The economic crisis and scandals in the corporate sector have prompted the nation’s business schools to take a more serious look at the study of ethics.<\/p>\n
“I think some of the recent events — Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Toyota Corporation — have really highlighted the importance of ethics in leadership,” said Maryam Alavi, vice dean and professor of information strategy at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School.<\/p>\n
B-schools around the country are renewing their focus on existing ethics programs as well as adding new ones. The lessons go beyond the obvious warnings against cheating and embrace responsibility to employees, customers, communities and the environment.<\/p>\n
“Obviously, we can’t be parents,” said Mark Dillard, director of leadership programs at Goizueta. “Clearly, values are taught in the home. But we can address it from what actions you can take, what options are available to you if you are confronted with an ethical breach.”<\/p>\n
“Principled leadership and ethical judgment have to exist at all times — good or bad,” Alavi said. The vice dean added that pushing these qualities aside for even minor decisions can create a slippery slope.<\/p>\n
“I don’t believe many people wake up one day and say, ‘You know, today I’m going to do something bad or criminal or unethical.’ It’s poor judgments that add up and box these individual decision makers in a situation that becomes problematic,” Alavi said.<\/p>\n
According to Dillard, the Emory program is less about debating broad ethical issues and more about what a manager should do when faced with an ethical breach, or an ethically ambiguous situation.<\/p>\n
“If someone doesn’t take action when they see these things, it can snowball and you can end up in a situation like you have with Toyota,” Dillard said. “You’re gonna end up on the front page of The Wall Street Journal.”<\/p>\n
Peter Roberts, an associate professor of organization and management at Goizueta, tries to inspire his students with role models — entrepreneurs who make money while benefiting society.<\/p>\n
“A real estate developer who wants to make his money in Nicaragua by developing sustainable coffee farms — and not just by buying land, cutting it up and selling it — will do better than his neighbors at the end of the day, and the country is better off for it,” he said.<\/p>\n
Roberts also uses the example of GrayGhost Ventures, an Atlanta-based investment firm that finances emerging businesses and private schools in poor regions around the world.<\/p>\n
While the current economic climate has pushed ethics to the front of people’s minds, some fear the trend will be temporary — or, at best, cyclical.<\/p>\n
“When everything is booming and the economy is doing well, who’s thinking about ethics?” said Max Stetsefko, a first year MBA student at Emory. “It’s hard to really think about these things during those times. But I think in light of the recession and latest scandals, that kind of really brings the point home that this is very important.”<\/p>\n
Professor Roberts hopes the continued teaching of ethics will curb, if not prevent, future disasters in the world of business and finance.<\/p>\n
“I’m optimistic coming out of this place that what we’re going to see is enough individuals that are doing positive things that are going to end up, sadly not making these big events disappear, but I think put them in their proper context,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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