Business ethics

Dismayed by the State Department employees who peeked at Senator Barack Obama’s, Senator Hillary Clinton’s and John McCain’s passport files? Shocked by the nineteen employees, including physicians, who furtively glanced at Britney Spears’ medical files? Don’t be. Snooping isn’t rare. When I worked for CSO, a magazine devoted to executive-level security professionals, I heard countless […]

Abuse. And it's not only a problem for Twitter.

When political and social issues touch business and the workplace, employees and their leaders sometimes struggle to address those issues productively...

Everyone in business should understand how financial success is measured and how they, individually, make an impact. A Fortune 100 company we work with held a two-day class recently to teach various mid-level managers the foundational elements of finance. The class focused on how to read financial statements and then, using their own public GAAP […]

Police departments aren't the only ones considering it.

Editors’ Note: This fictionalized case study will appear in a forthcoming issue of Harvard Business Review, along with commentary from experts and readers. If you’d like your comment to be considered for publication, please be sure to include your full name, company or university affiliation and email address. The room was already packed when Liu […]

Your tech team can't be truly agile if HR, finance, and management aren't.

Prioritizing action over consideration often leads to unethical behavior.

Historically, it’s been a matter of trial and error. There’s a better way.

Two years after the financial crisis began, the business community and the broader public are still wrestling with two fundamental questions about capitalism that should help to orient and shape how we think about business ethics. Last week, I discussed the first of these questions: How much faith should we have in capitalism? This week, […]

When Ben Franklin wrote Poor Richard’s Almanac and the words, “A little neglect may breed great mischief,” he did not have price fixing in mind. To the 47 executives in companies in the folding-box industry convicted of price fixing, however, the words seem tailored to fit. In those companies convicted under antitrust laws in 1976, […]

Is it the responsibility of schools to teach ethics? I think it is – but only if it’s done the right way. MBA Students don’t necessarily care about Kant’s third formulation of the categorical imperative — they need a simple values toolkit that they can understand and have at the ready, not an impression that […]

Advice for navigating a contentious climate.

Jack Welch, a humble chemical engineer, tells us in his memoir why he was able to make strategic decisions all across GE's portfolio, from nuclear power...

Five Questions with Bill George Retired CEO of Medtronic

Being compared to others can increase bad behavior.

In Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story, Kurt Eichenwald relates how Enron’s leaders engaged in massive book-cooking with little interference from the dozens of managers, lawyers, and advisers who had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Similarly, at Parmalat, employees not involved in the Italian dairy giant’s fraud apparently were aware of […]

Don’t sell yourself, or your personal information, short.

Business, like poker, is often a game of strategic bluffs. The worlds of private and business life are separate and demand separate codes of ethics. The...

A trusting relationship between customer and business is essential.

APA Technologies, a startup in the trucking industry, faced a significant challenge with its innovative product, the Tyro - an automatic tire inflation...

The iPierian case profiles a startup biotechnology company leveraging the recent development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-adult stem cells...

The in-coming Social Democrat-Green coalition government in Sweden cancelled a decades-long arms treaty with the Saudi Arabia, on the grounds of the latter's...

The Ethics Advisory Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) provides training and support for member Chartered...

Two members of Nike's executive team must decide what sustainability targets to propose to Nike's CEO and to the corporate responsibility committee of...

Founded in 2005, Vermont Kombucha Corp. (V-Ko) was an early mover in the fledgling U.S. market for kombucha, a drink brewed for its health benefits. Early...

Surana & Surana International Attorneys (S&S) is a multispecialty law firm. Since its inception in 1971, it had declined to serve clients who were in...

This case, set in May 2019, details the launch strategy of the German automobile company AUDI AG (Audi) for its model A8 sedan, the world's first Level...

This case study centers on Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, as he faces critical decisions regarding the company's future direction in the rapidly growing...

In November 2019, Sandra Richter, co-founder and CEO of Soofa, a network of advertising-supported digital bulletin boards, must decide between two different...

In this short vignette on ethics in consulting, Brenda Thompson, a new Associate at a prestigious consulting firm, learns that a fellow Associate is using...

In Differences at Work: Alex (A), HBS Case No. 9-408-011 Alex has been asked an inappropriate question by the interviewer at an interview for his dream...

Hank Carlson, once a successful businessman and a well-respected member of his community, spent nearly two years in prison for check fraud. When he was...

Thaddeus Fulford-Jones and Eric Weiss, founders of healthcare technology startup Radial Analytics, have been busy developing a software program designed...

Southwest Airlines has defied gravity as a leading domestic airliner with consistent profitability, extreme customer loyalty, and a happy labor force....

Describes the challenges facing Jim Hackett, the newly appointed CEO of Anadarko Petroleum, an independent oil and gas exploration company. In addition...

APA Technologies, a startup in the trucking industry, faced a significant challenge with its innovative product, the Tyro - an automatic tire inflation...

Dick's Sporting Goods was one of the top five retailers of a range of firearms in the US. Over the last several years and specifically following the Parkland...

In 2010, GMP Capital (GMP) found itself the only investment bank willing to raise capital for Avid Life Media, the parent company of the controversial...

The Asia sourcing manager at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a humanitarian organization working in conflict areas, had contributed...

Dismayed by the State Department employees who peeked at Senator Barack Obama’s, Senator Hillary Clinton’s and John McCain’s passport files? Shocked by the nineteen employees, including physicians, who furtively glanced at Britney Spears’ medical files? Don’t be. Snooping isn’t rare. When I worked for CSO, a magazine devoted to executive-level security professionals, I heard countless […]

Abuse. And it's not only a problem for Twitter.

When political and social issues touch business and the workplace, employees and their leaders sometimes struggle to address those issues productively...

Everyone in business should understand how financial success is measured and how they, individually, make an impact. A Fortune 100 company we work with held a two-day class recently to teach various mid-level managers the foundational elements of finance. The class focused on how to read financial statements and then, using their own public GAAP […]

APA Technologies, a startup in the trucking industry, faced a significant challenge with its innovative product, the Tyro - an automatic tire inflation...

Police departments aren't the only ones considering it.

Editors’ Note: This fictionalized case study will appear in a forthcoming issue of Harvard Business Review, along with commentary from experts and readers. If you’d like your comment to be considered for publication, please be sure to include your full name, company or university affiliation and email address. The room was already packed when Liu […]

U.S. healthcare is currently a poor value proposition in relation to its cost. This must change. Driven by the fundamental forces of financing, consumer...

The iPierian case profiles a startup biotechnology company leveraging the recent development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)-adult stem cells...

The in-coming Social Democrat-Green coalition government in Sweden cancelled a decades-long arms treaty with the Saudi Arabia, on the grounds of the latter's...