ESF:KHETPO_T Business Ethics - Course Information

KHETPO_T Business Ethics

Extent and Intensity

0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).

Teacher(s)

Mgr. Marek Timko, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

doc. PhDr. Božena Šmajsová Buchtová, CSc.
Department of Business Management – Faculty of Economics and Administration
Contact Person: Vlasta Radová

Timetable

Sun 22. 2. 15:30–18:45 T 2A, Sat 14. 3. 8:30–11:50 T1, Sat 4. 4. 8:30–11:50 T1

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• Management (programme ESF, B-EKM, specialization Management_T)

Course objectives

The contents of the course are divided into three thematic units, the first of which is ontological basis of environmental and business ethics and the general characteristics of traditional and applied ethics as established in the course of philosophy in the first year of study. The next two thematic units consist of philosophical analysis of work and business ethics. Human work, which is closely linked to human nature and humans offensive adaptive strategies as a species, is assessed in terms of its biological, technological, cultural and anthropological content. Business ethics is firstly characterized in general terms, i.e. its subject, functions and role in corporate strategies are specified. In the last part the attention is devoted to business ethics in the strict sense of ethics in business practice. Social enactment of the company is considered as well as its social, moral and ecological responsibility. Attention is paid to ethics in the work of managers, marketing and advertising ethics. In all these parts it is shown in generally meaningful ways how traditional ethics differs from applied emerging ethics and what are applied ethics in its effects on humans, nature and society limited.

Main objectives of the course are:
- to learn about the traditional issues of ethics and its importance for the emergence of applied ethics
- to cope with the theory of environmental ethics, including world-opinion understanding of the relationship of man to nature and culture
- to manage the history and structure of business ethics, including ethics in employee relations and the work of managers
- to cultivate a sense of ethical thinking of future entrepreneurs

Syllabus

• Thematic plan of lectures:
• 1. Concept of conflict of culture with nature as the new paradigm of philosophy, axiology, ethics and also of natural and social sciences. The place and the role of culture in the nature, relationship between nature and cultural evolution. Concept of earthly nature and ecologically threatened culture.
• 2. Problem of naturalization of culture as the system with internal information, problem of acceptation of biofil socio-cultural information by the cultural system. Naturalization of technic and material culture, naturalization of science and enlightenment.
• 3. Problem of human, individuality of human phylogeny. Specialities of human ontogenesis, natural and cultural factors of formation of human personality. Main socio-cultural regulative : technics, science, moral, law and policy.
• 4. Terms and definition of moral and ethics, subject and social function of ethics. Difference between moral and law. Traditional ethics and applied ethics. Advantages and disadvantages of moral regulation.
• 5. Environmental ethics and its subject and social role. Anthropocentric and biocentric concept of eco-ethics. Ethics of Earth by A. Leopold, deep ecology by A. Naesse. Evolution ontology as the background of new axiology, ethics and policy.
• 6. Human work as the way of aggressive adaptive strategy. Changes in technological and social content of work. Work in the context of biotic line of technical development. Work in the context of abiotic line of technical development: instrumentalization, mechanization, automatization.
• 7. Work and human nature, biological, ethic and personal cultivation potential of work. Problem of involuntary loss of work, problem of human self-fulfilement in technotronic consumer society.
• 8. Business ethics, subject, definition, origin, development, structure, possibilities and function. Problem of integration of ethics into the business area.
• 9. Social, moral and ecological responsibility of business, problem of ethic effectiveness in business. Ethic dimension of production and consumption.
• 10. Business ethics in a company practice, competence and limitation.
• 11. Ethics in relationship between employees, problem of discrimination, problem of removing from work, problem of work communication.
• 12. Ethics in the managerial work. Manager as a leader of a company s strategy. Manager s attitude to ethics, managerial ethic styles: integrative, obliging, dominant, evasive, compromise. Ethic misconduct of managers.
• 13. Ethic programmes of organization, ethic codes.

Literature

• ŠMAJS, Josef. Podnikatelská a environmentální etika. 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2008, 184 s. ISBN 9788021045644. info
• ŠMAJS, Josef. Základy systematické filosofie (The Basics of Systematic Philosophy). 1st ed. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2005, 255 pp. Masarykova univerzita, 1. ISBN 80-210-3871-3. info
• ŠMAJS, Josef. Filosofie psaná kurzívou. Rozhlasové ekologické eseje (Philosophy written in italic. Broadcast ecological essays). první. Brno: Jan Šabata, Doplněk, 2003, 117 pp. ISBN 80-7239-152-6. URL info
• HAWKEN, Paul, Amory B. LOVINS and L. Hunter LOVINS. Přírodní kapitalismus : jak se rodí další průmyslová revoluce. Vyd. 1. Praha: Mladá fronta, 2003, 476 s. ISBN 8020410783. info
• ROLNÝ, Ivo. Etika v podnikové strategii : metodologické postupy integrace etiky do podnikové strategie. Vyd. 1. Boskovice: Albert, 1998, 119 s. ISBN 8085834000. info
• REMIŠOVÁ, Anna. Úvod do podnikateĺskej etiky. Vyd. 1. Bratislava: Ekonóm, 1996, 205 s. ISBN 80-225-0745-8. info
• LUKNIČ, Arnold. Štvrtý rozmer podnikania - etika :pre manažérov, pre školy, pre každého. 1. vyd. Bratislava: Slovak Academic Press, 1994, 342 s. ISBN 80-85665-30-1. info

Assessment methods

Students are working out one POT (work amended by tutor) during the semester. POT has to be delivered to the tutor one week before passing the exam. Elaboration of a POT is a necessary condition of participating in final test. Final exam / test consists of free answers to three questions in the time limit half an hour. The test is evaluated on scale from A to F.
If student commits a prohibited act, such as usage of various forbidden tools, cribbing, taking out any part of the exam or any other cheating, teacher is allowed to interrupt an exam and to grade a student with F, FF or FFF according to the seriousness of the offence. Mentioned procedure relates to all the activities that are included to the final evaluation of the course (seminar work, essays, tests etc.).

Language of instruction

Czech

Further Comments

Study Materials
The course is taught annually.

• Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  
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