06210798 - CSR, Diversity Management and Business Ethics

Part 1 (Lorella Pignet-Fall):
Ethics, CSR, innovation and diversity management are the key-words and the key challenges for a responsible manager.
By the end of this course students will be expected to have developed a critical awareness of the complex range of ethical issues and the link between innovation and diversity which can and regularly do arise in the conduct of contemporary international business.

Part 2 (Patrick O'Sullivan):
This course introduces students to a critical form of thinking abut the ethical issues which arise in contemporary business and to toolsofphilosophical analysis which may help in this process of critical reflection. Debates about the appropriate extent of corporate social responsibility and sustainability in its various meanngs are examined and students are encouraged to form their own critical opinions on leading contemporary ethical questions in business and on specific cases.

TARGETED KNOWLEDGE
Part 1 (Lorella Pignet-Fall):
Understanding the key concepts of CSR (corporate social responsibility) and the key levers in management of divers teams .

Part 2 (Patrick O'Sullivan):
By the end of this course students will be expected to have developed a critical awareness of the complex range of ethical issues which can and regularly do arise in the conduct of contemporary international business.  The emphasis throughout is on critical reflection rather than on the construction of formulaic answers or recipes for dealing with moral issues in business.

TARGETED SKILLS
Part 1 (Lorella Pignet-Fall):
Ability to design and manage a policy of CSR and diversity.

Part 2 (Patrick O'Sullivan):
Critical thinking on social issues and students will be expected to have developed through discussion and reflection their own moral standpoints on key ethical issues arising in contemporary international business.

CSR DIMENSION
This course focuses on CSR.

BOOKS USED AS REFERENCE:

• Bender, A.-F., Klarsfield, A. and Laufer, J. (2010), Equality and diversity in the French context, in: A.
• Klarsfeld (ed.), International Handbook on diversity at work, Edward Elgar, p. 83-108.
• Dobbing (2009), Inventing equal opportunity, Princeton University Press.
• Fussler, C., Cramer, A. and van der Vegt, S. (eds.) (2004), Raising The Bar: Creating Value with the
• United Nations Global Compact, Greenleaf Publishing.
• Laville, E. (2009), L’entreprise verte, 3rd ed., Pearson Education.

ADDITIONAL READINGS:

EMBLEMATIC BOOKS OR RESEARCH PAPERS REGARDING THE SUBJECT OF THE COURSE

• HARTMAN, L. (2005), Perspectives in Business Ethics, 3rd ed., Mc Graw Hill, Maidenhead.

(In particular this collection contains the article by Milton Friedman “The Social Responsibility of Business is to increase profits” and the seminal article also of Albert CARR “Is Business Bluffing ethical?”)

Continuing Examination
Nature of student work and proportion weight:
Case study coming from a real business situation (50%)
Individual essay (50%)

TEACHING METHODS
Lectures and case studies.

PRE-REQUISITE
Students should have an ethical approach to the management challenges in terms of corporate social responsibility and diversity