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

This trial is VERY important.  Although many other companies have been involved in scandals, Enron became the poster child for corporate malfeasance.  The public has been waiting for a long time for these trials and it will be important for them to perceive that justice was done.  Doing so may not change the public's perception of business, but hopefully it will change the perception that crime pays.

We have certainly not seen an end to large business scandals.  Anyone who has been around the business ethics field for a while knows this.  Every round of scandals is followed by new regulation and perhaps better behavior for a while.  Nevertheless, it seems that some people will find new ways to get around laws and regulations.  So, it will continue to be very important for regulators and others to keep their eyes on industries that are ripe for new types of scandal.  Elliott Spitzer's focus on unethical "business as usual" in whole industries has been particularly helpful in this regard.

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.

The Enron case teaches us that the business "paradigm" never changed as some would have had us believe.  Ethical business practice requires commitment to honesty and transparency as it always has.