Instructor: Daniel W. Skubik, PhD JD MDiv
Voice: 909.343.4288 / Fax: 909.343.4437
E-Mail: dskubik@calbaptist.edu

Business Ethics

This course in business ethics is not primarily about how to stay out of jail, although legal concerns will be given some coverage. Neither is it devoted to simple functional calculations of how to take the moral and other values of your potential customers or employers/employees into account for marketing purposes, although some of these considerations will be touched upon, as well. The import of the course is to cover what it means to say that businesses and professionals ought to engage or not engage in particular activities with reference to value claims other than the ledger's bottom line. Students will thus come to comprehend the various bases from traditional philosophical and theological sources for discerning professional, ethical practices.

Required Texts

Edwin M. Hartman, Organizational Ethics and the Good Life, (Oxford University Press, 1996) ISBN 0190900778
Tom Morris, If Aristotle Ran General Motors: The New Soul of Business, (Henry Holt & Co, 1997) [various editions available]

Class Schedule

Assessment & Grading Scale

Two-Page Critiques = 16% (8% each x 2)	90 - 100 = A (90-94 = A-)
Three-Page Critiques = 24% (12% each x 2)	80 - 89 = B (80-82 = B- / 87-89 = B+)
Four-Page Critiques = 32% (16% x 2)	70 - 79 = C (70-72 = C- / 77-79 = C+)
Web Participation = 28%	60 - 69 = D (67-69 = D+)
	0 - 59 = F

Critiques

Note that our academic week runs from Monday-to-Sunday; not the usual calendar week. You are to respond via email to me no later than the end of the academic week that week's readings and critique are assigned. Specifically, you are to send an email that will receive a date/time stamp on my receipt no later than midnight of the last day of that academic week. I will not accept submissions of a critique beyond 24 hours after that academic week's assignment is closed. You will simply receive 0 points for that critique.

Example: Feb 17-23 assigns a critique on an item discussing privacy in the workplace. You must email your critique to reach me no later than midnight on Sunday, Feb 23. And don't wait until the last moment to send it. If your email receives a date/time stamp for 12:01am or later on Monday, Feb 24th, your submission will be counted late and you will automatically lose 20% of your potential score. In addition, any date/time stamp that shows receipt in my email box after Feb 24th will not be accepted. N.B.: The date/time stamp is the one applied by my machine when the message is received, not by your ISP when you send it. I do not accept sending stamps. So take conservative measures to ensure timeliness of your submissions.

You may send your submission via plain text as part of your email message (acceptable) or as an attached file in MS Word format (preferred). If you send your submission as an attached file, please indicate in the body of your message which wordprocessor and file format you used; for example, that you used Microsoft Word version 6 or Lotus WordPro version 4 to produce your document. Do not bother to embed fancy format options like macros in your documents--I do not enable special features when I read submissions.

You may send your submission as early in the academic week as you wish. But only one submission per week will be accepted for marking. I will not critique drafts, though I will answer questions in as timely a manner as possible. In all cases, I will do my best to email my comments and a grade within three days so you will have some feedback before preparing your next critique.

The critiques are all to be composed in the same general format; only their length changes as we progress through the class materials, though I do expect to see demonstrated some academic growth and ability to handle more sophisticated ethical discussions on matters of business by the end of the course than would be apparent at the beginning. Each critique should address explicitly one identifiable strength and one weakness raised in the piece under consideration concerning ethical issues that relate to points or themes raised in that week's readings. That is, what about the ethical business-related issues raised in the assigned essay show themselves to be compatible with, exemplary examples of or contrary to the point or theme laid out in our readings. Be specific in your claims and provide reasons for your conclusions.

Attendance & Participation

Attendance: Formal Face-to-Face (F2F) meetings will not be scheduled; this is an Internet-only course. But do feel free to email or phone or fax me for personal attention. I try to respond to all communications within 48 hours.

Participation: I expect you to use the two bulletin board sites at least twice each week, to lurk and read as well as to post messages of your own. When you do post, use your real name -- no nicknames or "handles" should appear in the signature line, and please keep your contributions brief and concise. A fair rule of thumb is to add no more than one screen-full of type per message on a single topic or issue (that's about 25 lines of 60-80 characters per line, or approximately 250 words maximum). Shorter contributions are quite welcome. Contribute enough to ask your question or make your point, and then leave time and space for others to respond.

The Students' discussion forum is the primary site for your lurking and input amongst yourselves as students in the class, and should reflect your attempt to internalize and utilize our subject matter readings and discussions as you engage one another in dialogue. I will rarely post a message in that forum, myself. The Instructor's discussion forum is my primary means for communicating with all of you. Students should post to the Instructor's forum only when a question or comment is directed specifically and primarily to me, whether concerning process or substance of the course. Naturally, you are always welcome to contact me directly for more private communications.

I expect your input in all cases to be academically rigorous, but without rancor. In short, no flaming or abusive language. I expect you to disagree agreeably with one another (or with me, though you should not expect me to take any particular position regarding these ethics issues), using reasoned argument to make your points and observations about theoretical and real-world business ethics.

In any case, make it easy for me to recognize your level of input during the course. We have only six weeks together. I would expect your contributions overall to show regular involvement during this period, comprising a mix of public and private submissions that demonstrate your attempts to grapple with this subject matter. Hence, it is not unreasonable that you will contribute on at least 12 separate occasions to ongoing conversations during these weeks, not simply sit quietly in the background to lurk. Of course, quality counts alongside quantity. A few short but quality contributions will earn more points than numerous poorly structured ones.

Caveat

This syllabus is composed in good faith, with a schedule of readings, etc. which will guide us throughout the term. Still, the instructor reserves the right to make adjustments to this schedule as deemed necessary for the overall enterprise of the class. Any changes will be communicated as far in advance as feasible, and you are responsible for knowing if and when any changes have been made. Always check the Web site if you have questions about readings, assignments or meeting dates and times.

Make-Ups

Critiques / Participation : cannot be made-up.

I recognize that "life happens" and can present setbacks and problems for each of us. But barring significant occurrences like death of a close relation or serious personal illness or injury, note that we are embarking together on a course of directed study that permits great latitude for personal study arrangements and time management, with few time-sensitive requirements. In fairness to all, requirements laid out in this syllabus will thus be strictly enforced. Should a significant interruption occur, contact me as soon as practicable to determine whether alternative arrangements are possible for completing the course.