SAGE Publishing, 2018. ISBN: 9781506388052

  • Law and Ethics in the Business of Health Care, by Joshua E. Perry and Dale B. Thompson, West Academic Publishing, 2017. ISBN 9781634604840

• Helpful but optional material:

  • Newman's Legal videos

  • Newman's Subject Matter Index.

Assessment and Grading: 500 points total

• 4 Exams @ 100/each = 400 total

• Class presentations : 100 points. Each student (or teams depending on number of students) will be responsible for presenting one of the case studies in Part V of the text, including the "Critical Thinking Questions" at the end of the case note. Presentations will be randomly assigned and evaluated by me and your classmates. See below.