Schedule

Date Topic/Readings (See syllabus for full APA citations) Assignments

8/21 (Sun)

 Business Ethics From a Philosophical Perspective (Unit #1) (slides)  
8/23 (Tue) Business Ethics From a Philosophical Perspective (slides)
Reading Questions.
James Rachels & Stuart Rachels, “What is Morality?”
Optional: Patrick Lin, “The Ethical Dilemma of Self-Driving Cars” (mp4).
8/25 (Thu) Business Ethics From a Philosophical Perspective (slides)
Reading Questions.
Amartya Sen, “Does Business Ethics Make Economic Sense?”
Optional: Harris Interactive, “Only One-Quarter of Americans Say Banks are Honest and Trustworthy”.		 Debate #1 teams assigned (topic).
8/28 (Sun)

Business Ethics From a Philosophical Perspective (slides)
Reading Questions.
James Rachels & Stuart Rachels, “Subjectivism in Ethics”.

  
8/30 (Tue) Business Ethics From a Philosophical Perspective (slides)
Reading Questions.
Roger Crisp, “Persuasive Advertising, Autonomy, and the Creation of Desire”.
Optional: Susie Poppick, “10 Subliminal Retail Tricks You’re Probably Falling For”.
Optional: Suzanne Vranica, “Sony Ericsson Campaign Uses Actors To Push Camera-Phone in Real Life”.
9/1 (Thu) Debate #1
This House Believes Qatar Should Tax Businesses Selling Sugary Drinks to Promote Public Health (slides)
Reading Questions.
Anemona Hartocollis, “Failure of State Soda Tax Plan Reflects Power of an Antitax Message”.
Elisabeth Malkin, “Mexico Takes Bloomberg-Like Swing at Soaring Obesity”.
Margot Sanger-Katz, “Soda Tax Passes in Philadelphia. Advocates Ask: Who’s Next?”
Qatar Tribune, “Soft Drinks Set to Cost More as GCC Proposes 100% Tax”.
World Health Organization, “Qatar: WHO Statistical Profile”.
World Health Organization, “Noncommunicable Diseases Country Profiles”.
International Diabetes Federation, “Qatar”.
Central Intelligence Agency, “Country Comparison :: Obesity - Adult Prevalence Rate”.

Debate #1 preparation outline due by 8:00am via Blackboard (topic) (rubric) (guidelines) (templates: MS Word & Pages).

Debate #1 peer evaluations due by 8:00am via Google Forms.

In-class debate #1 (rubric).
9/4 (Sun) Business Ethics From a Philosophical Perspective (slides)
Reading Questions.
Albert Z. Carr, “Is Business Bluffing Ethical?”		  
9/6 (Tue)

 Business Ethics From a Philosophical Perspective (slides)
Reading Questions.
Bruce Weinstein, “If It’s Legal, It’s Ethical. . . Right?”
Optional: Carl Cannon, “Tylenol’s Rebound”.
9/8 (Thu) Business Ethics From a Philosophical Perspective (slides)
Reading Questions.
Thomas Donaldson, “Values In Tension: Ethics Away From Home”.
Optional: Katherine Zoepf, “Shopgirls”.		 Debate #1 position paper due by 12:00pm (noon) via Blackboard (topic) (rubric) (guidelines) (templates: MS Word & Pages).
9/11–9/15 Eid Al-Adha Break
  
9/18 (Sun) Business Ethics From a Philosophical Perspective (slides)
Reading Questions.
David Emmanuel Gray (Editor), “Vodafone Qatar’s Amazon Adventurers”.
9/20 (Tue) What’s the Point of Business? (Unit #2) (slides)
Reading Questions.
Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.		 Debate #2 teams assigned (topic).
9/22 (Thu) What’s the Point of Business? (slides)
Reading Questions.
Milton Friedman, “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits”.
Optional: Loizos Heracleous & Luh Luh Lan, “The Myth of Shareholder Capitalism”.
  
9/25 (Sun) What’s the Point of Business? (slides)
Reading Questions.
Lynn Stuart Parramore, “How a Libertarian Used Ayn Rand’s Crazy Philosophy to Drive Sears Into the Ground”.
James Rachels & Stuart Rachels, “The Argument That Ethical Egoism is Unacceptably Arbitrary”.
9/27 (Tue)

What’s the Point of Business? (slides)
Reading Questions.
Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons”.

  
9/29 (Thu)

Debate #2
This House Believes Google Has the Right to Promote Its Own Products Using Android (slides)
Reading Questions.
Mark Scott, “E.U. Charges Dispute Google’s Claims That Android Is Open to All”.
Kent Walker, “Android’s Model of Open Innovation”.
Ryan Radia, “Monopolies, Like Google, Are Innovators, Which Is Good for Consumers”.
Dietrich Vollrath, “There’s No Limit to Google’s Market Power”.

Debate #2 preparation outline due by 8:00am via Blackboard (topic) (rubric) (guidelines) (templates: MS Word & Pages).

Debate #2 peer evaluations due by 8:00am via Google Forms.

In-class debate #2 (rubric).
10/2 (Sun) What’s the Point of Business? (slides)
Reading Questions.
Robert Solomon, A Better Way to Think About Business.
10/4 (Tue) What’s the Point of Business? (slides)
Reading Questions.
Ronald Duska, “The Why’s of Business Revisited”.		  
10/6 (Thu) What’s the Point of Business? (slides)
Reading Questions.
R. Edward Freeman, “Managing for Stakeholders”.		 Debate #2 position paper due by 12:00pm (noon) via Blackboard (topic) (rubric) (guidelines) (templates: MS Word & Pages).
10/9 (Sun)

What’s the Point of Business? (slides)
Reading Questions.
David Emmanuel Gray (Editor), “Building Construction and Safety After the Villaggio Fire”.

  
10/11 (Tue) Obligations to Partners, Employees, Clients & Consumers (Unit #3) (slides)
Reading Questions.
Jefferey Moriarty, “Do CEOs Get Paid Too Much?”
Optional: Lawrence Mishel & Alyssa Davis, “Top CEOs Make 300 Times More than Typical Workers: Pay Growth Surpasses Stock Gains and Wage Growth of Top 0.1 Percent”.		  
10/13 (Thu) Obligations to Partners, Employees, Clients & Consumers (slides)
Reading Questions.
Richard A. Epstein, “In Defense of the Contract at Will”.		  

10/16 (Sun)

 Obligations to Partners, Employees, Clients & Consumers (slides)
Reading Questions.
John J. McCall, “A Defense of Just Cause Dismissal Rules”.		  
10/18 (Tue) Obligations to Partners, Employees, Clients & Consumers (slides)
Reading Questions.
Ian Maitland, “The Great Non-Debate over International Sweatshops”.		 Debate #3 teams assigned (topic).
10/20 (Thu) Obligations to Partners, Employees, Clients & Consumers (slides)
Reading Questions.
Chris Meyers, “Wrongful Beneficence: Exploitation and Third World Sweatshops”.

 
10/23 (Sun) Obligations to Partners, Employees, Clients & Consumers (slides)
Reading Questions.
Aviva Geva, “Moral Problems of Employing Foreign Workers”.		  
10/25 (Tue) Obligations to Partners, Employees, Clients & Consumers (slides)
Reading Questions.
David Emmanuel Gray (Editor), “Reforming Qatar’s Kafala System”.
10/27 (Thu)

Debate #3
This House Believes Relying on Biometric Scans for Security is Too Risky (slides)
Reading Questions.
Michael Corkery, “Goodbye, Password. Banks Opt to Scan Fingers and Faces Instead”.
Samir Nanavati, “Biometrics Allow for Better Bank Security and Customer Convenience”.
James Lewis, “The Need for Biometrics Goes Beyond Banks”.
Claire Gartland, “Biometrics Are a Grave Threat to Privacy”.
Yana Welinder, “Biometrics in Banking Is Not Secure”.

Debate #3 preparation outline due by 8:00am via Blackboard (topic) (rubric) (guidelines) (templates: MS Word & Pages).

Debate #3 peer evaluations due by 8:00am via Google Forms.

In-class debate #3 (rubric).
10/30 (Sun) Obligations to Partners, Employees, Clients & Consumers (slides)
Reading Questions.
Matt Zwolinski, “The Ethics of Price Gouging”.
Optional: Lauren Evans, “Uber’s Snow Storm Surge Pricing Gouged New Yorkers Big Time”.		  
11/1 (Tue)

Obligations to Partners, Employees, Clients & Consumers (slides)
Reading Questions.
Jeremy Snyder, “What’s the Matter with Price Gouging?”

  
11/3 (Thu)

Obligations to Partners, Employees, Clients & Consumers (slides)
Reading Questions.
David Emmanuel Gray (Editor), “The Qatar National Bank Data Hack”.

 Debate #3 position paper due by 12:00pm (noon) via Blackboard (topic) (rubric) (guidelines) (templates: MS Word & Pages).
11/6 (Sun) Corporate Social Responsibility (Unit #4) (slides)
Reading Questions.
Andrew Carnegie, “Wealth”.
Optional: Jason Farbman, “We Don’t Want Mark Zuckerberg’s Charity”.		  
11/8 (Tue) Corporate Social Responsibility (slides)
Reading Questions.
Michael E. Porter & Mark R. Kramer, “Creating Shared Value”.		 Debate #4 teams assigned (topic).
11/10 (Thu) Class Cancelled  
11/13 (Sun) Corporate Social Responsibility (slides)
Reading Questions.
C. K. Prahalad, “The Market at the Bottom of the Pyramid”.		  
11/15 (Tue) Corporate Social Responsibility (slides)
Reading Questions.
Aneel Karnani, “Romanticizing the Poor”.		  
11/17 (Thu)

Debate #4
This House Believes Vodafone Egypt Was Wrong to Suspend Service to Tahrir Square on Friday, January 28, 2011 (slides)
Reading Questions.
Urs Müller & Shirish Pandit, “Vodafone in Egypt: National Crises and Their Implications for Multinational Corporations (A)”.
Urs Müller & Shirish Pandit, “Vodafone in Egypt: National Crises and Their Implications for Multinational Corporations (B)”.
(Both readings will be distributed as hardcopies.)

Debate #4 preparation outline due by 8:00am via Blackboard (topic) (rubric) (guidelines) (templates: MS Word & Pages).

Debate #4 peer evaluations due by 8:00am via Google Forms.

In-class debate #4 (rubric).
11/20 (Sun) Corporate Social Responsibility (slides)
Reading Questions.
Kasturi Rangan, Lisa Chase & Sohel Karim, “The Truth About CSR”.		  
11/22 (Tue)

Corporate Social Responsibility (slides)
Reading Questions.
David Emmanuel Gray (Editor), “Challenges for Qatarization in the Private Sector”.

  
11/24 (Thu) Corporate Social Responsibility
Guest presentation by Ilaria Gualtieri, Corporate Social Responsibility Advisor, RasGas.
Reading Questions.
Kasturi Rangan, Lisa Chase & Sohel Karim, “Why Every Company Needs a CSR Strategy and How to Build It”.
Optional: Dan O’Brien, “Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility with Competitive Strategy”.

Debate #4 position paper due by 12:00pm (noon) via Blackboard (topic) (rubric) (guidelines) (templates: MS Word & Pages).
11/27 (Sun) Corporate Social Responsibility
Guest presentation by Dana Haidan, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, Vodafone Qatar.
Reading Questions.
Dana Haidan, “Redefining Value at Vodafone Qatar”. 		 
11/29 (Tue) Corporate Social Responsibility
Guest presentation by Ophelie Janus, Head of Communications, Siemens WLL Qatar.
Reading Questions.
Niall Thorburn, “What Does It Mean to be Carbon Neutral?”.
Noah Deich, “Carbon-Neutral Isnt Enough: Why Companies Need to Step Up On Removal”.
Ernst & Young, “How Should Business Approach Carbon Neutrality? The Solutions and Benefits”.
United Nations Global Compact, Homepage.
United Nations Global Compact, United Nations Environment Programme, Oxfam, & World Resources Institute, “Adapting for a Green Economy: Companies, Communities, and Climate Change. A Caring for Climate Report”. 		 
12/1 (Thu)
 Epilogue: Ethical Leadership
Reading Questions.
Plato, “The Allegory of the Cave”.