Business 101: Professional Responsibility
Business 101 consists of three modules organized around responsibility for oneself, to one’s organization, and to the larger society. The course addresses responsibility as it relates to “me” as a business professional, “us” as a profession, and “larger than us” as engaging in business activity in the global world of the 21st century. Module 3 emphasizes this “larger than us” element and responsibility to the larger society while reinforcing the first two elements. This is accomplished by helping students develop an understanding of marketplace activity in the radically different context of subsistence where much of humanity resides and survives and learn how to envision the role of business in creating economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable products for subsistence marketplaces.
To develop an understanding of a radically different context, a number of individual assignments include analyzing interviews of individuals living in poverty in India, participating in a poverty simulation and writing impressions about poverty in the US, and analyzing videos of poverty in Africa.
To envision the role of business in such contexts, group assignments include developing a sustainable product solution that addresses the needs of individuals and communities living at or near subsistence anywhere around the world, developing a brief business plan for a startup company based on the product solution, including a report and an in-class presentation, and preparing a poster of the business for a poster session to a larger audience.”
Later versions of the module involve developing a Professional Responsibility Stakeholder Engagement Plan for introducing a new product in an emerging market. Students work with concepts that have come out of the yearlong course on Sustainable Product and Market Development for Subsistence Marketplaces.
About Professional Responsibility
Responsible professional behavior is top of mind for business professionals and their organizations. The Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society ensures that it’s top of mind for Gies Business students, too. Learn more about how Gies is instilling ethics and cultivating principled business leaders.