Freedom of Speech I imagine if you ask 100 people on the streets of just about Anytown, USA what is the Bill of Rights about 1/2 wouldn’t know. I’m quite sure they wouldn’t know how many amendments exist (27 to be clear). Most probably don’t know the exact wording of... Continue reading

On Being an Ethical Person “Actions speak louder than words.” – It has been reported that this phrase dates back as far as the 1550s, when the French writer Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) said, “Saying is one thing and doing is another.” There are a variety of definitions of actions... Continue reading

Ethics & Compliance Initiative 2018 GBES Survey Results The Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) recently issued its 2018 Global Business Ethics Survey (GBES) that reports on the impact that an ethics and compliance (E&C) can have in the workplace with respect building a sound, ethical culture in organizations. A strong... Continue reading

Workplace Ethics Advice I was recently contacted by a production manager with an ethical dilemma. She had just inspected a production run that was scheduled to ship out in two days. Much to her dismay, she found a defect in the internal operating systems of one batch of product (10%... Continue reading

Should You Keep Extra Money From an ATM? A good philosophy to live by is stated as follows: “Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching." This partial quote from Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), an American author and philosopher, instructs us to act in ways that... Continue reading

Creating an Ethical Organization Culture Ethical issues in the workplace are varied and create ethical dilemmas in many cases. Recently, we have seen an uptick in issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and sexual harassment. I have previously blogged about EDI and sexual harassment and pointed out how... Continue reading

Rest’s Model of Ethical Behavior How do we make ethical decisions? James Rest[1], a well-known cognitive-developmental researcher, developed a model of ethical behavior that is based on the presumption that there are four steps in moral development that lead to ethical action. Rest asserted that ethical actions are not the... Continue reading

The Case for Ethical Pluralism Most ethics education at the university level encompasses discussions about moral right and wrong; good and bad decisions; motivations for actions; consequences; and our duties to others. There’s nothing wrong with these approaches and philosophical reasoning methods play an important role in ethics education. However,... Continue reading

How to Know What the Right Thing to Do Is The Moral Point of View suggests that sometimes people have to set aside their own interests and act in the best interests of others. This notion of doing what’s best for others – at least some of the time –... Continue reading

Workplace Ethics Takes a Hit at EY According to an Associated Press story published on September 24, Ernst & Young was hit with a second sexual harassment complaint in less than year firm. Karen Ward, a former partner with EY, said her supervisor routinely commented about her breasts, suggested she... Continue reading

Missed Profit and Cash Targets Lead to Firing of CEO General Electric is in trouble. Last week it announced the firing of CEO John Flannery after 14 months on the job as problems developed in its power unit causing GE to warn it would miss profit and cash targets. GE... Continue reading

Ethics in the Workplace I receive lots of emails from readers of my ethics blogs who look for advice on workplace issues. Workplace ethics are the ethical principles that guide a person's behaviors and decisions in the workplace. These principles are no different than those in our personal lives; it’s... Continue reading

The Message: Don’t Do the Crime Unless You Want to be Rewarded I’ve blogged many times before about whistleblowing including whether it is an ethical action. Some would say that whistleblowing is a courageous act to right a wrong and because the whistleblower may be discriminated against for coming forward... Continue reading

Was it Sexism or Just Following the Rules? Well it looks like Naomi Oaska is human after all. She lost in the finals in the Pan Pacific tournament in Japan last Sunday to Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova 4-6 and 4-6. We saw a different Osaka in the US Open final... Continue reading

Lessons Learned or Mistakes Not Corrected? I receive lots of emails from readers of my ethics blogs who look for advice on personal issues. They tell me that someone said something insulting or offended them in some way. They’re looking for guidance on how best to respond. Sometimes, I get... Continue reading

How and Why to Discuss Ethics in the Classroom How should we think and talk about moral issues with our youngsters: pre-teens, teenagers, and young adults? The first way to discuss these issues is from the perspective of The Golden Rule, a long-standing moral compass for societies. This ancient Greek... Continue reading

Is it Worth the Risk? Dating in the workplace can be fraught with danger. Objectively, navigating the normal dating world can be hard enough, but it gets a lot more complicated for couples that work together. Imagine if a boss dates a subordinate. Can the boss fairly evaluate the performance... Continue reading

“The Only Thing You Can Do to Make Catfish Edible is Fry Them” You’re probably wondering why I used this quote by Blake Shelton, an American country-western singer and song writer. Shelton obviously was thinking about eating catfish not engaging in it as online behavior. Still, the saying seems to... Continue reading

“If there’s something weird and it don’t look good, who you gonna call…?” Ghosting on the internet occurs when someone with whom you have established a relationship disappears from contact without any explanation at all. Perhaps it’s someone you just met on social media, communicated with several times, and then,... Continue reading

Situational Ethics is Problematic on College Campuses Situational Ethics was pioneered by Joseph Fletcher. In situational ethics, right and wrong depend upon the facts of each situation rather than societal or cultural norms. There are no universal moral rules or rights – each case is unique and deserves a unique... Continue reading

Building a More Civil Society Through Civil Discourse The Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary defines civility as polite, reasonable, and respectful behavior. Linda Fisher Thornton, a leading voice in ethical leadership, suggests that “these behaviors are the ones we use when we treat others with care,” thereby linking civility with ethical behavior... Continue reading

Virtue + Practical Wisdom = Human Flourishing We gain practical wisdom through the choices we make in life. Aristotle refined the idea of practical wisdom in his classic book, Nicomachean Ethics. Ethics, said Aristotle, was not mainly about establishing moral rules and following them. It was about performing a particular... Continue reading