Ethics education has been big business for over a dozen years. Today we are having the most lively ethics discussions since ancient Greece. Yet, the skeptics continue to question whether all this activity is reducing the rate of ethical infractions in the marketplace. Along with Plato they ask: “Can virtue be taught?”
The empirical evidence isn't encouraging as the business pages continue to read like The Chronicle of Corruption . There are a lot of people who passed ethics courses now rotting in prisons.
Conventional wisdom says that, while ethics educators aren't responsible for converting sinners (after all, college isn't Sunday school), we can and should raise our young scholars' level of moral sensitivity. At a minimum, an ethics education can help already ethical people to better face the moral dilemmas that arise in the business world since it assures they have already put some thought into how they would handle these challenging situations in advance rather than on the spot, where it is too easy to give in to temptation.
It is well known that many people become involved in white collar crime not out of greed or malevolence but rather out of weakness; they drift or stumble over the ethical line in the sand rather than crossing over it purposively.
But, what about the students sitting on the proverbial fence -- the”good guys” who are basically moral in their personal lives but are convinced that business, as a game, sport, or even war, must be played outside the realm of individual morality? Too many students believe that to succeed on the business battlefield you must leave your personal morals at the business' door when you check in each morning. We hear such pragmatic maxims as: “It's survival of the fittest,” “Might makes rich,” “It's dog eat dog, and the dog that snaps fastest gets the bone,” “Do whatever you have to do to get the job done,” and (my personal favorite), “Go ahead and do it, just don't get caught/don't tell me about it.” And what about the scoundrels? Can knowledge of ethical theories and decision making improve their ethical batting average, or are they a lost cause?
The bottom line (so to speak) is that we must impart the value of values, converting the moral agnostics and unbelievers to a saving knowledge of the worth of virtue in the marketplace. This requires more than just the head knowledge we bestow in the classroom – it also necessitates heart knowledge. Aristotle said that virtue consists not merely in knowing what is right but in having the will to do what is right. The apostle Paul lamented, “The good that I wish I do not do; but I practice the very evil I do not wish.” Former Watergate conspirator and Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson has noted that “ reason alone is no match for passion . The fundamental problem with learning how to reason through ethical solutions is that it doesn't give you a mechanism to override your natural tendency to do what is wrong.” Knowledge of the good does not guarantee a commitment to the good. Even though some people know the ethical rules and how to make an ethical decision in a classroom setting, when the rubber meets the road they experience emotional highjackings.
Our students need not only the intellect but also the will to do the right thing. Short of religious regeneration, can the solution lie in education? I say “yes” if we succeed in creating a felt need for ethics in business. The $64,000 question for us to help our students answer is “Why should individual business people want to be ethical?”
We can create some “talking points” to help tomorrow's captains of industry answer this question. I like to deliver a lesson which begins with the reasons for ethics in business which are easiest to object to through those which even the hard-nosed pragmatist finds difficult to dispute.
First, we can appeal to a sense of altruism , that “warm glow” and sense of moral satisfaction that comes from helping (or, at least, not harming) others. Moral philosophers down through the ages have emphasized “constrained self interest,” which is bound by what is perceived as right, proper, moral, or appropriate.
But what of the misanthropes who are only concerned with self? Explain to them that we should be ethical for the sake of society . Unethical business practices lead to societal costs which are born in part by everyone who wishes to survive and thrive in that society. Deceptive practices increase transactions costs, which in turn raise business costs, thereby reducing corporate profits and/or increasing consumer prices (and we are all consumers). A moral system is mandatory for an orderly society and earning the public's trust. For instance, many service providers “forget” to report cash payments to the IRS, thereby increasing everyone's taxes. Commenting on American's ethical standards in the nineteenth century, French historian and politician Alexis de Tocqueville declared that our nation had become great because it was good.
Too, morally upright behavior can help fend off government regulation , something which the sane business person seeks to minimize in most instances, preferring the “invisible hand” of the free marketplace to the heavy, visible hand of government intervention in that market. Excessive government regulations increase compliance costs (bureaucratic red tape, increased business taxes, higher prices and consequent lower profits) and restrict the American ideal of freedom, which can prevail only if most citizens believe that economic and social justice prevail, not to the extent that society is layered with rules and regulations. Ben Franklin said it best: “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.” Overzealous government regulatory agencies breathing down our backs, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and OSHA, are monsters of our own making.
However, some might think that one person (themselves) acting unethically alone can't “make a difference.” More convincing might be a reminder that we should act ethically for the sake of our conscience , that little voice inside our heads that creates a sense of sin which leads to shame and guilt. Students can be told of the “sleep test”; it is unpleasant to lose sleep at night over abandoning loyalty to one's own principles. We should want to feel good about ourselves, as should our families and friends. As they say, “Virtue is its own reward,” and doing right will soothe our conscience.
While this will appeal to those with decent moral character, unfortunately some peoples' conscience is seared – for them the only definition of “value” worthy of consideration is the economic worth of commercial products. How do we appeal to the moral eunuchs with “mammon uber alles” tattooed on their shriveled hearts?
A fourth line of argument is to strike the fear of God into those hearts. They need to be reminded of those long-forgotten Sunday school lessons that say we are ultimately personally responsible to a God who will on Judgment Day hold us accountable for how we lived our lives (”payday someday”). A well-known Bible verse poses an important question: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world (a top career and fat salary) and yet lose or forfeit his very soul?” (That's the real bottom line.) The Old Testament book of Deuteronomy proclaims: “For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.” Ask the class whether worldly wealth and power are worth having God abhor you.
Unfortunately, some will be willing to make that tradeoff, either because they don't take God seriously or because they disbelieve in God. For this individual, the only appeal left that might work is Adam Smith's enlightened self interest , a pragmatic, temporal reason to take the high road. Contrary to clichés, nice guys finish first in the business race; there is a “return on integrity.”
Why is this? First, ethical behavior can be profitable . Experience, anecdotal evidence, and empirical evidence reveal that “good ethics is good business.” Doing good and doing well aren't mutually exclusive; doing good can be good for you and your business; you can make more money while maintaining your principles. A biblical proverbs say, “Ill-gotten gains do not profit” and “Treasures of wickedness profit nothing.”
The reason is simply that market forces provide financial incentives for ethical behavior. In the long run, due to the tendency for the free enterprise system to self regulate, the business person who eyeballs only the bottom line regardless of morals, while perhaps prospering in the short run, harms himself in the long run by tarnishing the image of the business world, his industry, his profession, and his firm. In pursuing today's profits we might be sacrificing tomorrow's business success. While being socially responsible and ethical often entails short-run pain, it usually ultimately results in long-term gain. The success of any business rests heavily upon its reputation, and the cream usually rises to the top with the truth emerging. Simply, moral behavior builds trust, which attracts customers, employees, suppliers, and distributors, not to mention earning the public's goodwill. Conversely, immoral behavior chases these various groups away.
Second, ethical actions avoid punishment , which can be monetarily costly in the form of fines and litigation, reputationally costly in the form of bad publicity for the organization, and personally costly in the form of imprisonment.
Finally, students need to understand that their personal reputation is at stake. Nobody wants a reputation as a sleazeball or slimebucket. Students must be admonished to take their reputation seriously. It will follow them wherever they go, in both their business and personal lives, so they must nourish it as their most valuable asset. Another biblical proverb instructs, “If you must choose between a good reputation and great wealth, choose a good reputation.”
Perhaps I'm a bit idealistic, but if we impart these ideas to students today maybe tomorrow's business headlines will read less like a police blotter. |
