Business Ethics

Financial Considerations Often Trounce Ethics in NCAA Sports

Violations and cover-ups in college athletics are beginning to rival the headlines for investigations of corporate malfeasance. Columnist Gael O’Brien says that at the heart of both types of investigations is the question of how leadership perceives and executes its role in creating a culture — and what that culture says about how things are actually done in an organization.

You May Have a Social Media ‘Friend’ at the NLRB

The road map keeping track of social media charges and complaints at the U.S. National Labor Relations Board is getting more interesting and complicated. New data suggests that the agency has examined more than 129 cases, with the most common issues being overbroad policies restricting employee use of platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, and the unlawful firing or disciplining of employees for the contents of their posts.

Stripping U.S. EPA of Water Quality Regulatory Authority

EarthTalk®
E – The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted to strip the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of its authority over state water quality. Why did they do this, what are the ramifications and what do leading green groups have to say about it? — Joseph Emory, York, PA
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Embarassing Hacking Allegations That News Corp. Redacted

New documents published today cast doubt on News Corporation’s claims that top executives and editors at the now-defunct News of the World were unaware of widespread phone hacking at the paper. One of the documents had also been aggressively redacted by News Corp., which removed references that referred to top editors knowing about the hacking.

Protect the Environment: Curb Your (Consumer) Enthusiasm

One researcher reports that human society is in a “global overshoot,” consuming 30 percent more material than is sustainable from the world’s resources. He adds that 85 countries are exceeding their domestic “bio-capacities” and compensate for their lack of local material by depleting the stocks of other countries.

Women in the Boardroom: Should the U.S. Have Quotas?

Columnist Gael O’Brien says the U.S. has failed to show leadership in gender diversity on corporate boards, raising questions about what it can learn from other countries that have imposed quotas for women directors. While quotas can stir up discomfort, she writes, there’s a “complacency, even smugness” about boardroom diversity in the U.S. that argues in favor of requiring companies to take action.