Personal ethics

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 […]

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...

As the 1990s overtake us, public interest in ethics is at a historic high. While the press calls attention to blatant derelictions on Wall Street, in the defense industry, and in the Pentagon, and to questionable activities in the White House, in the attorney general’s office, and in Congress, observers wonder whether our society is […]

“Like some Triassic reptile, the theoretical view of ethics lumbers along in the far past of Sunday School and Philosophy I, while the reality of practical business concerns is constantly measuring a wide range of competing claims on time and resources against the unrelenting and objective marketplace.” So writes the author of this article as […]

The frail, forlorn face of Rupert Murdoch in the news exposes the vulnerability at the heart of his News Corporation media empire: his reputation for...

In a shocking study published in 2006, Don McCabe of Rutgers University and fellow researchers found that MBAs cheat more than other graduate students in the U.S. and Canada. This week’s portion of the HBR Debate on “How to Fix Business Schools” focused in on the problem of ethical lapses among business students and what […]

Moral judgments rest on both intent and control.

How we communicate about values and good conduct is a challenging task in the best of circumstances. And recent corporate history - Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia,...

When does a group have responsibility for the well-being of an individual? And what are the differences between the ethics of the individual and the ethics...

When was the last time you said sorry?

Money, material items, and likes.

Answer true or false: "I am an ethical manager." If you answered "true," here's an uncomfortable fact: You're probably wrong. Most of us believe we can...

A hard copy makes a decision feel more real.

Just as people can develop skills and abilities over time, they can learn to be more or less ethical. Yet many organizations limit ethics training to...

What should managers working abroad do when they encounter business practices that seem unethical? Should they, in the spirit of cultural relativism,...

The process of self-discovery is creative and ever-changing.

Pressure can cause employees to focus solely on hitting their targets at the expense of moral considerations.

Over the past 20 years the social media influencer industry has completely rearranged the way information and culture are conceived, produced, marketed,...

Virtue matters too.

You are an up and coming leader and have just found the perfect stretch job opportunity. How much can you “dress up” your resume to make yourself as strong a candidate as possible without crossing the ethical line of deception? Consider a few conflicting thoughts: Over 50% of people lie on their resume. A Monster.com […]