Well, for some, it may not make any difference, but for a lot of managers, sure, ethics can be taught. The question is the systemic structures that align managers’ performance with short-term outcomes.  If an investor can change stock positions a dozen times a day on corporate news, how can an executive build in long-term strategies where things like goodwill, reputation, etc. matter?  It isn't impossible to do so, but the deck is loaded against it.

Timothy L. Fort
Academic Advisor, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics
Lindner-Gambal Professor of Business Ethics at George Washington University Business School

The upside of the recent scandals is that they have led to widespread public concern about ethical business practices. This heightened level of engagement creates a moment—a unique moment—to make lasting difference in corporate practice. We can be the generation that makes business better.

R. Edward Freeman
Academic Director, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics
Elis and Signe Olsson Professor of Business Administration, The Darden School

We lead seminars for CEOs, senior executives and directors and we do it because we believe it makes a real difference. Executives and managers who want to be ethical leaders can always learn new ways to bring their firm’s values to life. Becoming an ethical leader is a career-long process, not an innate ability or something learned in six weeks. The best learning often comes from peers, mentors and role-models.

Dean Krehmeyer
Executive Director, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics

Ethics can certainly be taught.  People can be taught to recognize ethical issues when they arise and they can be given decision making skills and told what expectations are.  But, education isn't enough.  Most people are susceptible to influences from the environments in which they find themselves. Therefore, organizations and their leaders must create strong ethical cultures in which ethical behavior is supported and unethical behavior is seriously disciplined.   This happens by focusing on multiple systems (including reward and disciplinary systems) that all point employees in the right direction.  Senior leaders who deal with the most ambiguous ethical issues should be thoroughly vetted for their moral courage and ethical leadership.

Linda K. Trevino
Academic Advisor, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics
Professor of Organizational Behavior and Cook Fellow in Business Ethics, The Pennsylvania State University

Pushing companies to take ethics seriously – not as a band aid, but as a way to re-envision what it means to be a great business. Ethics can be taught to adults, even though such training may never convince a criminal to change their behavior. Particularly when it is done right and has the backing of the organization, ethics can provide a powerful influence – through the culture of the organization, peer pressure, and the expectations of authority figures – on individual behavior within organizations.

Andrew Wicks
Academic Advisor, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics
Associate Professor of Business Administration, The Darden School