John Paul Rollent argues that the content of business ethics codes is far less important than the courage to see them implemented.Going back to the days of Benjamin Franklin he notes,
“… Franklin’s code may not have not have much to add to the current debate over whether management can properly be called a profession, but for those who say the answer is “No,” it does provide another way of thinking about a code of business ethics apart from the set conventions of a formal profession. It suggests that the goal may not be to write a code of business ethics, but to teach students how to write codes of business ethics, each student her own. This is an exercise that will not only teach business school students how to apply the tools of moral decision-making to the particularities of their own professions, but also to compare across codes and to learn from one another.”
If they do, they will probably find that their views of what makes for “business ethics” aren’t all that different from one another. The real question will be whether they can find the courage to implement them.
