Ethics of the Firm

Code:

LGE402

Acronym:

E EMP

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Social Science

Instance: 2006/2007 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Grupo de Ciências Sociais
Course/CS Responsible:	Business Administration

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
GES	171	Official Curricular Structure since 2004	4	2		-

Objectives

1. The proliferation of ethical discourses within the various transformations in the economic sphere is increasingly visible. It is therefore essential for students in the final stage of their curricular learning to ascertain the meaning and the extent of this fact in order to build their professional identity.
2. The “Pedagogical Questionnaire” given at the beginning of the course has indicated over the years that the “demand” for this subject is not yet fully formed . That is why an important function of the syllabus is to operate what is generally known as a “didactic transposition” to frame the student's embryonic indications in the best way possible through the interdisciplinary collaboration of economics, sociology, history and moral philosophy.
3. It is impossible to study all the ethical problems that managers have to face at work today. For this reason, as well as for pedagogical reasons, the procedural approach will be favoured over the substantive approach, contributing towards forming “ethical reasoning” (Donaldson & Verhane), within a process of increasing autonomy in the “construction of ethical problems” and of (re)interpretation of the cultural universe of values and normes linked with the social processes and behaviour of people, entrepreneurial organisations and the socio-economic world.
4. Finally, it will be important to obtain a balance between the social and global economic level and the organisational level of enterprises, with the issues traditionally attributed to each of them.

Program

1. The presence and relevance of ethics in contemporary societies. The ethical debate in a pluralistic society. The archipelago of normative discourses. Elements of language in ethics. The developing universe of “applied ethics”: questions.
2. The chart and dynamics of ethical thinking: the axes of classifications; ethics in the history of economy and history of economical science - growing capitalism, organised capitalism, deregulated and globalising capitalism.
3. Corporate ethics and globalisation : risks, taxation, corruption, etc.
4. Modern ethical perspectives: utilitarian, libertarian, liberal-egalitarian, Marxist, discursive, republican plural regimes of action.
5. The formalisation of entrepreneurial ethics. The distinction and tension between ethics within enterprises and entrepreneurial ethics. The universe of actors (beyond the “stockholders”/“shareholders”, the ”stakeholders”) of an enterprise. The social responsability of enterprise: theoretical and practical question. Codes of Ethics: writing a code, resistance and uses; wisdom of long run, beyond hypocrisy and self-destruction.

Main Bibliography

ARNSPERGER, Christian VAN PARIJS, Philippe – Ética económica e social, Porto, Afrontamento, 2004.
MERCIER, Samuel – A Ética nas Empresas, Porto, Afrontamento, 2003.

Complementary Bibliography

4. Complementary Bibliography

4.1. Generic Bibliography
NAGEL, Thomas – A última palavra, Lisboa, Gradiva, 1999 (6: “Ética”).
RACHELS, James – Elementos de Filosofia Moral, Lisboa, Gradiva, 2004 SINGER, Peter – Ética Prática, Lisboa, Gradiva, 2004.

4.2. Specific bibliography
BLANCHARD, Kenneth; PEALE, Norman Vincent – O poder da gestão ética, Difusão Cultural, 1993.
BOLTANSKI, Luc; CHIAPELLO, Ève – Le nouvel esprit du capitalisme, Gallimard, 1999.
BOUVERESSE, Jacques – Essais II. L’Époque, la mode, la morale, la satire, Marselha, Agone, 2001.
CORTINA, Adela – Ética de la empresa, Madrid, Editorial Trotta 1996 (2 : DONALDSON, Thomas WERHANE, Patricia H. (eds.) – Ethical Issues in Business. A Philosophical Approach, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 1996.
ESTEVES, António J. – “Ética e economia entre anti-utilitaristas: nota bibliográfica”, in Cadernos de Ciências Sociais, 24, 2003.
MOREIRA, Joaquim Manhães – A Ética Empresarial no Brasil, São Paulo, Pioneira, 1999.
MOREIRA, José Manuel – A contas com a ética empresarial, Cascais, Principia, 1999.
NOVAK, Michael – A ética económica e o espírito do capitalismo, S.João do Estoril, Principia, 2001.
PEYREFITTE, Alain – La société de confiance. Essai sur les origines du développement, 1998.
SEN, Amartya – Éthique et économie. Et autres essais, Paris, PUF, 1993.
SINGER, Peter – Um só mundo. A ética da globalização, Lisboa, Gradiva, 2004
SOARES, Conceição – “Corporate Versus Individual Moral Responsibility”, in Journal of Business Ethics, vol.46, 2, 2003 (August), pp.143-150.
STEWART, David - Business Ethics, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1996.

The bibliographic materials will include several “Annexes” about concrete issues.
Notes to be supplied by the course unit lecturer.

Teaching methods and learning activities

Teaching Procedures
The teaching procedures are subordinated to the above-mentioned goals, especially in point 3. The advantages of the "expositive classroom" are recognised and exploited, complemented by students' participation in debates. Within these lines, the learning materials include more theoretical texts and texts containing "cases" and "case-studies" from the current panorama of entrepreneurial management and economic life. In addtion to this, opportunities for interpersonal exchange between every students and teacher are encouraged both throughout the semester and during the assessment of test evaluation.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam