MGT 403 – Final project – Talking Capitalism
As students in this class you have been spent the semester exploring how business activities affect individuals (employees, workers, managers, consumers, taxpayers, citizens, etc.) as well as larger social institutions and processes (the economy, markets, democracy, etc.). The goal of this work has been to help prepare you to participate more skillfully and thoughtfully in the work of management and the work of being members of society. When we read Plato’s Allegory of the Cave at the beginning of the semester I explained how he was directing his guidance to people seeking Truth (or truths?) to the few, the male, free people who were Greek elites. In this class I start from the assumption that not only are all people capable of engaging thoughtfully with the issues of our times but that a healthy democracy depends on that engagement
1) You should invite people to participate, either in person (in your household or “pod”) or virtually.
2) The people you invite to participate should be people who you think will be comfortable sharing their experience of work, pay, etc. with you and with each other.
3) The group should be pretty small, probably no more than 5. But at least 3 (including you).
4) You should introduce the discussion by explaining that the goal of the conversation is to share experiences and ideas about the economy and society that play important roles in our lives and society but which we don’t often discuss, explicitly. You should also reassure them that no names or identifying details will be used in your report.
5) You should do the following basic steps:
a. Explain the capitalism, with reference to the diagram (share your screen online).
b. Ask them how they experience the different components of capitalism we’ve discussed: work, pay, capital/owners of business, profit, taxes, government – and democracy.
c. Ask them to help you add examples or details to the diagram – or create a new one – to better explain their experience of capitalism. **PROVIDE A LIST OF QUESTIONS YOU ASKED and a BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCUSSION – 1 page prior to final paper**
d. Ask them what ideas they have for making the system work better.
Final product
The final product should take the form of a 5 page paper (double-spaced, 12pt. font, 1” margins) posted online. The paper should include:
• A clear description of what you did, including discussion of your planning and pre-conversation activities. How did you prepare? (about ½ page)
• A summary of the activity; what did you do? (about ½ page)
• A summary of the findings: what did you learn? (about 3 pages)
o The “feel” of the meeting; what was it like to have this discussion?
o Particular insights about capitalism, as revealed or shared in your discussion.
o Ideas for improvement, actions, alternatives that were shared.
• Your own reflection about the process (1 page).
• A picture or image to illustrate the project. This could be a picture of the discussion or a chart or diagram (see attached example).
