Course Description
 
Objectives
 
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to a broad range of “non-market” issues encountered by managers and business professionals, and to help develop analytical perspectives for making judgments when such issues arise. The course aims at developing a practical set of ethical norms and reasoning in resolving sticky questions in managerial life, and in establishing workable standards of professional responsibility. In the context of some of these issues, we will illustrate how the legal system (civil and criminal) is used to redress failures of the market economy.

The objective is to heighten students’ awareness of and sensitivity to issues of individual and corporate conduct that are complex, varied, changing and very much affected by competitive considerations and by legal restraints and penalties. In the end, how an individual handles these situations as they occur throughout a career determines the quality of his or her professional track record, which in turn affects the “value” of that career and the personal satisfaction derived from it. No less important, how these issues are handled at the corporate level is one element in valuing an enterprise as a going concern – and the shareholder-value impact is particularly compelling in reputation-sensitive industries like financial services.

The course material tries to expose students to a wide variety of U.S. and international case situations to help develop the ability to exercise professional judgment -- a “sniff-test” -- about them. A variety of readings (representing all sides of the issues involved) is included to assist in the process. The cases and readings should be the basis for vigorous classroom discussion intended to get everyone actively involved.
 
About This Section of the Course

This particular section of MEL –  which has been a mandatory and important part of the Stern School MBA curriculum for almost 25 years –  will focus in particular on financial markets and institutions. While many of the issues covered in the readings and cases assigned for this course are generic in character, they are unusually pervasive and complex in the financial sector.  Students enrolling in this section of the course should therefore have a professional and personal interest in the financial services industry. Although this is not a requirement, students with no interest in Finance would be well advised to select another section of the course, since the issues discussed in this section will occasionally be somewhat specialized.

Students in this course will have to exercise professional judgment through discussion and analysis. Most class sessions will require the analysis of one or more cases, as indicated in the following schedule of class assignments.
 
Preparation for Class

The student’s primary obligation in this course is to prepare for class discussion by thorough reading and analysis of assigned materials. Case discussions and in-class activities are an essential part of the course. All students are responsible for preparing answers to the “study questions” associated with the cases before coming to class. These are not to be handed-in. Instead, the instructor will ask individual students to provide their answers orally, as a basis for further discussion.

The final examination for the course (see below) will deal mainly with the cases, so it will pay-off handsomely to prepare them as you go along.
 
Term Project

Students are responsible for submitting a term project at the end of the semester, which is described on a page attached to this course outline.
 
Final Examination

There will be a two-hour formal, closed-book final examination in this course. The exam will be held on Monday 21 December 1998 from 1:00 to 3:00pm in the regular classroom.
 
Grading

All students must pass this course in order to graduate. The full range of grades A through F will be assigned. A passing grade is D. The weights for the student’s final grade are as follows:

Class Participation     30%
Final exam                30%
Term Project              40%

Textbooks

Roy C. Smith and Ingo Walter, Street Smarts (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1997). All chapters in this book will be assigned during the semester.

Most cases and readings for this course are found in Cases and Readings in Markets, Ethics, and Law, 1998-99 Edition. Several others will be distributed in class.

Both books are available at the NYU Professional Bookstore. Note that  Cases and Readings in Markets, Ethics, and Law, 1998-99 Edition, is different from prior editions.