Should a Company (or person) Be Defined By Their Worst Act? Every time I walk into the local branch of Wells Fargo Bank I wonder whether I should change banks simply because of the massive fraud committed by Wells Fargo that was made public in 2016. I thought about last... Read more →

Product Safety Scandals Keep On Coming How can we explain the extent of recent corporate wrongdoing that raises the question: Where were the top officials? Just in the past few years we learned of fictitious accounts set up for customers at Wells Fargo and adding costs to the products sold... Read more →

Wells Fargo, VW, Takata Air Bags, and J&J: Failing the Ethical Tests of Moral Agency One reason businesses still struggle with ethical behavior is they are unaware of their role as a moral agent. A moral agent is a person who has the ability to distinguish between right and wrong... Read more →

Dealing with Rejection Ghosting in the workplace is when a candidate abruptly disengages from the interview process without explanation. Ghosting occurs in different ways including not keeping employers informed of a decision, not showing up for the first day of work, and ghosting after accepting a job. Employers also engage... Read more →

Workplace Ethics Advice Yesterday I posted a blog on my Ethics Sage blog site about the nature of office politics and basic ethical considerations. Today I look at how office politics is played and how you can use it to your (ethical) advantage. Socialization Organizations are social places and much... Read more →

Managing Employee Behavior Online A version of this blog was first posted on October 16, 2012. Online social media applications are quickly gaining the mindshare of company employees and changing just as rapidly. With all the benefits that social media is bringing to the corporate world, a company faces numerous... Read more →

From Ethics Hero to Goat On July 12, 2018, J&J was ordered to pay $4.69 billion to 22 women and their families who had claimed that asbestos in the company’s talcum powder products caused them to develop ovarian cancer. The punitive damage part of the award ($4.14 billion) was the... Read more →

Treat Others Civilly and Expect the Same in Return I’ve blogged about civility in the workplace before. Today’s blog is an extension of others on this issue. Civility represents the quality of our behavior with others in our communities. This is important for business because how we treat others signals... Read more →

Blog by Pepperdine University student Ivy This week I will post five blogs from students at Pepperdine University. Professor Carolyn Galantine assigned students to choose a blog and post comments. I appreciate students' inclusion of my blog in their responses. This is blog #5. People need to realize that pregnancy... Read more →

Blog by Pepperdine University student David Kim This week I will post five blogs from students at Pepperdine University. Professor Carolyn Galantine assigned students to choose a blog and post comments. I appreciate students' inclusion of my blog in their responses. This is blog #4. There are many different business... Read more →