Sponsored by the Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Ethics






On April 4, 2006, A panel discussion and dialogue was held at Southern New Hampshire
University with six prominent panelists:
(Brief Bios of Panelists)
Christos Papoutsy - (endower of the chair) A business executive, author, philanthropist and lecturer, he began his career and company in electronics at Hollis Automation in 1964. Under his leadership, Hollis and later Cooper Electronics, which specialized in packaging electronics equipment, grew to become a world leader in the electronics industry.

James Isaak - Prof. Isaak is in the I.T. department at SNHU. He also has been active in international standards and professional society leadership for over twenty years; with prior employment at companies like Digital, IBM and Intel.

Joseph McQuaid - Joe McQuaid has been President and Publisher of Union Leader Corp. since 1999. He has been a reporter and editor, and has reported from abroad. In 2002 he was inducted into the Academy of New England Journalists. He is also a founding member and president of the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications.

Robert Baines - Bob is in his new role as executive-in-residence at SNHU. Prior to this, he served for 6 years as mayor of the City of Manchester as well as almost 20 years as the principal of Manchester West High School.

Barbara Baudot - Barbara Baudot is Professor of Politics and International Relations at Saint Anselm College, she is also coordinator of the NHIOP Research Institute's Center for International Affairs. Prior to joining academia, she was an economist with the United Nations and continues to work with the UN through the NGO she coordinates.

Tom Getz - Tom is currently Chairman of the NH Public Utilities Commission and serves as Chairman of the Nuclear Decommissioning Finance Committee and Vice-Chair of the Site Evaluation Committee. He has worked in the utility arena for more than 20 years. Just to name a few companies, Energy Law Institute, NY Public Service Commission and Public Service Company of NH.

Walker Auditorium-SNHU (Left to Right): Dr. Annabel Beerel, Dr. James Isaak,
Christos Papoutsy, Joseph McQuaid, Robert Baines, Dr. Barbara Baudot, Tom Getz
The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Annabel Beerel, Sabbactical Replacement for the Christos & Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Ethics.

The questions directed to each panelist were as follows:

Question for Panelists

The Ethical Challenges of Global Engagement: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

1. Denmark and Islam

Our subject tonight concerns the Ethical Challenges of Global Engagement - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

We will begin with the Danish cartoon affair. As globalization accelerates and the world becomes a smaller place where different cultures mix and mingle, how should we deal with freedom of speech and human rights? In the case of the Danish cartoons depicting Mohammad as a terrorist and so on, what are your views? Do the Muslims have any rights here? Given the tensions with the Islamic world could this really be seen as a neutral act? Is this a clash between freedom of speech and human rights? .

What are your thoughts - both pro and against these actions? Is this an example of good, bad or simply ugly ethics?
First Respondent: Dr. Barbara Baudot

2. Dubai and The Ports

Since 911, President Bush and his government has actively inculcated a sense of fear regarding anything to do with Middle Eastern countries. In some ways his rhetoric has conveyed a sense that Arabs are a homogenous mass of people engaged in terrorist activities.

In the case of Dubai Ports World potentially managing our ports, many of them known for minimal security, there has not unnaturally been an outcry by members of Congress and others. President Bush however, using the free trade argument, is in favor of the deal. .

As the CEO of a company, would you be prepared to let some of your strategic assets be managed by companies from the Middle East? What organizational policy would you have? What would inform your decision making process, Le. what factors would you take into consideration?
First Respondent: Joe McQuaid

3. Google in China

One could argue that Google has in fact accepted a bribe from the Chinese government in agreeing to sensor itself in return for the right to enter the Chinese market. What do you think is the moral justification for Google doing this? What are your views? Do you support Google's decision or don't you? If it were your organization, what would you do?
First Respondent: Chris Papoutsy

4. Outsourcing to India

As we read in the papers daily, thousands, maybe soon hundreds of thousands of jobs are being outsourced from the United States to India. This means thousands of jobs are being lost here. Of course this has a radical impact on our local communities and the local economy.

Do you think it is right for companies to use outsourcing as a way to remain competitive? As a CEO what would you do? What factors would you take into account when deciding whether or not to outsource? What are the ethics here?
First Respondent: Robert Baines

5. Common Theme

We have discussed four examples of ethical challenges presented by globalization. What do you think is the common theme or themes that emerge from these examples? What can we learn from them?
First Respondent: Tom Getz

6. Management Education

Given our discussions of these four issues, and others you know of, and given the common theme/s that emerge from these discussions, as a CEO what kind of management education would you like your managers to get? What sort of disciplines and what types of seminars, classes and so on should they be attending to make them better critical thinkers around these issues?
First Respondent: Dr. Jim Isaak

Each of the panelist answered the questions in a creative, effective and informative manner.
There were many questions and comments from the audience of faculty, students, and the business community. Questions from the audience were posed by Dr. William Naumes of UNH Whittenmore School of Business and Mr. Richard Kimball, Corporate Executive, followed by a spirited and interesting discussion took place between a number of SNHU's international students and the panelist dealing with globalization, the good, the bad and the ugly.

The event clearly raised important ethical issues; such as the tension between cultures regarding democracy and the right to free speech; issues of national security versus a commitment to free trade; the challenge of agreeing to censorship and the inhibition of human rights in foreign countries, and the power of the bottom line to drive business employment and deployment decisions sometimes to the severe detriment of local communities in the Unites States.

The feed back from the audience was positive in that they appreciated the style in which multiple
perspectives were presented and discussed on all of the subjects.

(Posting Date 14 April 2006)
Compliments
of
The Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished
Chair in Business Ethics at Southern New Hampshire University

The Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Ethics has been established to address the university's mission to develop within students the wisdom to lead ethical professional and personal lives. Ethics is understood to encompass a wide range of topics including social justice, human rights, civil rights, and those essential ideals that extend back to our classical forebears.

The Chair will promote this goal through teaching, community lectures, working with faculty and staff to enhance this dimension of their teaching and work, interacting with the external constituencies, and playing a leadership role in campus-wide initiatives related to the topic.

Using the Classics as a foundation and extending through contemporary writers and thinkers, the Chair will bring into the curriculum and the community dialogue the cultural, historical, and contextual intellectual traditions in which we have come to understand the exercise of ethical choices.

The Chair will organize a series of discussions and lectures on major ethical issues facing society today. These issues will range from the ethical implications of scientific and medical breakthroughs to environmental crisises to economic and business.


HCS readers are invited to view other articles about SNHU or business ethics at our extensive, permanent archives under the Business Ethics section at the URL http://www.helleniccomserve.com/archivebusinessethics.html or the Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Business Ethics at Southern New Hampshire University at http://www.helleniccomserve.com/archivepapoutsychairbizethics.html.

The purpose of the distinguished chair in ethics is to promote and enhance students’ and community members’ awareness of ethics in personal and professional settings through teaching, community lectures and conferences. These events will foster understanding and assist in the application of lessons taught by current and classical ethicists to 21st-century settings.The chair serves as the cornerstone for an integrated university program in business ethics that encompasses the undergraduate and graduate levels. For more information about these events or about the ethics chair, contact Dr. Annabel Beerel at Southern New Hampshire University at (603) 668-2211 Ext. 2254, or Jane Yerrington at (603-668-2211 x2488) or visit the webpages of the ethics chair at http://www.snhu.edu/1301.asp.



2000 © Hellenic Communication Service, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.HellenicComServe.com