Publications

September–October 2020
Article

A New Model for Ethical Leadership

By: Max Bazerman

Rather than try to follow a set of simple rules (“Don’t lie.” “Don’t cheat.”), leaders and managers seeking to be more ethical should focus on creating the most value for society. This utilitarian view, Bazerman argues, blends philosophical thought with business school... View Details

Keywords: Social Value; Leadership; Moral Sensibility; Ethics; Decision Making; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Society

Read Now

August 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Automating Morality: Ethics for Intelligent Machines

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Tom Quinn

As autonomy became a more significant part of modern life – most notably in autonomous vehicles (AVs), such as Teslas – ethical debates about whether and how to impart ethics to machines heated up. Utilitarians pointed out that autonomous vehicles crashed much less... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Judgments; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Disruptive Innovation; Technology Adoption; Risk and Uncertainty; Cognition and Thinking; Technological Innovation; Auto Industry; Technology Industry; Africa; Asia; Europe; North and Central America; Oceania; South America

02 Jan 2013
News

Do good ethics make good business?

Research Summary

Negotiation Ethics and Moral Decisionmaking

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Whenever people and organizations negotiate, they implicitly decide what -- if anything -- they owe their counterparts in regard to candor, distributional fairness, and the possible use of pressure. The deals that they reach may also have impacts on stakeholders who... View Details

07 Aug 2012
News

Better Business Ethics

January 2022
Technical Note

Ethical Analysis: Well-Being and Rights

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Christopher Diak

This note introduces students to two central concepts for ethical analysis: well-being and rights. It illustrates ways in which they figure in managerial decisions and challenges that arise, including how to frame trade-offs across individual well-being and... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Analysis; Rights; Well-being; Management Practices and Processes; Decision Making

January 2000
Article

Does Ethics Pay?

By: L. S. Paine

Keywords: Ethics

01 Oct 2001
News

Ethics Fellowship Announced

The Harvard University Center for Ethics and the Professions invites applications for Faculty Fellowships in Ethics for the academic year 2002–2003. The center encourages teaching and research about View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

February 2022
Technical Note

Ethical Analysis: Fairness

By: Nien-hê Hsieh

Concerns about fairness can arise across a wide range of contexts. They include the treatment of others, how much things cost, how much workers are paid, the outcome of a decision, and how we assign benefits and burdens across individuals. What counts as fair in a... View Details

Keywords: Fairness; Management Practices and Processes; Decision Choices and Conditions

September 1992 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine

Senior managers at Martin Marietta are considering two questions: how to assess the company's seven-year-old ethics program; and how to deal with employees' fear of retribution--real or imagined--for alerting the corporate ethics office to potential problems. The case... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Resignation and Termination; Employees; Law; Business or Company Management; Programs

02 Oct 2008
News

Business School Ethics

January 1981
Background Note

Relativism in Ethics

December 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Background Note

Ethical Analysis: Foundations

By: Nien-hê Hsieh

1992
Book

Ethics in Marketing

By: N. Craig Smith and John A. Quelch

March 2022
Technical Note

Ethical Analysis: Society

By: Nien-hê Hsieh

How should managers determine and deliver on their responsibilities to society? This note summarizes prevailing approaches to this question and outlines an approach centered on what distinguishes society from other key constituencies, such as investors or customers.... View Details

Keywords: Social and Collaborative Networks; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Organizational Structure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Ethics; Analysis