Recently, there has been a lot of debate about the actual objective of “the organization.” In the Western World, the prevalent view over the last decades has been that its objective was maximizing shareholder value above any other consideration. In other words, the HOW, (whether or not a company is virtuous in accomplishing objectives), did not […]
Ethical Free Riders: An Insidious Disease Inside your Organization
What is an ethical free rider? Working in an ethically healthy firm has enormous benefits: at the internal level of the organization one may for instance have access to more information or enjoy more freedom and larger responsibilities due to an atmosphere of trust. At the level of external relations, the good reputation may attract investors, […]
Seeing People
In 1953, French doctor Alain Bombard (1924-2005), concerned about the great many shipwreck victims he was treating in the Boulogne-sur-Mer area, set out to find a method that would allow someone in a small boat to survive a long ocean voyage. Finally, after many months of study at the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco, he decided […]
Is not paying (some of) your taxes ever ethical?
Once again one of my kids came up with yet another great question. I was working on my quarterly tax return, and honestly, I answered without thinking too much, “Sometimes you just don’t feel like doing it.” I am sorry to confess that even ethics professors have their temptations. His question caught me off guard, […]
