Beyond Grey Pinstripes

     

U. of Detroit Mercy College of Business Admin.

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U. of Detroit Mercy College of Business Admin. 4001 W. McNichols Rd.
Detroit, MI, 48221-3038
United States
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Demographic Information

Number of full-time MBA students (2011): 

32

Number of part-time MBA students (2011): 

39

Total duration of full-time MBA program: 

16 months

MBA faculty (Fall 2010): 

32


Description of MBA Program: 

Since its inception, the College of Business Administration at the University of Detroit Mercy has promoted social responsibility in addition to academic accomplishment.  As our Mission Statement explains, “The College of Business Administration prepares diverse students to serve business organizations and society with competence, compassion, and conscience.  Rooted in the Jesuit and Mercy traditions, the College champions academic excellence and good character by encouraging intellectual, spiritual, ethical, and social growth.”   Devotion to that mission guides all that we do.


Bringing ethics into the classroom is one of the ways we fulfill our mission.  The College participates in the UN’s Principles for Responsible Management Education and a core MBA course, Personal Development, Ethics, and Social Responsibility in Organizations, establishes the ethical foundation of corporate citizenship which is expanded in other courses throughout the program.  Exit surveys of our MBA students conducted annually by Educational Benchmarking Incorporated consistently rank us near the top—most recently, 20th out of 119 comparable business schools nationwide—on the extent to which the curriculum addresses business ethics and social responsibility.  Additionally, we offer an entire graduate certificate in Ethical Leadership and Change Management.  As an urban university, we have more than twice as many students who are employed full-time and attend classes on a part-time basis than the number of students who attend the MBA program full-time.  Thus, many more students are influenced by our ethics, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability initiatives than our full-time enrollments would indicate.


Approximately 30% of our faculty publications—books, chapters, and refereed articles—focus on ethics, social responsibility, and sustainability.  For example, Gerald Cavanagh SJ, an endowed Professor of Business Ethics, published the 6th edition of the classic American Business Values in 2009, and is coauthor of several recent contributions to edited volumes on sustainability and environmental integrity.  Another professor won the Best Paper award at the 2010 Academy of Finance conference for “The Behavior of Green Exchange Traded Funds”.


Our extracurricular activities also promote our mission.  In March 2010, the College hosted a forum entitled Sustainability Creates Business Value, featuring several prominent corporate responsibility and sustainability officers as speakers.  Our chapter of the Global Jesuit Business Students Association, an honor society recognizing MBA and undergraduate students, requires both outstanding academic achievement and community service; this year’s inductees volunteered with homeless shelters, soup kitchens, Meals-on-Wheels, the March of Dimes, and numerous other outreach programs.  Teams of business students earned both first and second place this Fall in the University’s annual Ethics Bowl competition.  Our Student Advisory Board recently initiated an in-house recycling campaign and a tutoring program.  And the College partners with the University’s Institute for Leadership and Service, promoting “social change for the common good” through service learning and outreach programs.  


Commitment to the principles that we inculcate stays with our graduates.  Several of our alumni have accepted positions as social responsibility officers, sustainability directors, and compliance officers with corporations, and the Business Alumni Board staffs a Community Outreach Committee to foster contributions of time, talent, and funding to worthwhile causes in the region.  One alumnus was recently recognized as the top volunteer fundraiser for civic organizations in Detroit.


To ensure continuity of purpose, the College actively recruits faculty, staff, and administrators who support and promote its mission.  At the University of Detroit Mercy, business ethics and social responsibility are not just fashionable phrases, they are a way of life.



How does the MBA program 'walk the talk' of social and environmental impact?: 

Both the University of Detroit Mercy and the College of Business Administration in particular promote environmental sustainability.  The University’s Facilities Management department operates an office of Energy and Environmental Conservation, whose mission is “to monitor sustainable energy use throughout the University community and to promote the importance of good energy management for the economic, social and environmental well-being of the University community.”


Among its efforts, the University installed new carpet tiles that are 100% recyclable, and is replacing incandescent bulbs with compact florescent lamps for a 75% saving in electricity.  Motion sensors are installed, so electric lights are on only when people are present.  Solar panels have been installed which reduce electricity needs and also educate students on solar energy.   Thus electricity use was cut last year by 6%.  

The College of Business Administration was recently complimented in notices to the entire University community for posting signs in every business school classroom to remind faculty, staff, students, and visitors to turn off the lights and close all windows before leaving a classroom, to conserve energy.  


Though the University is constrained by a tight budget, HVAC has replaced steam absorbers with centrifugal chillers and replaced condensate return system to save energy.  A web-based energy management system allows equipment to be adjusted on the basis of occupancy.  We replaced water-cooled air conditioning units with more efficient models.  High use washrooms are converted to sensor faucets to limit water consumption and reduce the spread of bacteria.  Water usage dropped by 14.5% last year.


The roofs of the six original large campus buildings are tile which have lasted more than 80 years.  They were replaced within the past decade, and roughly 80% of the tiles are reused on the new roof.  Flat roofs were replaced with insulation, to reduce the loss of heat.  Almost all windows in the University have been replaced with double-pane glass to reduce energy loss.  Doors have also been replaced which bring greater insulation and less air draft loss. 
 

Whenever a tree is in the way of new construction, the University uproots and replants the tree rather than cut it down.  Batteries are collected to be separately disposed.  A paper recycling dumpster is prominently placed by our facilities yard so that individuals and departments can recycle their paper.  The Business Student Advisory Board recently initiated and now leads the recycling of paper, cans and other materials within the College of Business building.  Jet toner cartridges are returned for refill, rather than being dumped.  


The University has purchased club cars to use for campus operations instead of full sized trucks; these vehicles reduce fuel usage. Similarly, the University’s Office of Public Safety has purchased a fuel efficient Smart Car for patrol.  Our Information Technology Department configures monitors and printers with Energy Star features.  In addition, we urge faculty and staff to unplug all power when computers are not in use.   


Efforts are underway to save on mailings by purging invalid names, printing on both sides of documents, and providing opportunities for recipients to opt-out, thereby preventing the University from printing and sending unwanted mail.  And the University community has been encouraging print-on-demand technology for fliers and leaflets instead of printing large quantities and warehousing them until they are needed.

Academic Department

Course Name: Advanced Investments
Instructor: Dr. Omid Sabbaghi

This course emphasizes socially responsible portfolio construction, assessment, and risk control. Additional topics include: the development of modern portfolio theory, the use of derivatives and their impact on concepts related to risk and return, and asset allocation decisions relative to market conditions. Much of this is done in the context of mutual funds.

In the spirit of the Jesuit and Mercy traditions, ethical considerations are addressed throughout the course. Students consider a variety of issues such as credit default swaps and its role in the 2008 credit crisis, fair value accounting, selling naked put options, credit derivatives, the bundling of subprime mortgages into derivatives, the effects of the October 1987 market crash on portfolio insurers, misvaluation of illiquid assets by hedge funds, and the Bernard Madoff scandal. Students are required to complete a community-based service learning assignment via Operation HOPE. Specifically, through the Banking On Our Future Program, students teach Metro Detroit area youth in Grades 4-12 the basic concepts of responsible saving, budgeting, credit, and investing. In addition, Wall Street Journal readings that highlight recent unethical behavior are examined. Academic research on socially responsible investing and exchange-traded funds are presented and discussed.

Course Name: Business Turnaround Management
Instructor: Dr. Oswald Mascarenhas, S.J., Mr. Kenneth Kuna

This course examines business turnaround and transformation management with a decided focus on rescue strategies. The course examines the concepts, theories, patterns and recent cases of the many stages of declining corporate performance with their corresponding rescue strategies. Emphasis is placed on applying ethical norms to recovery strategies and plans and the examples of problems that arise when the norms are ignored.

Course Name: Corporate Finance
Instructor: Dr. Omid Sabbaghi

This course provides a practitioner-oriented approach to the problems facing the corporate financial manager, with an emphasis on ethics before profits. The course familiarizes students with the application of modern finance theory and tools to do problem-solving in the areas of capital budgeting, working capital management, long-term financing and dividend policy.

In the spirit of the Jesuit and Mercy traditions, ethical considerations are addressed throughout the course. Students consider a variety of issues such as the Enron and WorldCom scandals, Merrill Lynch’s executive year-end bonuses in 2008, relocation of U.S. companies to Bermuda, and the practice of outsourcing U.S. jobs. In addition, Wall Street Journal readings that highlight recent unethical behavior are examined. Students assess the ethicality of bankruptcy as a means of reducing costs, using the threat of bankruptcy filing to force creditors to renegotiate terms, and the lengthening of payables periods by large firms when dealing with smaller suppliers. A case study is devoted exclusively to the ethics of corporate governance, and students are required to address the role of corporate social responsibility from the perspective of the Board of Directors. This course culminates with the successful completion of a community-based service learning requirement in which finance students teach inner city students in Detroit about personal finance.

Course Name: Decision Analysis
Instructor: Dr. Gregory Ulferts, Dr. Shahram Taj

Discussion of ethical, social and envirnmental issues are integrated throughout the course.

Decision Analysis is concerned with methodologies for scientifically deciding how to optimally design and operate systems, usually under conditions requiring the allocation of scarce resources. The fundamental questions about ethical responsibility are critical in a world of growing inequalities and the ever greater stress that human activities impact the environment. Science and technology cannot be considered above or beyond the realm of value judgments.

A Learning Objective is to Understand the ethical frameworks impacting the design, analysis, and modeling of quantitative methods in decision making.

Course Name: Diversity in Management and Marketing
Instructor: Dr. Mary Ann Hazen, Dr. Mary Higby

This course explores the relationships of diversity to organizational change and development, effective management practices, and successful marketing methods. Participants learn to recognize the importance of diversity relative to suppliers, fellow professionals, employees, managers, and customers. The topic of diversity is a broad one with different facets, including differences among people in race, gender, ethnicity, religion, physical ability, sexual orientation, cognitive styles, and so on. The concepts related to cultural diversity are overarching. We broaden our perspective to include other areas of diversity in discussion and cases. We invite students to address specific aspects of diversity more thoroughly in their course projects. Pedagogical assumptions are human dignity, dialogue, and the development of the whole person. Practices include individual analysis of cases, reading, and oral presentation; team exercises and discussions of cases; and class dialogues. Students who successfully complete the course develop cognitive knowledge and behavioral competence in areas related to diversity at work. They increase awareness of their own assumptions and biases through learning about the cultures of others; recognize the importance of understanding diversity at work in relationship to suppliers, customers, co-workers, subordinates, and managers; and link organizational change, management, and marketing practice and processes to diversity issues.

Course Name: eBusiness Strategies
Instructor: Dr. Gregory Ulferts

The course presents concepts encompassing Legal and Ethical Issues. Course modules include: Cyber-ethics, Cyber-law and Cyber-fraud; Legal Developments on Consumer Information Disclosure; Internet Privacy: Ethical Issues; Organizational ethical processes as well as regulatory and legal rulings that might affect consumer trust when using an e-Business website.

Course Name: Entrepreneurship
Instructor: Dr. Ram Kesavan

In MBA 5620 students must strive to make a difference by becoming a changemaker. This is consistent with UDM’s mission focused on service learning (preparing our students to serve others); these ideas resonate with the students. Several case studies on social entrepreneurship are introduced to drive home this point. Readings and select videos are used to enhance learning of the concepts of ethics, social responsibility and sustainability. Our research projects are shared freely with the students to show the deep commitment of the faculty to these principles.

Principles in MBA 5620: The Principle of Obligation (Frederick 1986): The fundamental idea is "that business corporations have an obligation to work for social betterment".

The Principle of Stakeholder Responsibility (Freeman 1999): Stakeholders are "those groups who can affect or are affected by the achievement of an organization's purpose"

The Principle of Stewardship Responsibility (David, Schoorman and Donaldson 1997): Stewards should to be motivated by higher-order needs, by intrinsic (e.g., commitment, virtue of selflessness, moral integrity) more than extrinsic (e.g., salary increases, promotions, stock options) factors.

We introduce our Model of Developmental Entrepreneurship (DOREO model) which focuses on building sustainable enterprises to focus on:

1. Clean water, closed sewer systems, and clean air.

2. Availability of food supplies to the poor in adequate quantity and quality.

3. Access to health care in kind and quality.

4. Increasing employment/job growth among the poor.

5. Availability of good education and meaningful educational experiences.

6. Affordability of dental and vision care.

7. Shelter from weather and protection from natural disasters and hazards

8. Safety from criminal elements of society that jeopardize human dignity (e.g., child labor, forced abortion, neglect of the elderly).

9. Eliminating local disparities in environmental (air, land, water, greening) quality.

10. Capital access in impoverished neighborhoods for business start-ups.

11. Challenge the traditional corporate sector through social entrepreneurship efforts.

Case Studies -- ACCION International (Accion.org) Today, four billion people live on less than $2 a day. Without jobs or a social safety net, they turn to self-employment to support their families. Yet many lack access to basic financial services—working capital loans, savings, and insurance—that would help them grow their tiny businesses. ACCION is working to help the working poor have access to the capital and other financial resources needed to prosper.

ACCION is building on 35 years experience in Latin America and Africa to reach poor people, and more marginalized populations.

The Grameen Bank (Grameen-info.org)

Muhammad Yunus founded the Grameen Bank in 1976 to supply credit to those who would not qualify as customers of established banks. Today, Grameen operates 1191 branches, serving over 3 million poor people in 43,459 villages of Bangladesh. The Grameen Bank grants unsecured loans to the poor in rural Bangladesh. It differs from other lending institutions on three counts: a) priority is given to designing the system so that the loans can be repaid, and on time; b) only the poorest villagers and the landless are eligible, and c) the bank makes efforts to lend primarily to women, who are not only economically but also socially impoverished. To qualify for a loan, a villager must demonstrate that her family assets are below a certain threshold. She must join a five-member group and a forty-member center, and attend a weekly meeting. It is the group, not the bank, which initially evaluates loan requests. Grameen Bank is profitable, and has inspired a global micro-credit movement that has spread to 65 developing countries, reaching 17 million borrowers.

Low Cost Eye glasses.com

Over one billion people need glasses but do not own them. People who have correctable vision problems are often handicapped by limited resources. Without glasses, simple tasks become more difficult or impossible, productivity slows, and accidents occur more frequently. Based purely on the lack of productivity and enjoyment, the lack of eyeglasses is one of the largest solvable problems in the developing world. Glasses could correct the majority of vision problems encountered in the developing world. The current commercial eye care system is designed for the wealthy customer. To be available, glasses should be easily purchased from a convenient source.

Course Name: Global Financial Management
Instructor: Dr. Suk Kim

There are many techniques that multinational companies (MNCs) use to increase their profits on a global basis: transfer prices, tax haven countries, unregulated derivatives, netting, leads and lags, and many others. Of course, they are used to increase profits and stock prices by reducing taxes, inflating or deflating prices, and changing numbers. Nobody can blame those executives who use these techniques because stockholders expect them to maximize their investment returns. However, pressures, greed, weak regulations, and lax policies have frequently enabled some executives to use them in unethical, unprofessional, and even illegal ways. Latest scandals are accounting scandals of 2002 at companies such as Enron and WorldCom and the use of unregulated derivatives of late 2000s at companies such as AIG. When I teach either corporate finance or international finance, I put heavy emphasis on these scandals and their consequences so students will not use these techniques in questionable ways when they become practitioners. In addition, I frequently use ethics cases when I teach Global Financial Management for MBA students.

Course Name: Global Marketing Management
Instructor: Dr. Ram Kesavan

Concepts such as Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Ethics are well integrated into this course through class lectures, readings, handouts and cases (see syllabus attached).

Cases assigned for class discussion that involve the issues of sustainability, social responsibility and ethics are listed below (see also syllabus):

Case 1–2 Nestlé – The Infant Formula Incident

Case 1–3 Coke and Pepsi Learn to Compete in India

Case 4-1 Tambrands – Overcoming Cultural Resistance

Case 4–6 Social Responsibility and Ethical Decisions: Selling Tobacco to Third-World peoples

Case 2-2 Cultural Norms, Fair and Lovely, and Advertising

Case 2–3 Starnes-Brenner Machine Tool Company – To Bribe or Not to Bribe

Case 2-4 Ethics and Airbus

Case 2-8 Ultrasound Machines, India, China, And a Skewed Sex Ratio

Case 3-3 Marketing to the Bottom of the Pyramid

Case 4–5 AIDS and Condoms

Case 4–3 Sales Negotiations Abroad for MRIs

Course Name: Information Systems and Technology
Instructor: Dr. Gregory Ulferts

A discussion of ethics and responsibility is integrated throughout the course. For example, students describe some of the major impacts of information technology on individuals, organizations, and society.

They come to understand the changes that take place in the workplace and the lives of individuals when information technology eliminates geographical and spatial barriers. We discuss the positive and negative effects associated with the abundance of information made available by IT. We identify the issues that arise due to uneven diffusion of information technology across countries and socioeconomic classes. Our discussion of ethical problems connected with information technology includes the use of technology in business, the information technology business, the internet, e-business, and the impact of computers and information technology on society, both nationally and internationally.

Pages

Type of Offering

Sustainability Forum: Sustainability Creates Business Value
Date: March, 2010

In March 2010, the UDM College of Business Administration hosted a forum entitled Sustainability Creates Business Value, featuring several prominent corporate responsibility and sustainability officers as speakers.

Dave Stangis '87, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for Campbell Soup, gave the keynote address. He is responsible for designing Campbell's overarching CSR strategy, including its efforts to promote environmental sustainability. Working closely with senior leaders, Stangis builds on Campbell's ongoing work in this area and oversees the development of CSR goals, policies and programs for the company. Stangis has significant experience in corporate social responsibility, having worked in the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) or CSR fields for more than 20 years. According to Stangis, the secrets to success in building sustainability for the long term include having a fundamental strategy for organization and implementation, addressing key issues in the industry, and utilizing core competencies to create a competitive advantage around sustainability. Stangis believes this effort requires a long-term view since the short term is an enemy of sustainability. The strategy needs to bridge the gap from the finance area to sustainability, tracking savings from sustainability measures.

The keynote presentation was followed by a panel moderated by Andy Acho '67, who is the retired Worldwide Director of Environmental Outreach and Strategy for Ford Motor and speaks nationally on this issue. Panelists included Gerald Cavanagh, S.J., Charles T Fisher III Chair of Business Ethics; Eric Hespenheide '75, Global Leader of Internal Audit Services and Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at Deloitte Touche, Thomatsu; Logan Robinson, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the College of Law; and Dan Saint '89, Managing Director at Jefferson Wells.

MBA & Masters of Health Services Administration
MBA and Law
Institute for Leadership and Service
Business School Housing? No
Number of Faculty: 7
Contact Name: Tim Hipskind, S.J.
Contact Email: hipskijt@udmercy.edu

The University of Detroit Mercy's Institute for Leadership and Service provides opportunities for all members of the UDM community to engage in social change for the common good. The Institute upholds the ideals of our founders who believed in the promotion of justice and compassionate service to those in need, as we are transforming lives to lead and serve.

The Institute supports several academic programs, including service-learning courses and the business school's graduate certificate in Ethical Leadership and Change Management. Its Emerging Leaders Program offers students the opportunity to explore their leadership potential and abilities through involvement in programs, events, and activities that include learning, leadership, spirituality, and service, on and off campus. Among these opportunities are the Student Senate, fraternities and sororities, and the annual Campus Leadership & Service conference.

Global Jesuit Business Students Association

Each year, the College of Business Administration inducts graduate and undergraduate students into the St. Ignatius Chapter of the Global Jesuit Business Students Association (GJBSA). The GJBSA is an honor society which recognizes academic excellence and service to the community. In Fall 2010 the College inducted 10 MBa students and 9 undergraduates. Our inductees exhibited their commitment to service by volunteering with Meals on Wheels, soup kitchens, alternative Spring Break, Adopt-a-Family, the American Red Cross, CARE of Southeast Michigan, the Special Olympics, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Covenant House, the March of Dimes, the Lion’s Club, and numerous other worthwhile causes.

A Framework for Discussing Ethics in Principles of Accounting
Author(s): Jeanne David

The main focus of the discussion in this paper is on the principles or introductory level of accounting and is applicable for all students in the class, but much of its content is equally applicable to upper level accounting classes and our accounting majors. Early and Kelly (2004) and Clikeman (2003) support the value of ethics education in heightening a student's moral reasoning skills. "The goals of ethics education are creating an awareness of ethical dilemmas and providing methods of resolution." (Hass, 2005).

Journal Title: Journal of Business Case Studies Volume: 6 Edition: 1 Page Numbers: 83-88
Ethics in Business Requires Moral Maturity
Author(s): Gerald F. Cavanagh, S.J.

A developed conscience and professional ethics for business managers at every level of a firm would bring more acceptable moral actions and policies. An ethics of character, or virtue ethics, broadens our outlook by encouraging us to also consider the needs of family, neighborhood, firm, nation, and world. Such a mature, balanced approach enables us to deal more effectively with ethical issues of the individual and the firm, and also equips us to better solve the large moral problems that face us all, such as poverty, wars, crime, and global climate change.

Journal Title: Business Ethics Quarterly Volume: 20 Edition: 4 Page Numbers: 717-718
Recognizing and Responding to Workplace Grief
Author(s): Mary Ann Hazen

The purpose of this article is to show why it is important for managers to learn about grief in the workplace, how they can recognize symptoms of grief, and how they can respond to grieving employees appropriately and with compassion. Also explored will be how organizations, by their policies, procedures, and cultures, can support grieving employees. At times, work itself is a source of healing from grief.

Journal Title: Organizational Dynamics Volume: 38 Edition: 4 Page Numbers: 290-296
Slow Career: Mapping Out a Slow and Sustainable Lifework Process
Author(s): Michael D. Whitty

The Slow Career approach is based on the "Slow Movement," which includes "Slow Food," "Slow Money," and "Slow Design." Individuals who experience Slow Career recognize that a shift in career (i.e., being ready to move on or change direction, being downsized, not earning a sufficient salary, or failing to get a promotion) is a signal that provides them with the impetus to develop stronger life/career understanding in order to meet the demands of the workplace, employment market, and life in general. Slow Career is especially applicable to the growing population of forced or volunteer entrepreneurs, experienced workers entering encore careers, and young people who cannot find jobs in their area of specialty and who choose to "moonlight" to apply untested, but highly motivated skills. The article provides a Slow and Sustainable Lifework Model and Process that guides the reader in creating a map that addresses five key questions: (a) Who am I? (personal strengths), (b), How do my personal strengths meet the needs of an eco-conscious society? (research), (c) Where is life taking me? (goals/intention), (d) What is life suggestion? (action plan and timeline), (e) What are my sources of support? (internal and external). Futurists forecast that, in the long run, there is a need for the world to slow down due to the global over-consumption of finite resources. This article supports individuals who would be proud to have a life of quality, not necessarily quantity. The Slow Career approach to life is about the quality of relationships, not the fear-based drive for security.

Journal Title: Business Renaissance Quarterly Volume: 5 Edition: 1 Page Numbers: 31-55
Social Entrepreneurship: Values-Based Leadership to Transform Business Education and Society
Author(s): Michael D. Whitty

Social entrepreneurship is a natural expression of visionary leadership, the spiritually and ethically-based mission to seek the common good, and the virtual necessity to create sustainability for both people and planet. Business skills and visionary organizational leadership provide the synergy needed to create new paradigms which meet the vast societal needs not easily addressed under current business models. A new group of culturally creative change agents exhibiting a robust form of social entrepreneurship may prove to be more capable of assisting basic human needs than either the government or the existing stockholder model of capitalism.

Journal Title: Business Renaissance Quarterly Volume: 4 Edition: 1 Page Numbers: 31-44