Are business schools effectively teaching ethics?

Are business schools effectively teaching ethics? That’s a good question to ask, especially now. The other day, North Dakota State University’s longtime president, Joseph Chapman (right) resigned amid growing criticism over his expensive new presidential residence. Presidential is the operative word. Cost overruns exceeded $2 million, compared with the original $900,000 that had been budgeted for the project. But the good news doesn’t stop there. The Forum, a Fargo newspaper, reports that the donation-funded NDSU Development Foundation paid $22,000 on a charter flight and hotel bills for Chapman and his family to attend President Obama’s inauguration. (By comparison: University of North Dakota reportedly spent $2,176 to send its president, Robert Kelley, to the inauguration.) No surprise, Chapman resigned the other day. “It just isn’t fun,” he told the Associated Press.

Now consider this: It takes a while for a construction project to balloon over $1 million past its target budget. But it’s only now the board says it will probably — probably — ask for an audit on spending for the president’s house. All of which demonstrates this much: Even well-educated people — because we can assume the board members are — can make choices that in retrospect lacked clear direction or ethics. If this can take place in a university setting, what does this say about the education we provide business students?

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be asking educators from around the country this simple question: Are business schools effectively teaching ethics? Stay tuned.

Attention CFPs, ethics training doesn’t have to be boring

It’s no secret, at least among certified financial planners: Most ethics courses are as boring as can be. They don’t have to be. In conjunction with my consulting group, Barclay’s has created a webinar on ethics for CFPs to get their continuing education hours. So, if you go to Barclays, and register as a CFP, you’ll have access to this webinar. Non-boring. For a change. Check it out!

Business ethics: Leadership lessons from the US Navy

More times than not, media reports tell us that government spending is rife with fraud and waste. While those stories deserve attention, it’s easy to lose sight of people in government who really are conscientious stewards of U.S. taxpayers’ money. Rear Admiral Steven J. Romano (right) is one of them. Romano is the commander and chief executive officer for the Navy Exchange Service Command in Virginia Beach, Va. He also overseas Navy Exchange System, or NEX, a Wal-Mart type store for military members. While most NEX associates are honest and trustworthy, there have been a number of fraud cases lately, and Romano is putting a stop to them.

I learned about all this recently when I was invited to speak to a group of U.S. Navy personnel in Norfolk, Va. The invitation came on the heels of a campaign, “Stop Fraud,” that Romano recently announced. I was impressed to learn the campaign is aimed at improving associate awareness and training, expanding process reviews, and using continuous process improvements to mitigate risks. That campaign, and Romano’s leadership in it, speaks volumes to the importance of leading with top down ethics. That’s a fundamental foundation for any organization.

So, here’s a question for you — and you don’t have to be in the Navy to think it over: As a business leader, would your employees say you’re leading with top down ethics? And what actions are you taking to demonstrate that?

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