Managing to Be Ethical: Debunking Five Business Ethics Myths
Academy of Management Executive, 2004, Vol. 18, No. 2
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Managing to be ethical: Debunking five business ethics myths
Linda Klebe Trevino and Michael E. Brown ˜ Executive Summary
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The twenty-first century has brought corporate ethics scandals that have harmed millions of employees and investors, and sent shock waves throughout the business world. The scandals have produced “perp walks” and regulatory backlash, and business ethics is once again a hot topic. Academics and managers are asking: What caused the recent rash of corporate wrongdoing, and what can we do, if anything, to prevent similar transgressions in the future? Perhaps because everyone has opinions about ethics and personal reactions to the scandals, a number of pat answers have circulated that perpetuate a mythology of business ethics management. In this article, we identify several of these myths and respond to them based upon knowledge grounded in research and practice. Myth 1: It’s Easy to Be Ethical A 2002 newspaper article was entitled, “Corporate ethics is simple: If something stinks, don’t do it.” The article went on to suggest “the smell test” or “If you don’t want to tell your mom what you’re really doing . . . or read about it in the press, don’t do it.”1 The obvious suggestion is that being ethical in business is easy if one wants to be ethical. A further implication is that if it’s easy, it doesn’t need to be managed. But that suggestion disregards the complexity surrounding ethical decision-making, especially in the context of business organizations.
69
In the aftermath of recent corporate scandals, managers and researchers have turned their
........................................................................................................................................................................
Managing to be ethical: Debunking five business ethics myths
Linda Klebe Trevino and Michael E. Brown ˜ Executive Summary
........................................................................................................................................................................
The twenty-first century has brought corporate ethics scandals that have harmed millions of employees and investors, and sent shock waves throughout the business world. The scandals have produced “perp walks” and regulatory backlash, and business ethics is once again a hot topic. Academics and managers are asking: What caused the recent rash of corporate wrongdoing, and what can we do, if anything, to prevent similar transgressions in the future? Perhaps because everyone has opinions about ethics and personal reactions to the scandals, a number of pat answers have circulated that perpetuate a mythology of business ethics management. In this article, we identify several of these myths and respond to them based upon knowledge grounded in research and practice. Myth 1: It’s Easy to Be Ethical A 2002 newspaper article was entitled, “Corporate ethics is simple: If something stinks, don’t do it.” The article went on to suggest “the smell test” or “If you don’t want to tell your mom what you’re really doing . . . or read about it in the press, don’t do it.”1 The obvious suggestion is that being ethical in business is easy if one wants to be ethical. A further implication is that if it’s easy, it doesn’t need to be managed. But that suggestion disregards the complexity surrounding ethical decision-making, especially in the context of business organizations.
69
In the aftermath of recent corporate scandals, managers and researchers have turned their