Be Nice

Sometimes, it’s the simple things that make the most difference.  Be nice to someone in your workplace today.  It will make you feel better no matter what is going on, and it’s the right thing to do.

How Important Are Ethics in Your Workplace

As I’ve posted before, business ethics is not about finding the right training program—the executives at Enron had all completed ethics training.  It’s about setting up a performance review system that values ethics.  How important is ethics where you work?  What does your organization do to promote ethical decision-making?

Organizational Culture

In the 1980’s there was a lot of talk about organizational culture, and a number of books were written that, if managers could just change the culture of their workplace, everything would be better—employees would be happy and productive, customers would be more satisfied, and the bottom line would be higher than ever.  It all [...]

Organizations and I-Thou Ethics

I teach a class on ethics and communication, and part of that class looks at the ideas of Martin Buber.  Buber distinguished two ways of communicating with others.  I-it communication treats the other person as an object, where you are trying to get something for yourself.  I-thou communication treats the other person as a unique [...]

Ethical Priorities

Ethics in organizations have been in the news so much in the last eight or nine years.  Perhaps I didn’t pay attention before Enron or perhaps the media didn’t pay as much attention, but it seems that there is a new corporate scandal about every month or two.  Because of recent legislation, more and more [...]