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November, 2004

 

University of Portland Hosts Business Ethics Forum Daily Journal of Commerce, November 18, 2004 By Justin Stranzl
	Two nationally recognized business ethicists will headline the symposium. Thomas Donaldson, director of the ethics program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, will present "Dangerous Currents: The Ethical Risks of Business Leadership." Donaldson will be followed by Patrick Khuse, who worked as a stockbroker before becoming a professional speaker on business ethics. His keynote presentation is called, "Why So Many Smart People Do Such Dumb Things."
For Insurance Brokers, 'It Comes Down to Ethics' The Star-Ledger, November 17, 2004 By Beth Fitzgerald
	Bruce Rosen, partner in charge of auditing at the CPA firm Eisner in Florham Park, said he isn't surprised brokers get paid more to generate huge volumes of business for certain insurers. "That was known, and it was common, and it created a conflict," Rosen said. "But it was the rigged bids that caught a lot of people by surprise. If your job is to get three bids so your clients gets the best package, and you fix it so that two of them are not legitimate bids, then that is dishonest." Edwin Hartman, who teaches ethics at the Rutgers University business school, said there appears to have been a "leverage opportunity" that was exploited by certain insurance brokers. "What needs to happen is people need to behave honestly," Hartman said. "There are structural issues and cultural issues that create temptation, but that does not excuse anyone. It would be awfully nice if a company in a position to exercise leverage decided not to do it because it's not right."
Business Ethics: Corporate Responses to Scandal The Reputation Institute, November 11, 2004 By Charles Fombrun and Christopher Foss
	‘Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.’ Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign, 1999 ABSTRACT. The wave of scandals that has inundated business since Enron has had far reaching consequences. Questions of ethics have taken on particular urgency as companies grapple with increased media scrutiny of governance matters, as well as of corporate social and environmental issues. In June 2004, the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics announced the key findings of its initial research project, ‘Mapping the Terrain’. The study surveyed US CEOs and indicated that top corporate ethics issues were: (1) regaining public trust; (2) effective management in the context of investor expectations; (3) ensuring the integrity of financial reporting; 4) fairness of executive compensation and (5) ethical role-modeling of senior management. Some 81 percent of CEOs confirmed that companies are focusing more heavily on corporate ethics. (Appeared in Corporate Reputation Review.)
CEOs Believe Trust in Business Has Eroded Trust in Business, November 11, 2004
	CEOs in Northeastern Wisconsin believe that the public’s trust in business has eroded in the past few years. A quarter (25%) of the CEOs believe that there has been a significant erosion of public trust in business and another 54% say that public trust in business has been moderately eroded. A recent study released by the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics  found that among CEOs in the U.S., the five most important corporate ethics issues facing business today are: regaining public trust; effective management in the context of investor expectations; ensuring integrity of financial reporting; fairness of executive compensation; and ethical role-modeling of senior management.
The View from Taft: 10 Lessons for Successful Reform Business World, November 4, 2004 By Philip Ella Juico
	Dr. Dezso Horvath, dean of the Schulich School of Business of York University in Toronto, Canada, and holder of the Tanna H. Schulich Chair in Strategic Management, spoke in part on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable business known also as the triple bottom line as contrasted with the standard double bottom line. Horvath contrasted Milton Friedman's belief that the corporation's primary and, perhaps, sole purpose is to maximize profits for the shareholders with the stakeholder model that is advocated by R. Edward Freeman in his book A Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation. Freeman, who is a professor of business administration and director of the Olsson Center of Applied Ethics at the University of Virginia, states that both the shareholders and stakeholders have a right to demand certain actions from management because all have a vested stake in the corporation.
CEOs Set Ethics Priorities; Ordinary Citizens Define Ethics Broadly Strategic Finance, November 1, 2004  By Curtis C. Verschoor
	THE FIRST RESEARCH STUDY CONDUCTED BY the prestigious Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics surveyed CEOs of large corporations to determine the most important corporate ethics issues facing the business community. According to the CEOs, the five most important ethics issues, in order of priority, are: (1) regaining the public trust, (2) effective company management in the context of today's investor expectations, (3) ensuring the integrity of financial reporting, (4) fairness of executive compensation, and (5) ethical role-modeling of senior management.
The Critical Difference: Business leaders and investors more than ever believe that companies with the best governance will be the best-performing companies. The foundation for corporate governance is a commitment to ethical behavior. Directors and Boards, November 1, 2004 By Steve Odland
	Ultimately good corporate governance is driven by the ethics of the individuals in the company. We must focus on the ethics of the individual and ensure those ethics translate into the corporation. To that end, we established the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics, with the leading business schools in the country, to help strengthen the link between ethics and business practices. Business leaders and investors more than ever believe that companies with the best governance will be the best-per-forming companies, they will be in business longer, and they will lead to more stable markets. In a review of 42 studies of the subject, Professor J.D. Margolis of Harvard found a strong correlation among corporate social responsibility, high ethical standards, and financial success.

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