Ethics in Organizations

Yesterday, I went to a meeting because a friend of mine was speaking. The speech was political and given for a partisan audience, so I won't get into all of it here. However, part of the speech was devoted to the question of whether government should be run like a business. His answer was "no" because businesses have no conscience and would not behave ethically without some curbs on their behavior, provided by the government.

There is plenty of historical precedent to validate his point of view. However, a response might be that the people who run the business provide the conscience. My friend would respond that managers do not pull up the ethics of the business, but rather, the business pulls down the ethics of managers.

I am teaching a class in ethics at Midwestern State University this term and this question is also addressed in the text of the course. There, the authors also cite studies that do show that people of high personal morals and high personal ethics do behave in a less ethical manner in the business environment because the business exists to increase value to shareholders and the normal rules do not apply.

An interesting question, isn't it? If one buys the argument, then governmental regulation and compliance is a requirement to prevent businesses from acting against the best interests of the community. This would be the reason government has stepped in with laws concerning employment, civil rights, consumer safety, and the environment.

So is it a matter of the organization corrupting the person or of inadequate ethical training for the workplace?