Abstract
The twenty-first century has seen its share of ethical failures, which brings into question what the role of ethics is. Past experience demonstrates ethics functioning as a reactive measure to a permanent consequence, the equivalent of pointing at an accident and commenting, “The driver should not have been going so fast.” While such an observation may be accurate, it does little to correct the situation or prevent further ones from occurring. Ethics must function as more than a guide; they must be preventative in nature and determine a correct course of action for individuals and organizations. They must teach and serve as a qualitative standard.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Austill, A. D. (2011). Legislation cannot replace ethics in regulatory reform. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(13). Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.library.regent.edu/docview/904511238?accountid=13479.
Bruhn, J. G. (2009). The functionality of gray area ethics in organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(2), 205–214. doi:10.1007/s10551-008-9994-7.
Buchholz, R. A., & Rosenthal, S. B. (2008). The unholy alliance of business and science. Journal of Business Ethics, 78(1–2), 199–206. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9329-5.
Ciulla, J. B. (2004). Ethics, the heart of leadership. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.
Gini, A. (2004). Business, ethics, and leadership in a post Enron era. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 11(1), 9–15. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.library.regent.edu/docview/203134314?accountid=13479.
Harden Fritz, J. M., Arnett, R. C., & Conkel, M. (1999). Organizational ethical standards and organizational commitment. Journal of Business Ethics, 20(4), 289–299. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.library.regent.edu/docview/198101086?accountid=13479.
Jennings, M. M. (2008). Some thoughts on ethics, governance, and markets: A look at the subprime saga. Corporate Finance Review, 12(4), 40–46. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.library.regent.edu/docview/198780136?accountid=13479.
Schnebel, E., & Bienert, M. A. (2004). Implementing ethics in business organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 53(1–2), 203–211. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.library.regent.edu/docview/198073334?accountid=13479.
Schwartz, M. S. (2005). Universal moral values for corporate codes of ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 59(1–2), 27–44. doi:10.1007/s10551-005-3403-2.
Sims, R. R. (2002). Business ethics teaching for effective learning. Teaching Business Ethics, 6(4), 393–393. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.library.regent.edu/docview/211825206?accountid=13479.
Sims, R. R. (2004). Business ethics teaching: Using conversational learning to build an effective classroom learning environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 49(2), 201–211. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.library.regent.edu/docview/198032645?accountid=13479.
Sims, R. R., & Brinkmann, J. (2003). Enron ethics (or: Culture matters more than codes). Journal of Business Ethics, 45(3), 243–256. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.library.regent.edu/docview/198149843?accountid=13479.
Wallis, S. E. (2010). Developing effective ethics for effective behavior. Social Responsibility Journal, 6(4), 536–550. doi:10.1108/17471111011083428.
Warren, B., Sampson, S. D., & McFee, E. (2011). Business schools: Ethics, assurance of learning, and the future. Organization Management Journal, 8(1), 41–58. doi:10.1057/omj.2011.5.
Weaver, G. R. (1995). Does ethics code design matter? Effects of ethics code ratio. Journal of Business Ethics, 14(5), 367–367. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.library.regent.edu/docview/198012590?accountid=13479.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bishop, W.H. The Role of Ethics in 21st Century Organizations. J Bus Ethics 118, 635–637 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1618-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1618-1