Ethos Needs to Extend Beyond Individuals to Organizations

Originally submitted by: jadelay

At a2ethics.org, we have had a very enjoyable few days doing "we-were-there" coverage of two of the many events at the Eastern Michigan College of Business Ethos Week. This event is part of the ethics initiative spearheaded by a generous donation in 2001 to the College of Business by local business entrepreneurs Ernest and Jeanne Merlanti. The Merlantis should be pleased with the progress of the Initiative since its inception. Among the ventures created under the banner of the Initiative are: a Corporate Ethics Seminar course; a website with a wide range of resources and information on corporate responsibility; a "Best Practices" Award for ethical leadership by a local business or business person; and finally, the Ethos Week. (go to www.emich.edu and click onto the College of Business for more information about the Merlanti Initiative.) The Week is a great idea, in my opinion, because it relies on student leadership and emphasizes service in the community. For example, proceeds from the capstone luncheon at the end of the week, went to several nonprofit organizations. And from all indications, the event brought in quite a few proceeds. The venue for the luncheon was packed! Who says people are not interested in ethics? The speaker as has been mentioned in other posts, including the main review of the luncheon (see Ann Arbor Ethics, entitled "Ethical Review of Ethos Week Luncheon) was Dr. Bruce Weinstein, the BusinessWeek.com go-to-guy for ethics. I want to offer my own thoughts on Dr. Weinstein's advice. I agree that he importantly is trying to steer business people away from as the other review mentions, "me ethics to we ethics." This is commendable. But the problem I have with his approach, at least from the 45 minutes I witnessed of it, is that he fails to take into account the business organizations we work for, their own ethos and their contributions in creating and sustaining unethical behaviors in their workforces. Like Dr. Weinstein, I am all in favor of individuals thinking about how their individual actions and self-interest impact and have consequences for others. I think it is essential for individuals to be guided by their communal obligations. At the same time, it is difficult for a principled person to work in an organization that doesn't subscribe to the principles he wants individuals to follow. An employee, for example, could follow his life principles, e.g., do no harm, make things better, respect others and so on... and yet be taken down by these same principles when the organization itself is indifferent or actively does not abide by them. So, in the end, Dr. Weinstein's exhortations to be principled individuals are worthwhile but are limited in their scope until he also addresses the connected and equally important ethical problem of unprincipled organizations.