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Course Objectives
- To increase awareness of moral issues in business-related situations
- To better understand differing perceptions of interests in business-related
situations
- To develop a terminological and methodological background for understanding,
analyzing, and evaluating issues in business ethics
- To foster more careful, disciplined thinking in trying to resolve issues in
business ethics
- To enable students to develop their own, considered judgments about issues in
business ethics
- To make use of the internet as an educational resource
Instructor's Editorial Comment: From the list of course
objectives above, it should be clear that this is a course in critical thinking that
focuses upon business ethics. The methods presented for Justifying a Position, Working
with Moral Frameworks, and Analyzing Case Studies all provide basic techniques for
critical thinking. Students working in the course should gain familiarity with these
techniques, in addition to developing greater sensitivity and background knowledge with
respect to ethical issues in business.
Note though that the list of course objectives does not include getting
credit hours to meet degree requirements or getting the highest possible grade with the
least expenditure of effort (some students' measure of Educational Efficiency). Their
absence may seem to be an unrealistic oversight, since they often are important objectives
of students in the real world.
I am not going to deny the importance of earning credit hours toward a
degree. I just want to provide some perspective.
In the business world, a company can focus upon producing quality
products that people can use or upon maximizing profits. Although profits are too
important to a company's survival to ignore, it does not follow that a company must focus
first on maximizing profits. If it focuses primarily on producing quality products that
people can use, then it should be able to earn adequate profits. On the other hand, if it
focuses primarily on maximizing profits, this policy may not serve the company's best
interests (including profits) in the long run and may be harmful to society's interests.
Similarly, in the educational world, students can focus upon the course
objectives at the top of the page or upon credit hours and "Educational
Efficiency." Although credit hours and a grade are too important to a student's
survival to ignore, it does not follow that they must be the primary focus. If you focus
primarily on my listed course objectives, you should be able to do well enough in terms of
earning credit hours and a decent grade.
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