• Assignment 1.1 - What Words Come to Mind? View the following video clip from the 1939 movie, "Young Mr. Lincoln," when (the fictitious) Abe Lincoln is introduced to the law. Click on the arrow in the bottom right of the video to view in a larger window.
• In addition to what you see and hear in the video, what do you know, or with a little research, what can you discover about what principles guided President Lincoln's decisions? How might the video and your knowledge of President Lincoln influence your answers to the following questions? Answer thefollowing questions.
  • When you think of "law and business," what words come to mind? Why these words? What is their significance to you?
  • When you think of "business ethics," what words come to mind? Why these words? What is their significance to you?
• Assignment 1. 2 - Two Views of Corporate Social Responsibility Read "The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits" by Milton Friedman, New York Times Magazine, September 13, 1970, reproduced in our textbook. Mr. Friedman proposes that a corporation can have no social responsibility and the only responsibility of a corporation's manager is to its shareholders, to maximize their financial return from investment in the enterprise. Our textbook defines Stakeholder Theory as "The view that all stakeholders to a corporate decision deserve some kind of moral consideration and that corporations that keep all stakeholders in mind will, over the long term, deliver superior results to shareholders." Stakeholders include the company's owners, employees, customers, suppliers, the communities in which it operates, and society in general, including other nations.