Updated July 31, 2011. Overtime I posted my wrtie-ups for case analyses in this class in Business School Cases section of the blog. Today I placed a final case analysis from the class on Soda Tax Issues.
I had the first class in my summer term tonight: Business and Public Policy. I can tell from the class that it is going to be quite interesting. Some of the concepts that we were exposed to in the class went against the grain of the widely held beliefs by free market proponents. So in a way they challenge the very core of the MBA education which was originally designed to mint corporate management/leadership material. I actually find this very refreshing. During the class we were shown a short preview of “The Corporation” documentary. Instead of just unequivocally supporting “everything capitalist” this movie makes you think about the issues of corporate America from a different perspective.
I have to admit that for many “anti-corporate”, “anti-globalization”, “anti-everything” folks these concepts of criticizing, not just critically analyzing, capitalism in general and its American flavor in particular is nothing new. This is the “bread and butter” of their very existence. But for me, it is sort of fresh, and I am looking forward to learning more about the “dark side” of the modern corporations. I have seen first-hand a much darker side of the “anti-capitalist” society, so I would not subscribe to many of the views and policies that promote and instill overwhelming government control over business and public life in general. However there is undoubtedly a need for a rational checks and balances system in governing businesses and not letting them to run amuck on their insatiable quest for profits. Examples of that are abundant in recent history starting from Enrons, WorldComs and continuing with Countrywides and AIGs of more recent developments.
The present course is somewhat interconnected with the Business Ethics that I had in the Fall term of my MBA program. Albeit in Business Ethics we focused on individuals in the corporate environments and ethical challenges that they faced within their corporate functions. In Business and Public Policy the focus is on corporations and businesses themselves acting as a “person” and their interaction with the public and the government. I guess the focus of this present course has been tailored recently to meet the need for promoting corporate sustainability and responsibility ideas that are taking root in many revised MBA programs across the country and at George Washington School of Business in particular.
Anyways, I expect to be sharing a lot with you from this course in the next few weeks. If you are interested in the movie The Corporation, you can get it on DVD
Any way you choose it, I highly recommend this documentary.
{ 2 comments }
