B100 Day School Three

Blocks 6 and 7

Phillippa SeawardB100-15J

Agenda• Introduction• Learning So Far• Assessment Process• Book 5• Case Study• Break• Book 6• Case study• Book 7• Final Questions

Experiences – TMAs so far

TMA Assessment Process

• What have you learned?• What will you do about that?

• How to improve your marks – answer the question, improve articulation, use the course materials, referencing, apply the theories to the case study always.

Remaining Assessments

• TMA05 – 2,000 words. Due 31 March. ‘30% of continuous assessment’ or 15% or marks for the module.

• End of Module Assessment (EMA). Available 2 April, due 31 May. No extensions available! 50% marks for the module

B100 EMA

• No extensions!• 3,000 words. Five questions of 600 words each• One question on Block 1.• Choose two questions out of Blocks 2,3 and 4• Choose two questions out of blocks 5,6, and 7

• The task will be to apply module concepts to a case study, to answer the questions.

Advice

• Start with your name, personal identifier, module and assignment number. File names.

• Readability – Arial font, size 12, double spaced• Use a spellchecker and proofread.• Plan and organise word count carefully.• Use module readings and reference correctly.• Look up the Skills for OU Study website.• Submit on time!

Book 5• The economic system• Economic indicators• The finance system• Supply and demand• Fiscal and monetary policy• Market structures• Comparing economic systems• The role of government• Business – government relations

Working as a Group

• Please read the case study and consider:• Explain the different types of market

structures. (pp78-83)• Which market structure applies to the product

offered in the case study? Explain why.• What do govt do in a mixed economic system?

(p113-118)• What are the pro’s and con’s of the case study

company engaging in lobbying?

Break

Book 6 Business Ethics• In a group, discuss what

you think ethics in business is about?

• Look in the study materials to guide you

• How do you know what is right or wrong?

What is corporate social responsibility (CSR)?

• CSR is a concept that deals with the ethical and social responsibilities businesses have over and above the law.

• It seeks to provide a framework to enable businesses to think about and prioritise their responsibilities.

• CSR expresses the belief that a business has responsibilities to society beyond its legal responsibilities

• CSR is also about the manner in which a business follows through on such obligations.

Carroll’s pyramid of CSR

Source: adapted from Carroll (1991)

Discretionary

ResponsibilitiesEthical Responsibilities

Legal Responsibilities

Economic Responsibilities

Be a good corporate citizen

Be profitable

Obey the law

Be ethical

Contribute resources to the community: improve quality of life.

Obligation to do what is right,just and fair. Avoid harm.

Law is society’s codificationof right and wrong. Play bythe rules of the game.

The foundation uponwhich all others rest.

Carroll’s pyramid of CSR 2• Economic responsibilities: a business is ethically

obliged to make money: to generate wealth, pay its employees and provide a return on investment for shareholders.

• Legal responsibilities: societies expect businesses to abide by the law – this is not optional.

• Ethical responsibilities: businesses are expected to abide by societal norms of proper and decent behaviour, over and above following the letter of the law.

• Philanthropic responsibilities: philanthropy exceeds social expectations; businesses or their owners privately give to what they consider good causes.

Ethics – Key Ideas

Aristotle Mill Kant Rawls

Circa 384BC 1880 1755 1971

Virtue Utilitarianism orConsequentialist

Respect Justice

Teleological Greater Good Deontological Social Liberty

(End / Purpose)

A theory which sets out to explain something in terms of its ends or goals.

“The end justifies the means.”

A theory which proposes that the good of the majority must prevail

(Obligation / Duty)

A theory which proposes that it is not the result (or ends) of the action that is important but the action itself

The just society

A theory which proposes that the rule of law should enhance liberty and equality.

pp 88 pp 64 pp 53 pp 78

Theory

Type

Meaning

BLOCK 6

Latest results show the social network company Facebook paid just £4,327 ($6,643) in UK corporation tax in 2014. The recent Companies House filing shows the company as making a pre-tax loss of £28.5m in 2014-5, but the firm also paid its 362 UK staff a total of £35.4m in share bonuses. It means Facebook's UK corporation tax bill was less than the tax the average UK employee paid on their salary. BBC News, 12 October 2015

Ethics example

Is this ethical ?

Mill (Utilitarian) No the consequences do not maximise the pleasure of all.

Aristotle (Virtue) No, as Mill and the company has not acted as a virtuous person would.

Kant (Duty) No the organisation’s actions are not consistent with the golden rule.

Rawls (Justice) Yes / No in as much as they are just but they are not fair.

Friedman (Capitalism) Yes this is the way the company is expected to act.

Proviso: There are a few simplifications here not the least of which is act and rule utilitarianism and Kant’s categorical hypothetical imperatives. Other responses and reasoning are possible.

Working as a Group

• Please read the case study and discuss:• Where could the case study company be

positioned on Carroll’s (1991) CSR Pyramid? (pp23-32).

• Explain your reasons using evidence.• What’s a stakeholder, and identify three for

the case study organisation (pp104-106)• Apply an ethical theory to explain each choice

of stakeholder. (p53-92)

Block 7 - Introduction • The over-arching theme is economic globalisation and its

consequences for business.• The material falls into three sections:

– Session 25. Economic globalisation (includes Readings 56-57)– Session 26: Transnational practices (includes Readings 58-59)– Session 27: International business ethics (includes Readings

60-61)• The final session (28) offers advice on completing the EMA

(well worth reading!)• There is no TMA for this Unit. However, this material will be in the

EMA.

Where do items in this room come from?• Consider

–Where did the raw materials come from?–Where did all the components come from?–Where was the item manufactured?–Where was the product designed?–Which business designed the product and which

manufactured it (are they different)?–Where did you buy it, where is this business located

(where is it run from? Is it a global business?)? –How did it get here?

Drivers of Globalisation• Cost drivers

– reducing the cost of inputs (such as a raw materials or partially finished goods) that the firm consumes

– reducing the direct cost of wages, i.e. the cost of employing workers, through offshoring

– reducing spending on wages through outsourcing • Government drivers

– increasing the number of market-based economies and increasing market orientation in planned economies

– increasing commitment to reduce barriers to trade– rise of co-operative organisations of global governance

Drivers of Globalisation 2• Technological drivers

– Information and communication technologies (ICT)– Technologies of transportation

• Market drivers– global products– global structuring of demand

Questions