Ethics Course and Awards Prove Ethics and Business Do Mix
By Michelle Nery
Despite the underhandedness being revealed in the Enron scandal, ethics and
business are compatible say students in a business ethics course taught by Shannon
Skousgaard, professor of Philosphy and Religious Studies. Preliminary work conducted
by students in the course propelled two local companies that won regional ethics
awards into the national spotlight when they won the 2001 American Business Ethics
Award. Kiplinger Editors won the Small Company Award, and RS Information Systems
won the Midsize Company Award.
The Business Ethics Award, originally established by the Society of Financial
Service Professionals in 1994, recognizes businesses outside the financial services
industry that demonstrate the highest level of ethical business practice. George
Mason became involved as a cosponsor of the society's Greater Washington and Northern
Virginia chapters award that honor local businesses.
Kimberlee Vockel, B.S. '01, participated in the course. The preliminary work
conducted by students involved organizing the information received from companies
in accordance to the judging standards, binding packages together, and determining
whether businesses addressed all areas in which they would be judged. According
to Skousgaard, the course allowed the students to "experience different corporate
cultures and see American business in all its variety. They learned there are
many different ways of developing and sustaining a corporate culture and many
different ways of weaving a strong ethical thread into that culture. They also
learned that a large number of American businesses engage in a wide variety of
volunteer efforts in the community."
"The spectrum of applicants gave us a better perspective of business
practices for companies ranging from very small to very large," says Vockel.
"The ability to do a side-by-side comparison of how a very large company
addresses difficult human resource issues compared with how a very small company
addresses the same issues was eye opening for me personally."
To be eligible for the award, companies must clearly demonstrate their executive-level
commitment to business ethics through speeches and other correspondence and communications
from the CEO and other senior officers; they must have a corporate code of ethics
or mission statement that communicates the company's requirement for honesty,
integrity, and compliance with the law in all business dealings; and those values
must be communicated to all members of the organization and practiced in their
internal and external relationships.
The award is an effort by the Business Ethics Award and the Society of Financial
Service Professionals to "recognize the fact that ethical behavior can help
a company achieve its goals and to recognize successful companies that are practicing
ethics in meaningful ways," says Skousgaard. To businesses, this award means
that "the considerable effort, training, and costs incurred by making ethics
a meaningful part of the corporate culture are recognized," she says. For
George Mason, this award recognizes that "philosophical activities like ethics
are not simply 'ivory tower' exercises; they are a substantive part of our daily
lives."
|
