Schedule of Assignments

Business and Consumer Ethics, Hettinger, Spring 2008

1.         Introduction

            1.         Interface executive Ray Anderson: https://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1333

Business Social Responsibility

2.         DesJardins and McCall, Contemporary Issues in Business Ethics, 5th edition (hereafter: Text)

            1.         Introductory material, Text 1-7

            2.         Milton Friedman "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits" Text 7-11

                        1.         Friedman obituary available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/business/17friedmancnd.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

3.         Editors' Analysis of Friedman's Article, Text 11-22

4.         Albert Carr, "Is Business Bluffing Ethical?" Text 243-250

5.         The Corporation as a Social Institution, Text 64-76

            1.         Video: “The Corporation” (1995)

6.         Lynn Stout, “Bad and Not-So Bad Arguments for Shareholder Primacy,” Text 84-96

            1.         “The Corporation” video continued

7.         Oral Presentations #1 (Jan 31): Legal, Potentially Morally-Troubling, Business Practices

            1.         Richard Cohen, "Violence for Fun and Profit" and Calvin and Hobbes available on Library E-Reserves (hereafter: E-Reserves), https://ereserve.cofc.edu/eres/default.aspx (Password: hettinger)

            2.         William Bennett and C. DeLores Tucker, “Smut-Free Stores” E-Reserves

            3.         Steve Turner, "Night Shift in a Pickle Factory" E-Reserves

            4.         James Kunstler, "They Came, They Conquered, They Closed" E-Reserves

            5.         Randy Cohern (The Ethicist), “Bad Business” (No Computer Privacy), NY Times Magazine, September 23, 2007 E-Reserves and “Email Privacy,” Text 233

            6.         “Buy American, or Else!” Text 282-83.

            7.         Lydia Polgreen and Marlise Simons, “Global Sludge Ends in Tragedy for Ivory Coast,” NY Times, 10/2/06 E-Reserves

            8.         “Selling Guns: Negligent Marketing?” Text 316-318

8.         Kenneth Goodpaster and John Matthews, "Can a Corporation Have a Conscience?" E-Reserves

Ethical Theory and the Market

9.         Oral Presentation #2 (Feb 7): Issues in Ethics and the Market

            1.         The Economist, “The rich, the poor and the growing gap between them - Inequality in America (Inequality in America)” June 17, 2006 E-Reserves

            2.         John McCall, “Assessing Executive Compensation,” Text 102-105 (stop at “Challenging High Executive Pay”)

            3.         Maureen Dowd, “One Life To Give” E-Reserves and “Boss Rewards Workers – by dividing $128 million” E-Reserves

            4.         “Genetic Screening in the Workplace” Text 228-30

            5.         “Levi’s Shrinks,” Text 176-77

            6.         'Martha Stewart, ImClone, and Insider Trading” Text 278-80

            7.         “Case Study: Accounting for Enron” Text 240-43

            8.         “Case Study: Caution: McDonald’s Coffee is HOT–And Its Food will Make you FAT!” Text 294-96

10.       Ch 2: “Utilitarianism and the Free Market” Text 23-43

11.       Same as above

12.       Ch 3: Rights and the Market, Text 44-63

13.       Same as above

14.       Patricia Werhane, “The Right to Due Process,” Text 136-41 and Ian Maitland “Rights in Workplace: A Nozickian Argument” Text 141-144

15.       Midterm Exam (Feb 28)

SPRING BREAK

Ethics and Advertising

16.       Oral Presentations #3 (March 11): Issues in Advertising Ethics

            1.         “Case Study: Nike: Advertising, Marketing and Free Speech” Text 329-331

            2.         “Marketing in School” Text 380

            3.         “Advertising’s Image of Women” Text 381-82 and "Scratch 'n' Swill Beer Irks Media Group" E-Reserves, and "Miller Beer Drops Ad After Protest" E-Reserves

            4.         “Advertising Headaches” Text 382

            5.         “New, Improved, ...and Smaller” Text 383

            6.         “Political Advocacy Meets High-Tech Ad Agencies” Text 384

            7.         Anick JesDanun, “Will ads, privacy collide?” Post and Courier 1/2/08, p. 10B E-Reserves

            8.         “Yellowstone nixes ads on Old Faithful Website” E-Reserves and “Look up in the Sky, it’s a bird, a plane, a space billboard?” E-Reserves and “Space Billboards Threaten Night Sky” E-Reserves

17.       Introductory material on advertising ethics, Text 323-329 and John McCall, "Deceptive Advertising," Text 332-337

18.       Robert Arrington, “Advertising and Behavior Control” Text 348-356

19.       Lynn Sharp Paine, “Children as Consumers: An Ethical Evaluation of Children’s Television Advertising,” Text 366-73

PAPER PROPOSAL DUE, FRIDAY, MARCH 21^ST, 1PM MAILBOX 14 GLEBE

20.       Ethics and Women in Business

            1.         Vicki Schultz, “Sex is the Least of It: Let’s Focus Harassment Law on Work, Not Sex” Text 203-207

            2.         “Women Wage Earners: Less is Best?” Text 467-68

            3.         “Hide the Wedding Ring” Text 470

            4.         Randy Cohn (The Ethicist), “Cellphone Naughtiness,” NY Times Magazine, September 16, 2007 E-Reserves

            5.         Video: Killing Us Softly III

Business, Consumption, and the Environment

21.       Oral Presentations #4 (March 27): Issues in Business Environmental Ethics

            1.         “Global Warming,” p. 435 (for more detail, see Al Gore’s video “Inconvenient Truth” in Library media center QC981.8.G56 I533 2006)

            2.         “Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co” Text 435

            3.         “The Detroit Project” Text. 436

            4.         “Pacific Lumber” Text 437

            5.         “Walt Disney vs. the Sierra Club” Text 438

            6.         Michael Barbaro, “Home Depot to Display an Environmental Label,” NY Times, 4/17/07 E-Reserves

                        1.         Also available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/business/17depot.html

            7.         Angela Charlton, “France stepping up for greener globe,” Post and Courier 10/26/07 E-Reserves

            8.         Case Study Interface, Inc.: Sustainable Business, Text 390-94

22.       Juliet Shor, “Why Do We Consumer So Much?” Text 373-379

23.       Jared Diamond, “What Is Your Consumption Factor” NY Times, January 2, 2008 E-Reserves

            1.         Video: Aflunenza

24.       Normal Bowie, "Morality, Money, and Motor Cars" Text 404-09

25.       Amory Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins, and Paul Hawken, “A Road Map for Natural Capitalism” Text 416-427

PAPER DUE, FRIDAY, APRIL 11^TH, 1PM, 14 GLEBE MAILBOX

International Business and Development Ethics

26.       Oral Presentations #5 (April 15): Issues in International Business Ethics

            1.         “Indonesian Corruption and Multinationals” Text 529-31

            2.         “Brazil: Economic Development versus Environmental Protection” Text 531-32

            3.         “‘When in Rome’: International Affirmative Action” Text 532-33

            4.         “Child and Bonded Labor: Business Responsibility for Supplier Practices”Text 533-34

            5.         “Drug Safety and the Third World,” Text 535

            6.         Juliet Schor, “Clothes Encounters” (October 2004) E-Reserves

            7.         Andrew Downie, “Fair Trade in Bloom” NY Times, 10/2/07 E-Reserves

            8.         “Case Study: Africa, AIDS, and Drug Patents” Text 476-78

27.       Thomas Donaldson, “Rights in the Global Market” Text 478-91

28.       George Brenkert, “Marketing, The Ethics of Consumption, and Less-Developed Countries” Text 516-29

Final Exam: Tuesday, April 29th, 8-11am