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December, 2005

 

Chinese Internet vs. free speech Albuquerque Tribune, December 26, 2005 By Carrie Kirby
	Microsoft bans "democracy" and "Dalai Lama" from the Chinese version of its blog site. Yahoo recently turned over information that helped the Chinese government track down and imprison a journalist for the crime of forwarding an e-mail. Google omits banned publications from its Chinese news service. Critics say that cooperating with governments to suppress free speech violates human rights, international law and corporate ethics. But what the experts can't agree on is what the companies should do about it. "It's morally problematic that they are partnering with the Chinese government on censorship," said Timothy Fort, a professor of business ethics at George Washington University School of Business in Washington, D.C. Professor Tom Donaldson, director of the doctoral program in ethics and law at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, compared tech companies helping China squelch free speech with Polaroid's providing photographic technology for the passport system used under South African apartheid to control the movements of black citizens. (Also appeared in Wichita Falls Times Record News, San Angelo Standard-Times,  Corpus Christi Caller-Times,  Knoxville News-Sentinel,  Abilene Reporter-News, and on Lawrence KMCI and  KSHB-TV NBC 41 Kansas City.)
Steal Big, Steal Little Workforce Management Magazine, December 20, 2005 By Patrick J. Kiger
	Corporate malfeasance isn’t confined solely to the executive suite. Corruption has trickled down to all levels of the organizational hierarchy, and companies may have only themselves to blame. One big obstacle to reforming a morally troubled corporate culture is that it’s difficult to show the bottom-line economic benefit of avoiding ethical infractions--not just for the company, but for individual employees. Linda Trevino, a professor of organizational behavior at Pennsylvania State University, recommends that companies make ethics a part of their performance management systems and 360-degree evaluations, so that employees would have to meet standards for behavior as well as productivity to receive raises and promotions. In addition, she advocates rewarding exemplary behavior.
Christmas jeers FORTUNE, December 13, 2005 By Marc Gunther
	You'd never know it from a trip to the mall, but big retailers are waging a war against Christmas. Banners outside Lowe's stores advertised "Holiday Trees" until customers complained. Lowe's promptly issued a statement apologizing for "any confusion the banner created" and said all 49 varieties (!) of its live and artificial trees would henceforth be labeled "Christmas Trees." "If it's a Christmas tree or a Christmas card, let's call it that," says Patrick Murphy, a marketing professor and the director off the Institute for Ethical Business at Notre Dame. "This bending-over backwards to be inclusive can look silly." So how can retailers avoid getting caught in the culture wars? Experts say companies should think carefully about their marketing well in advance, listen to customers and employees, and then be willing to explain whatever approach they take. "Where companies get into trouble is where they react to a controversy in a way that doesn't fit with their core values, or when it looks like they are reacting to pressure," says Thomas Dunfee, a professor of social responsibility at the Wharton School of business. Companies with a Christian identity, he said, shouldn't shy away from talking about Christmas. (Appeared in CNNMoney and on CNN Europe.)
Boards watching personal ethics, too Dallas Morning News , December 3, 2005 By Brendan M. Case
	Are CEOs facing more scrutiny for their personal behavior these days? The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, adopted by Congress after the corporate scandals, focuses on financial wrongdoing. But the new regulations have made many corporate boards more willing to take on other issues, including personal ones.   "That issue by itself is being taken more seriously simply because of all the scandals we've lived through in the past few years," said Linda Trevino, professor of organizational behavior at the Pennsylvania State University's business school.   (Also appeared in the Denton Record-Chronicle, Accenture News, and Yellowbrix.)

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