Review

Corporate ethics has been a hot topic since the collapse of Enron in 2001. How can a company be as transparent and principled as possible? Attracta Lagan and Brian Moran investigate this issue in their new book, 3D Ethics: Implementing Workplace Values, published by eContent Management.

Lagan, director of corporate citizenship and ethics at KPMG in Sydney, and Moran, an industrial ecologist, argue that ethics in the boardroom should be no different to everyday ethics.

"The same kind of moral standards people expect of themselves on a personal level, those of society at large and those of businesses all need to find the same equilibrium," Moran says. "We are now seeing the end of the notion of 'public virtue, private vice'."

It is important that employees report bad behaviour. "With bullying, for instance, or harassment, you can and should report these things, anonymously if you prefer," Moran says. "A mature organization likes bad news because it helps them grow."

Genevieve Paiement, G.
(2005) My Career: By the book, "Workplace ethics". The Sydney Morning Herald, Wednesday November 9 2005, p.33C.