UGBA 107

Not many professors are able to get students to admit to cheating, whether that be on something as significant as an exam or insignificant as referring to Slader on a homework assignment.  However, Professor Ross somehow managed to get over half of the class to raise their hand when asked if they have ever cheated before.  As concerning as this is, I am more impressed by the fact that our professor was able to pry the truth from so many with such minimal effort.  Perhaps some context is due.  The lecture topic at hand was the “ethics of cheating”.  I can only assume that most students admitted to cheating out of the comfort of Zoom anonymity.  When too many students raise their hands and everyone is able to hide behind the dynamic duo of being muted and having their camera off, students obviously become more comfortable telling the truth.  In fact, all students recognize the presence of cheating, especially in online instruction, and would have been called out for lying had they DENIED ever cheating before.  Nonetheless, Professor Ross, you are a legend for accomplishing the impossible.  

UGBA 107 is an Introduction to Business Ethics class taught by Professor Alan Ross, a former lawyer and recurring professor for this class.  This course is classified as a “qualitative” course on the Haas course catalog and focuses heavily on discussion, essay writing, and research.  In fact, one of the core components of this course was a lengthy research paper on a real-world topic of choice.  The topics covered in class started at fundamental ethical philosophies and eventually converged with reality by tying these philosophies back to corporations.  In this second half of the course, major topics included CSR and the role of corporations in politics.  I unfortunately cannot go into further detail regarding these topics because, to be honest, I did not pay much enough attention to them as I hit my semesterly third-month slump.  

I was, in fact, most curious about the first month or two of the course, where we discussed the foundations of ethics and learned about the existing ethical frameworks such as Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Milton Friedman’s perspectives on CSR.  I have long had an interest in general philosophy which primarily stems from a belief that exposing myself to different philosophical perspectives will help me “see” different situations from many different angles.  Unfortunately, I have never had the opportunity (or should I say the time in my schedule) to take a course on philosophy.  Therefore, during the first half of this course which was reflective of an introductory philosophy course rather than a business course, I ate the curriculum up.  

In summary, I simply cannot give a verdict on this course which I wish I took a bit more seriously.  Regardless, I thank Professor Ross for formally introducing me to a basis of philosophical ideas to explore and apply to my personal life.  Eventually, I hope to find room in my schedule to squeeze in some other philosophy courses, but in the meantime, I’ll take what I got and keep reading the posts of Quora philosophers.