The list of ethical lapses by CEO leaders presented in the 2010 Wall Street Journal article “Decade’s Top 10 Executive Ethics Scandals” are dominated by personal scandals, largely involving sexual relationships between CEOs outside their marriage or with employees. On the one hand, such scandals should be separated from scandals that are much more serious, such as financial scandals, where large numbers of people are affected. On the other hand, the contemporary emphasis on the importance of the ethics of a business organization and company culture also seems to imply that such personal behavior has an influence on the organization.
The emphasis on such personal scandals, I believe, is a symptom of the dominance of the business world in our everyday lives and a capitalist ideology. The business world becomes the center of the capitalist universe. Accordingly, business leaders are looked at as something to the effect of significant social figures. This is unique to the capitalist world, as historically the merchant class, although significant for economy, were not viewed as moral leaders. As an example think historically about religious leaders, political leaders, military personnel, and also the works of artists and their effect on humanity. A contrasting thought experiment where we would ask ourselves to name a famous businessman or merchant from history, other than large faceless corporations such as the Dutch East India Company, is a more difficult task.
In this regard, I believe that a healthy ethical enviroment of an organization would be one where the leaders of the organization, if we focus exclusively on business organizations, would not be held to ethical standards. In other words, when we look to business leaders for ethical standards, this means that the world of business and money and finances has become the center of our moral world-views. It is difficult to reconcile this position, which emphasizes material wealth as the highest value, as the source of any authentic ethics. On the other hand, if we are speaking of organizations in general, then ethical principles are important, clearly, from political to religious leaders to military leaders. Perhaps, somewhat paradoxically, the most authentic ethical act a business organization could do would be to create a culture that clearly separates personal activity from the organization’s function. In this way, the organization would be saying that something outside of the world of finances should be the source of moral enlightenment, which itself is a strong ethical claim that goes beyond the norms of materialism and consumerism.
- Author Unknown. “Decade’s Top 10 Executive Ethics Scandals.” The Wall Street Journal. August 9, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2016 at http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704388504575419331472193418
