Publications

Research Summary

Moral Muscle

By: Sandra J. Sucher

Can we get better at moral decision making? How is the capacity to exercise moral leadership developed? One answer to these questions is the notion of “moral muscle,” which is a combination of moral awareness (the ability to recognize situations that can be... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Ethics; Decision Making

Article

Your Visual System Provides All the Information You Need to Make Moral Judgments about Generic Visual Events

By: Julian De Freitas and George A. Alvarez

To what extent are people's moral judgments susceptible to subtle factors of which they are unaware? Here we show that we can change people’s moral judgments outside of their awareness by subtly biasing perceived causality. Specifically, we used subtle visual... View Details

Keywords: Moral Judgment; Perceived Causality; Visual Illusions; Moral Sensibility; Judgments

Read Now

28 Jun 2022
Book

The Moral Enterprise: How Two Companies Profit with Purpose

How can government and business work together in this fractious political moment, when finding solutions to pressing problems like inequality and climate change are more urgent than ever? Rebecca Henderson, Harvard University’s John and Natty McArthur University... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

19 Feb 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Dishonest Deed, Clear Conscience: Self-Preservation through Moral Disengagement and Motivated Forgetting

Keywords: by Lisa L. Shu, Francesca Gino & Max H. Bazerman

09 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Dirty Work, Clean Hands: The Moral Psychology of Indirect Agency

Keywords: by Neeru Paharia, Karim S. Kassam, Joshua D. Greene & Max H. Bazerman

20 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Blind Spots: We’re Not as Ethical as We Think

to discuss some of the ideas behind the book. A book excerpt follows. Sean Silverthorne: Why did you write this book, and who should read it? Max Bazerman: Research over the last two decades has documented that good people do bad things without being View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

17 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Good about Quiet Rule-Breaking

usually aware of these activities yet turn a blind eye, says Anteby. Why? Is that because such managers are nice people? Or do supervisors see hidden yet important benefits in a company culture that tacitly encourages—and nourishes—gray... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 2011
Case

Chris and Alison Weston (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Celia Moore

Chris and Alison Weston describe how they, a well-educated middle class couple, ended up committing mail fraud, for which they each served a year and a half in federal prison. The case highlights for students how otherwise upstanding individuals much like themselves... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Conflict of Interests; Value

Educators

2016
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Alberto Mora and the Costs and Consequences of Torture

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Benjamin Summers

Alberto Mora's time as General Counsel of the Navy from 2001–2006 greatly influenced his mission to illuminate the policy consequences of torture. Mora's drive to restore the nation's awareness and conscience against torture was gaining traction. Prominent... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Skills; Torture; Costs And Consequences; Humane; Restraint; Human Dignity; Treatment Of Prisoners; Prison; Repression; Opposition; Revolution; Democracy; Communism; International Affairs; Public Service; September 11; War On Terror; Operation Enduring Freedom; Guantanamo; Cuba; Coalition; Working Group; Cruelty; Interrogation; Memorandum; American Law; Authority; Authoritative; Quadrennial Defense Review; National Defense Authorization Act; Public Engagement; Advocacy; Law; Accountability; Center For The Victims Of Torture; Human Rights; Public Policy; Legality; Morality; Legal System; Tactical Military Operations; West Point; NGO; Human Rights First; American Civil Liberties Union; Human Rights Watch; Amnesty International; Constitution Project; Center For Constitutional Rights; Strategic Military Effect; National Security; Weapon; Terrorism; Prisoners Of War; Abu Ghraib; Pentagon; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Leadership; Rights; Policy; Public Opinion; United States

June 1990 (Revised March 1991)
Case

Jonah Creighton (A)

By: Anne Donnellon and Joshua D. Margolis

How do you manage yourself and your interaction with others when you feel your personal values challenged? What should you be aware of as you proceed with sensitive, ethical issues? Jonah Creighton coordinates the company's fast-track training program, and when he... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Problems and Challenges

Educators

April 2011
Article

Ethical Breakdowns: Good People often Let Bad Things Happen. Why?

By: Max H. Bazerman and Ann E. Tenbrunsel

Companies are spending a great deal of time and money to install codes of ethics, ethics training, compliance programs, and in-house watchdogs. If these efforts worked, the money would be well spent. But unethical behavior appears to be on the rise. The authors observe... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Leadership; Behavior; Conflict of Interests

Article

The Business Case for Investing in Physician Well-Being

By: Tait D. Shanafelt, Joel Goh and Christine A. Sinsky

Importance: Widespread burnout among physicians has been recognized for more than two decades. Extensive evidence indicates that physician burnout has important personal and professional consequences.
Observations: A lack of awareness regarding... View Details

Keywords: Physicians; Well-being; ROI; Health; Welfare or Wellbeing; Ethics; Investment Return; Health Industry

24 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 24

markets, corporate managers are largely unopposed-because of their own expertise and the general public's low awareness of the issues. This enables managers to structure the "rules of the game" in self-serving ways. The result... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2014
Article

Self-reported Ethical Risk Taking Tendencies Predict Actual Dishonesty

By: Liora Zimerman, Shaul Shalvi and Yoella Bereby-Meyer

Are people honest about the extent to which they engage in unethical behaviors? We report an experiment examining the relation between self-reported risky unethical tendencies and actual dishonest behavior. Participants’ self-reported risk taking tendencies were... View Details

Keywords: DOSPERT; Risk Taking; Honesty; Lying; Dishonesty; Unethical Behavior; Moral Sensibility; Cognition and Thinking