Sims and Keon "Ethical Work Climate as a Factor in the Development of

Person-Organization Fit"

Sims and Keon want to relate the organization's ethical climate to the development of person-
organization fit. To do this they rely on what they call an individual's stage of moral development
vis.a.vis. his/her perceived ethical work environment. They found 86 working students most satisfied
when their individual preferences matched their present position. They were, of course, less likely to
leave.

My immediate reaction to this paper is: you need a study to show that? Of course people feel most
comfortable and want to stay at vocations they perceive most in-line with their values. Moreover, Sims
and Keon use Kohlberg's stages of moral development. We have already seen the problem with that.
Hitler were very high on the stage of moral (really cognitive) development, but hardly moral persons! In
other words, Sims and Keon could also be describing a loyal and comfortable Nazi and that is not ethics.
Ethical work climate is not just what you are comfortable with, it is the climate that is well-ethical.

W. MICHAEL HOFFMAN AND MARK ROWE The Ethics Officer as Agent of

the Board: Leveraging Ethical Governance Capability in the Post-Enron
Corporation

What happens when the board of directors does not provide significant ethical oversight? This reminds
me of the current oversight committees in Congress who are still going after Clinton for her emails while
apparently ignoring scandals and conflicts of interest closer to home.

Hoffman and Rowe certainly realize that the scandals at Worldcom, Enron, and Sallie Mae were
ingenious and complicated. They argue that these complications "do not mitigate the failure of boards
to intervene." Hoffman and Rowe cite "a board approach that defaulted to passivity, acquiescence, and
sometimes even indifference" despite fiduciary responsibilities to shareholders. There are many reasons
for these failures to provide a rigorous and transparent inquiry: conflicts of interest, complacency,
inadequate preparations or qualifications. But, they also point to a lack of engagement: "More
specifically, ethics officers and the programs they oversee have not engaged boards of directors
effectively and meaningfully in the ongoing process of rigorous and independent ethical inquiry that is
essential to sound corporate governance." They argue that "ethics officers are in thrall" to the senior
management that appoints them, pays them, and may fire them. (The Republican Congress tried this
unsuccessfully with the Senate Oversight Office). Second, one can question the power of the Ethics
Officer to do his or her job.