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March, 2005

 

Do God and money mix? CNBC, March 31, 2005 By Tyler Mathisen
	Evangelicalism is one of the fastest-growing religious movements in the United States, and now this ardent form of Christianity is starting to flex its economic muscles. “Jesus is big business in America,” explains Laura Nash, Ph.D., a senior research fellow at Harvard Business School. In fact, Jesus has always been big business in America says Nash. And while the message of the Bible has been constant over the years, today’s Christian messengers are very different from those of days gone by.
Long & Short: Buffett's Reputation May Be Tested The Wall Street Journal, March 31, 2005 By Jesse Eisinger
	With AIG fessing up Wednesday that it improperly accounted for a reinsurance transaction with Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s General Re, it looks increasingly likely that regulators will take action concerning the transaction. Berkshire Hathaway is a gigantic company, with $189 billion in assets and $69 billion in revenue at the end of last year. It would border on the absurd to expect Mr. Buffett to know the details of every transaction his units make. And though he has said he is briefed on big transactions, he also is a famously hands-off manager. "It's a lose/lose situation for him . . . That's true whether he's spotless or culpable," says Thomas Donaldson, a professor at the Wharton School who directs a new Ph.D. program in ethics and legal studies. "It's a special shame, because Buffett has not only been a financial hero to many but also an ethical one." (Also appeared in The Wall Street Journal Europe, DowJones Newswires, The Asian Wall Street Journal, and The Wall Street Journal Americas.)
Microsoft Funding of Security Report Decried: Finding That System is Superior to Linux is Biased, Critics Say Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 25, 2005 By Todd Bishop
	Two researchers surprised the audience at a computer-security convention last month with their finding that a version of Microsoft Windows was more secure than a competing Linux operating system. This week, the researchers released their finished report, and it included another surprise: Microsoft was funding the project all along.  It was important for the researchers to disclose the funding source in the final report, said University of Virginia business professor R. Edward Freeman, director of the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics at the university's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. However, he said, the issue of disclosure during a conference isn't as clear.
Newscast: George Soros loses French court appeal on charges of insider trading Minnesota Public Radio: Marketplace, March 24, 2005 By Alisa Roth
	ALISA ROTH reporting: In 2002, a French judge convicted George Soros of using insider information when he traded shares of a French bank. Soros claims the information he had was neither confidential nor specific enough to count as insider trading. Thomas Donaldson, who studies business ethics at Wharton, says there's an irony to the charges. Mr. THOMAS DONALDSON (The Wharton School of Business): What has to be especially galling to Soros here is that he's worked for things like transparency and high ethical standards in business all around the world. And now all of a sudden, somebody is accusing him of those very things.
Reputation Statistics ImageEquity, March 21, 2005
	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 U.S. 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. 81% of CEOs confirmed that companies are focusing more heavily on corporate ethics. (Also appeared in ABC Business.)
Discipline 101 The Virginian-Pilot & The Ledger-Star, March 19, 2005 By Philip Walzer
	Last month, Katharine C. Kersey of Old Dominion University got the states equivalent of a gold star for her work: She was among 12 professors statewide who received outstanding faculty awards from Gov. Mark R. Warner. Other winners of the outstanding faculty awards, presented by the State Council of Higher Education: Gayle Childers, math, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College; Richard Claus, engineering, Virginia Tech; R. Edward Freeman, business, University of Virginia; E. Scott Geller, psychology, Virginia Tech; Matthew Hyre, engineering, Virginia Military Institute; Cynthia Jones, biology, Old Dominion University; T. Mills Kelly, history, George Mason University; Roland Minton, math, Roanoke College; Lucinda Roy, English, Virginia Tech; Kathleen Slevin, sociology, College of William and Mary, and Judyth Twigg, political science, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Ebbers' Conviction Bad Omen for Enron Chiefs, Others   Agence France Presse, March 17, 2005
	Bernard Ebbers' conviction in the WorldCom fraud sends a tough message to top executives of Enron and others facing criminal charges that juries and the public will show little mercy, analysts say. The 63-year-old former WorldCom chief executive faces up to 85 years in prison following his conviction in New York on nine criminal counts in connection with the 11-billion-dollar fraud that forced the telecom giant into bankruptcy in 2002. "I've never seen an era in the United States like this in terms of the general population's intolerance for excuses from the boardroom," said Thomas Donaldson, professor of business ethics at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. "It's a warning to a lot of CEOs who thought they could hide behind the 'I didn't know what was going on' defense." Donaldson said the verdict is an ominous sign for former Enron chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay, who is awaiting trial in connection with fraud that led to the collapse of the energy company, and for others.
MBA Applicants Pay Price for Unauthorized Site Searches The Washington Post, March 10, 2005 By Jonathan Finer
	For some applicants to the nation's top MBA programs, it was a snap decision made in the dark of night after viewing an Internet posting too tantalizing to ignore. Others said that while the message describing how to get an early peek at schools' admissions decisions seemed like a hoax, they wanted to know for sure. But after learning this week that at least three schools would reject anyone who had tried to gain access to the potentially life-changing news, many applicants said they felt unfairly vilified for what they call a victimless lapse in judgment. Some experts in business ethics said the students were not the only ones at fault. "What they would have done in an ideal world was wait to get their results, but that curiosity got the better of them does not make them bad people," said Edwin Hartman, director of the Prudential Business Ethics Center at Rutgers University. "If this were the worst thing businesspeople ever did, we'd be living in Utopia. I think the punishment was a bit harsh." Also appeared in Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
Ouster of Boeing CEO Points to Confusion Associated Press, March 8, 2005 By Adam Geller
	At first glance, Boeing Co.'s decision to oust its CEO because of his affair with a female executive suggests a bold new era in corporate politics. Or maybe not. "It signals that at least some corporations aren't just using these (codes of conduct) as window dressing," said Thomas Donaldson, a professor of business ethics and law at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. "Any company that has a similar issue like this, if they want to do something different, is going to have the Boeing example to answer to." Also appeared in Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Sacramento Union, and the Journal Gazette.
Boeing Ousts Its Ceo; Dismissal May Spur New Exec Romance Rules Los Angeles Times, March 8, 2005 By Chris Gaither and Lisa Girion
	The forced resignation of Boeing Co. Chief Executive Harry C. Stonecipher over an extramarital affair with an employee may signal an end to corporate America's willingness to ignore the sexual indiscretions of its leaders. Companies can't prohibit their employees from falling in love, said Thomas Donaldson, director of the ethics and law program at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. But he thinks Boeing did the right thing, because allowing a married CEO to carry on with an employee would create too much potential for Stonecipher to abuse his power, and Boeing couldn't take another scandal. Also appeared in The Cincinnati Post and Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
Blurry Line Seen Separating Corporate, Private Ethics Dow Jones News Service, March 7, 2005 By Alex Davidson
	The ouster of Boeing Co. (BA) President and Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher shows just how blurry the line between corporate and personal ethics can be for company heads, especially for high-profile business leaders who have to juggle public and private personas. Thomas Donaldson, a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, said the actions by Boeing's board are clear examples of how a code of conduct can work and how powerful an independent board can be, in this case exercising judgment in 10 days from start to finish. "I don't recall that kind of speed with this kind of issue," Donaldson said of other incidents with CEOs.
Why You're Not Happy  CIO, March 1, 2005 By Megan Santosus
	Every year, successful executives pledge to pay more attention to their lives, their families and that big world outside the office walls. Yet within weeks, these well-intended plans invariably fall by the wayside. It's not difficult to see why. Being a CIO, even when times are hard, can be pretty exciting, pretty absorbing. Coauthors Laura Nash and Howard Stevenson of the Harvard Business School are out to shake up conventional notions of success with their recent book titled (somewhat misleadingly) Just Enough. (A better title would be The Many Faces of Success.) The book's premise is that too many businesspeople put all their notions of success into one professional basket.
The Blackwell Guide to Continental Philosophy  Review of Metaphysics, March 1, 2005 By Paul Copan
	Robert Solomon does an admirable job of introducing the book, despite the fact that there is "no agreed upon group of philosophers who form the continental canon." Indeed, there is plenty of diversity within Continental philosophy both in divergent ideas among various thinkers (simply compare Hegel and Kierkegaard!) and in the cross-section of thinkers not normally considered philosophers (social critics, sociologists, literary theorists, political activists).

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