Study Questions | Ethical Practice: Professionalism, Social Responsibility, and the Purpose of the Corporation | Sloan School of Management

Course Introduction

What basic premise about human nature informs Hobbes' general view of our interactions?
Do you agree with Hobbes that, given who he thinks we are as a species, life in the state of nature would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short"?
How does Locke's view of man before the social contract differ from that of Hobbes? What fundamental assumptions on Locke's part contribute to that difference?
What is Locke's view of money?

Have you ever experienced a managerial challenge similar to that faced by Charles Foley in "Kathryn McNeil"/A? How did you address it?
What are Kathryn McNeil's responsibilities as she applies for and begins her job at Sayer Microworld?
Do the strategic circumstances of Sayer Marks Systems have a bearing on this story?
If you were Charles Foley, what would you do to address the situation represented by the conflict between Kathryn McNeil and Lisa Walters?

Badaracco speaks of "building" character through defining moments. Do you agree with that notion?
How does Badaracco's formula for action in "The Discipline of Building Character" differ from the stereotypical notion of "doing the right thing"?
Do you think you possess "moral imagination"? How has it manifested itself in your life?

At one point in "It's Time . . . ," the authors ask point-blank in a subtitle, "Does Management Education Add Value?" (p. 2) How would you respond to this question, based on your experience?
As you read Khurana and Nohria's proposal to professionalize business, do you worry that a professionalized business community might put business creativity and entrepreneurship at risk?
In the spring of 2009, students at HBS launched a professional oath for business, "The MBA Oath," which many in the graduating class signed. Would you commit to the "Hippocratic Oath for Managers" proposed in this article (p. 6)? Why, or why not?

This session features a panel discussion on business and the professions, with practicing professionals from law, medicine, business, and journalism.

How does Steven Pinker's explanation of morality as seen through the lens of evolutionary psychology affect your (and Badaracco's) notions of character?
Based on Pinker's exposition, might we reasonably expect a set of universal ethical standards across the professions, and in what might that set consist?
The word "selfish" often surfaces in assessments of MBA's as compared to people in other walks of life. How does Pinker's discussion of the "selfish gene," altruism, etc., inflect that stereotypical reading of business students and their professional practice?

Take half an hour to respond to the questions on p. 3 of Lynn Sharp Paine's "Corporate Purpose and Responsibility." Jot down a few notes: be prepared to share your views with the class.
In your previous place of work, had the organization chosen "an objective function and a set of normative constraints" (Elias/Dees, p. 16) to govern its operations? What were they?
Can you give examples from real life where each of the four schools of moral philosophy—consequentialist, rules-and-rights, virtue, relationship ethics (Elias/Dees, p. 13)—is applied?

What relation do Moss and Harrington propose between inequality and globalization? Do you accept their theory?
How does Aung San Suu Kyi view the role of economic well-being in establishing a successful, global culture?
How does Aung San Suu Kyi address Moss and Harrington's suggestion that government and culture may pose obstacles to healthy development?
If Hobbes and Locke were reading these materials, would they argue in favor of the kinds of change that Aung San Suu Kyi proposes?

Did Cambodia do the right thing in signing this agreement?
How would you portray the agreement? Is it a case of progress or protectionism? On what basis is it one or the other?
Looking ahead, what should Cambodia do? What advice would you give to Minister Prasidh?

Based on Alex Gibney's film version of the rise and fall of Enron, do you accept Joel Bakan's argument that corporations show "psychopathic" traits?
How do you account for what happened at Enron? How would you assess the relative importance of culture, environment, and personal values in the company's history?
What could/should Enron employees have done about the slowly unfolding scandal in their company?

What place does business have in the societies Plato imagines in The Republic?
How does Aristotle evaluate wealth and the creation of wealth in The Politics?
What constraint might the two ancient Greek philosophers' theories impose on corporations as we know them today? Could corporations function by the ethical standards the two men invoke?

Can we read out of Frank's discussion an explanation for the high salaries earned by business executives?
How can and do corporations factor social values into business strategy?
What place can and must society allocate to business? Will this place vary across cultures, or do you perceive a universal business culture that all societies might plausibly accept?

What do you make of Tocqueville's mid-19th century assessment of the American character, and the place of business in it?
Is there a message for business people in Tocqueville's comment that "the science of association is the mother of science"? What is "the science of association," and how might it bear on business education?
Do you assign as much importance to entrepreneurial activity in the global scheme of things as does Charles Handy, in "Tocqueville Revisited," when he focuses on the "fleas" of the new capitalism?
Muhammad Yunus speaks of profit maximization as only one way of looking at the world, and poverty as a product of "the system," not the individual: do you think that poverty is caused by a focus on profit maximization, and if so, could it be eliminated through what Yunus calls social business?
What role(s) do the three authors for this session assign business, relative to government and the overall political system in which it finds itself? Can the business community aspire to shape public policy? Should it?

What does Thoreau mean when he comments: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" (p. 50)?
What are Thoreau's "business habits," and what "business" does he practice (pp. 62-63)?
Can we consider Thoreau a libertarian thinker, based on the attitudes expressed in this selection from Walden? Do you subscribe to his definition of a "free man" (p. 123)?