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A
surprising number of employees in large
companies report feeling
pressure to “do the wrong thing.” One out of eight workers reported
that their co-workers or managers somehow pressured them to do
something against the company’s ethical standards. Such internal corruption has
led several large companies into difficulty and even complete failure.
When a large corporation
fails due to corruption, a
clear message is sent to the public. That message is
“unethical behavior will get you in trouble.” It appears
more students are getting this message as enrollment in
Business Ethics courses is rising. Interestingly, however,
very few MBA programs
in North America require
students to take any Business Ethics courses. For this reason, the international
organization called Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) is actively working to
train young businesspeople to make ethical business decisions.
SIFE works through teams of university students
who volunteer their time
to work in training courses and to develop projects. These teams can be found
on more than 1,500 campuses in thirty-seven countries around the world. The
organization is supported by faculty advisors on these campuses, and many
international corporations take part in events organized by SIFE.
Each year, the teams from each university write
an annual report of their
activities and give a presentation in a competition where the best team is awarded
the SIFE World Cup.
