商业伦理第4章.ppt

* * Merck’s CEO, Raymond Gilmartin, explains, “in thought word and deed, a company’s leaders must clearly and unambiguously both advocate and model ethical behavior.”[1] If a leader is perceived to be shirking her or his duties, misusing corporate assets, misrepresenting the firm’s capabilities, or engaged in other inappropriate behavior, stakeholders receive the message that this type of behavior is not only acceptable, but perhaps expected and certainly the way to get ahead in that organization. Instead, if a leader is clearly placing her or his own ethical behavior above any other consideration, stakeholders are guided to follow that role model and to emulate that priority scheme.  [1] Raymond Gilmartin, “Ethics and the Corporate Culture,” Raytheon Lectureship in Business Ethics (November 10, 2003). * For example, when ethics officers were first introduced to the corporate structure in the early 1990’s, a clear indication of their relevance and influence within the organization was reflected in the extent to which they were supported financially. It was clear that ethics was not a priority if the general counsel served as the ethics officer “in their spare time,” and no additional resources are allocated to that activity. To the contrary, ethics may hold a different position in the firm if a highly skilled individual is hired into an exclusive position as ethics officer and is given a staff and a budget to support the work required. Similarly, if a firm mandates ethical decision making from its workers through the implementation of a code of conduct, extending the same standard for its vendors, suppliers, and other contractors is a symbol of how seriously the firm takes the code. * Refer to: REALITY CHECK The Impact of Ethical Leadership * If an executive is “quietly ethical” within the confines of the top management team, but more distant employees don’t know about it, she or he is not likely to be perceived as an ethical leader. Refer to: Percepti