Publications

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November 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Background Note

Merton's Ethos of Science: Excerpts and Summaries

Robert K. Merton wrote a series of papers on the sociology of science in the 1940s and 1950s and is commonly recognized as the founder of the field. Merton laid out four norms that constitute the "ethos" of science: community-wide fundamentals that he proposed were... View Details

Keywords: Science; Ethics

Educators

December 1981 (Revised June 1984)
Case

SafeCard Services, Inc.

SafeCard is a rapidly growing service company engaged in direct mail marketing. Professor Briloff is an outspoken accounting critic and accuses SafeCard of engaging in accounting "no-nos." Subsequent to Professor Briloff's analysis, SafeCard's stock price declined... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Accounting; Service Industry

01 Sep 2009
News

How to Fix Wall Street

policy. But it is also a story of easy money and lazy ethics. Garden- variety offenses such as misleading sales practices were apparently rampant. Perhaps most troubling from an ethical point of view was the seemingly careless, if not... View Details

Keywords: Lynn Paine; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Finance; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

Profile

Payam Shodjai

countries all bring different perspectives to the table." As an example, Payam refers to a case about Google that involved the ethics of search and privacy – issues Payam had worked on for years. "Yet other participants brought... View Details

Profile

Nelson Yuan

be hard to see how business leaders affect the ethos of a company. One of the things they stress at HBS is responsibility, the strong sense of ethics that must inform the decisions we make, the way we influence our colleagues. Here, I’m... View Details

06 Jun 2012
News

Fellowship Funder

about Hank,” Mencoff continues, “is not finance and tax theory but his consistent emphasis on the importance of maintaining one’s ethical compass in business and in life.” Thus inspired, Mencoff, on the occasion of his 30th HBS reunion... View Details

Keywords: Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance

01 Dec 2010
News

Record Gift to HBS from India’s Tata Group

organization respected in India for 140 years. The Tata Group has always been known for its adherence to strong values and business ethics and revered for its significant economic, civic, and philanthropic impact. It is widely respected... View Details

Keywords: Tata Hall

07 May 2019
Cold Call Podcast

Managers, Are You Prepared to Handle Religion in the Workplace?

Keywords: Re: Derek C. M. van Bever

14 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Deflategate and the Sustained Success of the New England Patriots

Deflategate, the pro football controversy that spawned a media frenzy, Twitter war, even a presidential joke, has a new claim to fame as a Harvard Business School case study. At the heart of Deflategate is the question of whether the New England Patriots cheated in... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Sports

August 2024
Background Note

Your True Moral Compass

By: Joseph L. Badaracco

This note explores the concept of a "moral compass" for making difficult decisions in leadership roles. It argues that the standard view of a moral compass as a simple, internal guide is inadequate for complex situations. Instead, it proposes that our true moral... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Decision Choices and Conditions

Educators

July 2024
Case

Titan: OceanGate's Tragedy of Titanic Proportions

By: Aiyesha Dey, Joseph Pacelli, James Barnett and ZeSean Ali

In June 2023, OceanGate’s Titan submersible imploded attempting to reach the Titanic shipwreck site 3,800 meters below sea level. All five passengers aboard died, including OceanGate founder and CEO Stockton Rush. Before the tragedy, many in the deep-sea exploration... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Decision Making; Ethics; Leadership; Risk and Uncertainty; Safety; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Technology Industry; Tourism Industry; Transportation Industry; Atlantic Ocean; North America; Washington (state, US)

Educators

Article

'Many Others Are Doing It, So Why Shouldn't I?': How Being in Larger Competitions Leads to More Cheating

By: Celia Chui, Maryam Kouchaki and Francesca Gino

In many spheres of life, from applying for a job to participating in an athletic contest to vying for a date, we face competition. Does the size of the competition pool affect our propensity to behave unethically in our pursuit of the prize? We propose that it does.... View Details

Keywords: Unethical Behavior; Cheating; Competitors; Social Norms; Ethics; Behavior; Competition; Societal Protocols

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December 2019
Supplement

Interview with Stephen L. Herbert, X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Protagonist in 617-046 X Fire Paintball & Airsoft

By: Willy C. Shih and Feng Zhu

This is an interview with Stephen L. Herbert, founder of X Fire Paintball & Airsoft, in which he discusses competing with his online channel, Amazon. It is for use with HBS Case No. 617-046 X Fire Paintball & Airsoft. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Competition; Ethics; United States

June 1989 (Revised May 1993)
Supplement

Rossin Greenberg Seronick & Hill, Inc. (B)

By: John A. Quelch

Teaching objectives: 1) to show how aggressive marketing can lead to allegations of misconduct, 2) to consider responses under crisis management, and 3) to explore the importance of credibility within marketing communications. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Marketing Communications; Advertising; Crisis Management; Advertising Industry

March 2005
Article

Financial Intermediation As a Beliefs-Bridge between Optimists and Pessimists

By: Joshua D. Coval and Anjan Thakor

Keywords: Finance; Values and Beliefs; Groups and Teams

Read Now

1999
Chapter

Ethics, Organizations and Business Schools

By: L. S. Paine and Thomas R. Piper

Keywords: Ethics; Organizations; Business Education; Non-Governmental Organizations