"Can you teach people to behave ethically?"
That's the question being asked by business leaders and business school administrators across America as our country witnesses a wave of financial scandals. The Seven Layers of Integrity(R) both answers that question and provides a model that serves as a learning tool and a decision-making mechanism. The authors believe people can be taught to behave ethically - and they start by examining the reason people raise this question in the first place. Common thinking is that by the time people reach adulthood their value systems are already in place - they are either ethical or not ethical. This is classic contemporary American thinking characterized by binary, mutually exclusive options; sound bite analysis; and an easy litmus test for the integrity of degree candidates, job applicants and business people. As with most ideas having these characteristics, it falls apart under even limited scrutiny. The solution to the business ethics problem lies in corporate culture, and the authors speak from their own familiarity, after years of business consulting, with the impact of corporate culture on human behavior. The number of ethical dilemmas available to the human race is without limits. Therefore, it is imperative that we teach people how to think about the decisions they may face. Management and employees need an understanding of how to analyze and resolve the day-to-day ethical questions encountered in a business setting. Standards of behavior do exist and The Seven Layers of Integrity(R) provides a method for examining those standards. But in addition, business people should have a process to use when encountering new territory, a model that helps to clarify their thinking and a basic understanding of how to recognize and resolve ethical problems in business operations.
George P. Jones, a management consultant and co-founder of ChangeMakers, Inc., provides ethics training and consulting. He began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co.''s Houston office in the division that later became Accenture. Becoming a partner in Andersen in 1985, he specialized in technology and financial services. He twice had responsibility for developing new training programs for Andersen, including a replacement for the firm's three-week new hire training program that was deployed around the world. Following Andersen, Mr. Jones was in charge of the Chicago and Houston operations of BSG, a start up systems integrator, where he was responsible for over 120 consultants. In Chicago, Mr. Jones was responsible for developing all aspects of a new operation. After returning to Houston he led the 120 employees of BSG's original office through a period of significant change, culminating in BSG's acquisition by a publicly traded company. He received an M.S. degree in Computer Science from The Ohio State University and is a CPA in the State of Texas. Currently a faculty member at Rice University, June Ferrill, Ph.D., teaches business ethics, ethical decision-making for engineers, entrepreneurial communications and managerial communications. Dr. Ferrill has given training for and consulted with Bank of America, Continental Airlines, Ernst & Young, Halliburton, and Arthur Andersen, among others. She served as Communications Consultant at McKinsey & Company, assisting project teams in developing client communications for Fortune 500 companies. After McKinsey, Dr. Ferrill played a significant role as training development specialist for KBR's Engineering Division, a Halliburton subsidiary. She developed on-going training in communications, management development, quality control, team building, and strategic planning. She was an editor and contributing author to Business and Managerial Communications: New Perspectives, an 800-page college textbook. She has a Ph.D. in the Joint Ph.D. Program in English and Education, University of Michigan.
