Ethics and Interventions in Business Moral Issues in Consulting and Economic Systems Design

Abstract

As a business man and an academic, I have been on both sides of the consultancy table. But never before did I have to express in public my thoughts about the ethical problems involved. When preparing this chapter, I had to recall and rethink my entire career in order to find elements and episodes that could be used to construct a relevant point of view. To be honest, I found this preparation process rather difficult and at times painful. Not only did I recall situations in which certain people I know quite well were engaged in unethical behavior, but I also had the unpleasant experience of recalling bad things for which I was responsible.The only good thing was that I did not need the help of outside consultants specializing in ethics. Just a few of my closest friends would do. And this simple fact turned out to be the best synthesis of the experiences I reflected upon: friends you need.KeywordsBusiness EthicUnethical BehaviorEthical ReasoningEthical ProblemWinning CoalitionThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.