Why Me?

Associate Professor of Management at York University in Toronto Canada. Previously, he

was Associate Professor and Chair Management at Loyola University Chicago and held the
William A. Black Chair in Commerce at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His
research focuses critically on business ethics and workers’ rights, and appears primarily in
the business ethics journals, such as Business & Society, the Journal of Business Ethics, and
Business Ethics Quarterly, Current projects examine the role of multi stakeholder initiatives
—particularly those comprised of NGOs, civil society organizations, and labor unions—in
developing labor governance structures for global supply chains.

Education

• PH.D. Ohio State Univers ity: Labor and Human Re sourc es

Experience

• Associate Editor, Bus iness Ethic s Quar te r ly

• Varied Teaching Experience in Higher Ed

• Sales Management: The Prude ntial, Ne w England Financ ial Group

Fun

• Excellent Ping Pong Playe r

Criticisms of Business Ethics
Moral ch aract er is st at ic
It 's in d et erm in an t It 's Im p ract ical
• Ly n d o n B . J o h n s o n
• B ro w n v B o a r d o f E d u c a t i o n • Disagreements about theory but
• Readings and
conclusions converge
d i s c u s s i o n re i n f o rc e s
• Avoid harm and promote values and brings
wellbeing clarity

• Justify coercion • Principles for new

situations
• Discrimination and deception
• Wa x o n w a x o f f –
are generally wrong
n o r m a t i v e a p p ro a c h
Myth #1 It's Easy to be Ethical

Ethical decisions are complex
Making ethical choices often requires extra
steps and consideration.
Simple tests (smell, tell mom, newspaper)
Conflicting values (child labor, payday loans)
Organizational context brings Ethics evolve over time
additional pressures
Not all situations have a clear right or wrong Awareness, preparation, judgment
action. (motivation, integrity)
Influences relation between moral judgment
and action
e.g., "the irrefutable logic of results”

While being et hical is an a dmirable go al, it can be challenging to

determine wha t is right and make the right choices.
Myth #2 Unethical Behavior in Business
Results from 'Bad Apples'

Wells Fargo and Rogue Bank Tellers

Joseph Jett v Kidder Peabody (General Electric )

1. 1 9 9 1 - $ 5 0 0 , 0 0 0

2. 1992 - $2.3 mil

3. 1993 - $9.2 mil

 Myth #3: Ethics is relative

Ethic a l re la tiv ism is the v ie w tha t Ar g ume nts fo r e thic a l re la tiv ism Ar g ume nts a g a inst e thic a l rela tiv ism
mo r a lity dif fe r s a c ro ss c ulture s a nd
indiv idua l
Appeals to cultural differences and moral Leads to moral nihilism, makes reforming bad
There are no universal moral standards, morals are disagreements between societies practices difficult
relative to cultural or individual belief

Mo ra lity is complex wit h many so urces, lea ding to disag reement,

but a common mora lity ma y ex ist.
Honor Among Thieves
Ethical principles and codes of conduct are what allow for a system of exchange to flourish over
long periods of time. .

Socrates -- ‘honor among thieves’

¤ Pirates – ‘the Code’

¤ Mafia – ‘the Mattresses’
¤ The Wire – ‘never on no Sunday ’
Myth #4 People are Less Ethical
than they Used to Be
The idea that people are less ethical today than in the past is a
common myth. While it's tempting to believe that society is
declining morally, research doesn't support this. Rates of violent
crime have declined significantly over the past decades. People
today are also more tolerant of differences and more concerned with
social justice issues.

• The Talmud has over 613 commands – 100+ concern business and
economics
• U.S. Founding Fathers
• Alan Greenspan – not more greed, more opportunity to express greed
• Erika Cheung and Theranos
• American Airlines and Gerard Arpey
Myth #5 Ethics can be
Managed through Laws and
Codes

• T h e F Ir st G e n e r a t i o n P ro b l e m
• P e r so n s a re m o re a g i l e a n d m a l e a b l e
than laws