Course Number

MGMT 4709

Syllabus Date

Fall 2016

Department course is offered by

GSOM - Graduate School of Management

Course description

This graduate level course explores the inextricable relationship which exists between the 3 sectors of our economic system: the private sector (i.e. business); the public sector (i.e. government); and the citizen sector (i.e. NGO’s, nonprofits, etc.) with a focus on the interplay between business and community.

Davis (2005) has noted that the debate concerning business’s role in society is often perceived in zero-sum terms. On one side many ascribe to the axiom that “the business of business is business” while others demand that business adopt a more responsible attitude (i.e. corporate social responsibility) toward society. These often competing viewpoints have taken on global significance as we consider issues such as environmental and sustainable business development, consumer protection, business and its relationship to its employees, the business-government dyadic relationship, and ethics.

In this course, we will explore the relationship between society and business through the context of an implicit social contract where each has obligations and responsibilities to the other. Given the enormity of the topic, it is in the intent of this course to engage students in a rudimentary understanding of the interplay between business and society which may hopefully lead the student to examine his/her own attitudes and actions.

This course will be conducted as an online/distance learning seminar and, as such, students must be self-directed and prepared to discuss weekly reading assignments and participate in analysis of case studies.

The specific competencies developed in this course are:

  1. An awareness of the dyadic relationship between business and society in which it operates,
  2. The “social contract” which exists between business and the citizen sector,
  3. How business affects our lives in obvious and not so obvious ways each day.

Document Type

Syllabus

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