75427 - Ethics for Corporate Decisions

Learning outcomes

The course aims at introducing ethics in management with a pragmatic approach. The course does not take a normative perspective, that is it does not consist of a catalog of things to do or not to do. Rather, it is proposed to accustom future decision-makers to ask the right questions and seek the most appropriate responses. In particular, at the end of the course participants will be able to address business decisions starting from assumptions, languages and metaphors which can better represent the nature of the business and its contribution to the socio-cultural and enviromental context in which it operates.

Course contents

Lesson 1: the apparent contradiction of the expression "business ethics";

Lesson 2: gift economy, management and happiness;

Lesson 3: ethics and responsibility in business;

Lesson 4: EU Green Paper, AMA statement of ethics, corporate philanthropy and impact investing;

Lesson 5: Exercise;

Lesson 6: teleological ethics and motivational ethics;

Lesson 7: the integration of the personalistic principle and the common good for business ethic;

Lesson 8: the Friedman's perspective and the shared value;

Lesson 9: ethics in finance and ethics in marketing;

Lesson 10: Stakeholder theory and the Italian contribution to business ethics.

Readings/Bibliography

The textbook is: Visentin, M. (2016) "Decidere meglio, decidere per tutti. L'etica nell'impresa", Aracne Editrice, Roma.

For each lesson a reading is assigned:

• Lesson 1: Measuring the Return on Character, Harvard Business Review, April 2015.
• Lesson 2: Marco Aime al volume di Marcel Mauss (2002) Saggio sul dono. Torino: Giulio Einaudi Editore
• Lesson 3: Garriga, E. e Melé, D. (2004) Corporate Social Responsibility Theories: Mapping the Territory, Journal of Business Ethics, 53, 51-71.
• Lesson 4: Porter, M.E. e Kramer, M. (2002) The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philantropy, Harvard Business Review, December 2002.
• Lesson 5: exercise.
• Lesson 6: Visentin, M. (2014) Happiness and the market: the ontology of the human being in Thomas Aquinas and modern functionalism, Business Ethics: a European Review, 23(4), 430-444.
• Lesson 7: Melé, D. (2009) Integrating Personalism into Virtue-Based Business Ethics: The Personalist and the Common Good Principles, Journal of Business Ethics, 88, 227-244.
• Lesson 8: Porter, M.E. e Kramer, M.R. (2006) Strategy and Society. The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility, Harvard Business Review, December; Porter, M.E. e Kramer, M.R. (2011) Creating Shared Value, Harvard Business Review, January-February.
• Lesson 9: Maignan, I., e Ferrell, O. C. (2004) Corporate social responsibility and marketing: an integrative framework. Journal of the Academy of Marketing science, 32(1), 3-19.
• Lesson 10: Costa, E., e Ramus, T. (2012) The Italian Economia Aziendale and catholic social teaching: How to apply the common good principle at the managerial level. Journal of business ethics, 106(1), 103-116.

Teaching methods

Traditional lecture.

At the beginning of each lessons a real case will be offered for a critical analysis.

Assessment methods

Written test. A real ethical case in business is assigned. The case shold be analyzed basing on three theories among those analyzed during the course.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Visentin