The best of the good

As society evolves, so does the role that businesses play in society. Because a business is made up of individuals and individuals should be responsible citizens and give back to the community, so too should a business.
The company I work for is located on the north side of Syracuse and is highly involved with the community through beautification and neighborhood development programs. It also promotes educational programs for its employees with reading, writing and learning to speak English and also educates the community on healthy lifestyle choices.
It's the right thing to do and it's good business because it's win win situation. The community benefits because of the company's involvement, and the company benefits because it's helping to build the community in which it operates. DB

The Ethical Leader's Decision Tree

Company's can have decision trees for ethical conduct, ethical guidelines, ethical training, etc. but if the management is not ethical, no amount of training or trees will change the outcome. In the article "The Ethical Leader's Decision Tree" Constance E. Bagley presents the example of a company moving it's manufacturing facilities oversees because of the chance to operate in country with less stringent environmental laws. Certainly this will benefit the companies bottom line and be good for the stock holders, but what about the effect on the surrounding communities because of this move?
At a minimum, the company needs to consider what is legal and what is permitted by the company's own ethical guidelines. But, on some deeper level, doesn't the ethical framework in which the company operates come down to the moral conviction of it's leaders? If the leader's of this company choose to, they can almost certainly rationalize the morality of any decision that they make and find ways around the legalities and ethical guidelines that would apply to this situation. So, doesn't it really come down to some adherence to the "Golden Rule" by the leadership of the company? If the decision maker's simply ask themselves how they'd want to be treated if they or their families lived in the town in which the company was relocated, then all questions involving the legality and ethical guidelines would answer themselves. DB

The Ethical Leader's Decision Tree

Isn't nice to know that there really are some important decision makers who try to make the right decisons based on how their decisions will affect others, not just how much money will this put in their pockets? I read several other Decision tree articles as well as the one by Constance Bagley. I am encouraged to find different decision trees based on what type of business is involved , rather then just generic decision trees that may not ask specific enough questions to help the officials find the right answers. I, even came upon a decision tree that the girl scouts use to determine what recognition awards their volunteers are entitled to receive.

Advocacy groups are using decision trees to help them decide what political candidates they are going to support.

New software and technology has been developed by various companies to give leaders more data to analysis before making those important decisions. It seems that in some instances, even after all the analysis, some decision makers still use "gut instincts" when faced with ethical decisions. After all, they have to be able to live with the decisions they make.

Some of the decisions seem like no-brainers. Then, there are those decisions that require a lot of thought, information and analysis before making the decision. I am glad that there are companies who provide the leaders with these decision trees . ss

The Ethical Mind

Most of this article gave me food for thought. It was difficult to pick out one thing that stood out more than any other. I do agree that whether you are trying to run an organization, family or a Fortune 500 compnay, you must believe that you are doing the right thing. When you find someone or something that isn't right, you should get the facts needed to stop the action before it gets to the point where it's too late. Then you can warn the individual to stop and if they don't, you have grounds needed to take action. This will also be helpful if the government imposes penalties. If you can show that you were aware of the action and tried to stop it, perhaps the fines and penalties will be less severe. Also, it is important to have an individual to consult before you make any decisions that may or may not be ethical. Granted those CEO's think that they are above the law and they won't get caught, but I can't imagine being willing to take that chance and risk everything. In addition, having to face your mother or have everyone in the world be able to read about your wrongdoings in the paper. Perhaps this isn't the best reasson for doing the right thing, but whatever works, right?

The Ethical Mind with Howard Gardner

It's ironic that I'm reading this article and one of the questions is: "what gets in the way of the ethical mind?" Gardner mentions that the behavior of students shows that there is an increase in cheating and doing whatever it takes to succeed.
Right here in CNY a group of current and former students at FM High School are accused of tampering with their student transcripts and the headline in the Post-Standard is "Why Kids Cheat". What's going on? Is it due to the pressure that people are under,or do they feel that they can get away with it and can forget about what is right and wrong?
Because there are different influences on children, parents need to make sure they continue to do the right thing by setting a positive example, being part of their children's lives and guide them in the right direction. DB

THE ETHICAL MIND with Howard Gardner

Foxes guarding the henhouse?
I do not feel that increasing auditing requirements has been an ethical solution to questionable audits. In fact, as is frequently the case when politicians get involved in trying to protect us from ourselves, this law has only resulted in more paper work and greater expense, while having little effect on fixing the problem that it was intended to address.
With the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, companies are spending a lot more money on both internal and external audits. This puts a smaller company at risk of closing due to the fact that their financial burden would be the same as a larger company and they don't have the resources to devote to completing these audits. Some larger international firms are also being feeling the effect of the law. For example, Porsche AG announced that it will not place their shares on the NYSE because it would fall under the law's jurisdiction, and since they already have an obligation to operate under the laws of their home country, they wouldn't be able to comply to both requirements. Surely, this was an unforeseen consequence of the law.
The only winners of this Act might be the ones who were part of the original scandals in 2001, the accountants and their accounting firms. Having more audits being completed by the same cast of characters would seem to invite the same results. Ultimately, companies will act in an ethical way when they see that it's in their best interest to do so. Surely, the examples of Enron and others who got caught up in their own lies and deceptions would serve as a warning to others about the consequenses of unethical business practices. DB