Business Ethics

Tag Archive for ‘Ethics’

Ethics of Being Wrong: Ghosn, Greenspan, and Dodger Owners

Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn recently accused three of the company’s senior executives of selling corporate secrets to the Chinese. But he was wrong – they hadn’t done it. Columnist Gael O’Brien says being wrong is part of being human, and leaders should be especially mindful of that . “The more we stay open to the possibility we could be wrong,” she says, “the more likely we are to get beyond our own ‘rightness’ and experience a larger reality.”

Opinion: Globalizing Your Moral Compass

Keld Jensen argues that yesterday’s moral compass no longer points in the direction of today’s business ethics solutions – and that relativity may apply as much to business ethics as to physics. “Times have changed,” he writes. “As businesses operate in an increasingly globalized world, ethical conduct is no longer an absolute standard.”

American Apparel and the Ethics of a Sexually Charged Workplace

Columnist Gael O’Brien discusses the controversy surrounding American Apparel’s marketing and its CEO, Dov Charney. “The irony of sexual freedom in the workplace is that it is about power, not romance,” she says. “It often ends up exploiting those most vulnerable.”

Chutzpah: Embezzler Claims Restitution as Tax Deduction

From the recent annals of the New York State tax court comes the audacious tale of Hannah Shin, who pleaded guilty in 2007 to embezzling $449,064 from her employer, Fusebox Technologies, by creating false invoices and having client payments directed to companies and bank accounts she controlled.

Scary New Wage Data

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Cay Johnston says an analysis of recent U.S. government wage data shows that since 1980, the bottom 90 percent of Americans have seen their incomes go nowhere, while on the highest steps of the income ladder, the further up you are, the greater your gains. “This orgy of money exhibitionism,” he writes, “has created a society in which commas — it takes three to be a billionaire — count more than character.”

Docs on Pharma Payroll Have Blemished Records

Drug companies say they hire the most-respected doctors in their fields for the critical task of teaching about the benefits and risks of their drugs. But an investigation by ProPublica uncovered hundreds of doctors on company payrolls who had been accused of professional misconduct, were disciplined by state boards or lacked credentials as researchers or specialists.

Johnson & Johnson, Under Investigation, Tops CSR Index

Johnson & Johnson topped a list of companies perceived by American consumers as having the best reputations for corporate social responsibility practices. Months after research for the Index was conducted, the company admitted that it misled regulators and consumers by using contractors to buy defective Motrin painkiller products from store shelves rather than announce a recall.

Opinion: Choosing Business Leaders with Integrity

A business executive who happens to also be a former Catholic monk has his own unique litmus test for gauging executive credibility and trust. “How can I tell if an executive is trustworthy?” he asks. “What are the signs to look for in promoting leaders in this new era of doubt and suspicion?”

BOOKS: Speaking Up for Values in Business

When companies cross ethical lines, a common assumption is that employees don’t speak up because their moral compass has gone haywire. But it may be more complicated than that. A new book by business professor and consultant Mary C. Gentile argues that most people want to do the right thing. They just don’t know how.