This is a book that anyone concerned with ethics in the workplace—and we all should be—needs to read for a number of reasons and on a number of levels. It’s packed with practical information and telling anecdotes that together provide an easy, informative and enjoyable read. Most important, it explains not only what “the good ones” do to earn the title, but also how we can learn from their success and why we ought to try to emulate it. That will help us become better people and, yes, will help create a better and more profitable business. Continue reading
Tag Archives: corporate ethics
Greed Trumps Ethics Again–And Again
Can business ethics get any worse? Later this summer, the Justice Department is expected to announce charges of criminal wrongdoing in GM’s handling of faulty ignition switches that led to a series of fatal accidents. The New York Times says GM will likely agree to a record settlement—more than the $1.2 billion that Toyota paid for a sudden acceleration problem. And Tanaka has finally admitted after years of denial that its explosive airbag problem justifies the largest recall in auto history (and that’s saying a lot). Continue reading
Holidays Pose Ethical Challenges
The holidays can be full of stress on a number of levels, but they also create some unusual ethical situations. Here are a few to be careful of:
Is there anything wrong with regifting? What else can I do with the presents I get that I don’t want or need?
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Business Ethics: Some Progress, But….
Corporate compliance officers—those hard-working, well-intentioned executives who worry about obeying the law and acting ethically—have had some good news recently. There are definite signs of progress on several levels. But some very high-profile failures, most notably the scandal at General Motors involving faulty ignition switches, make the rest of us wonder whether progress is really being made. The answer, I think, is, “Yes, but…” There are signs of improvement, but there’s still a long way to go.
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Ethics Gone AWOL at Toyota, GM
I was cleaning out some old files today when I came across a seven-year-old article reporting that top business schools were adding more ethics courses in the wake of the 2007 Enron scandal. The article, by Jeffrey MacDonald in the Christian Science Monitor, went on to quote critics saying the courses wouldn’t do much good. Boy, did that turn out to be true.
What could be more depressing than the twin scandals at Toyota and General Motors?
Company Gag Orders May Be Legal, But How Ethical Are They?
Nondisclosure agreements are becoming increasingly common, with many employers now requiring all workers to sign them, not just top executives. And that is beginning to make a lot of people uneasy, myself included.
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Tight Spaces, Early Mornings Make People More Ethical
Two studies published within days of each other suggest that if you want people to make ethical decisions, corner them in a small office in early morning.
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Slavery: What’s Your Ethical Duty?
Ask anyone if slavery is unethical and you’re almost sure to get a resounding yes. But the cold truth is that the practice continues in many forms and in many places, even here in the U.S. So a much more relevant question has to do with our ethical responsibility to do something about the problem: Do we have one and what exactly should we do?
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Study: B-Schools Must Look Beyond GMATs for Good Ethics
A new study suggesting that business school admissions inadvertently favor candidates prone to unethical behavior has caused quite a stir, largely because of some provocative stories that stretch the point to drum up web traffic.
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Should Workers Know What Colleagues Earn?
There’s been a lot of debate lately over whether information on salaries should be shared with the staff. Those who favor making the names and numbers available to others at the firm argue that transparency is crucial to fairness and ethics. Employees need the information to conduct salary negotiations on a fair footing, and if two people are doing the same work and one is getting significantly more money, the boss should be forced to explain and justify the difference. In short, secrecy gives the boss an unfair advantage. If the pay scale is fair, no one has anything to hide.
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When To Squeal on the Boss
One common but difficult ethical dilemma is the “when to tell” problem. When you see someone engage in unethical behavior, it’s sometimes hard to know how to respond.
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