Does Teaching Ethics Do Any Good? Does teaching ethics work? If teaching ethics does no good, then why are we doing it? The answer may lie in knowing what are (or should be) the goals of teaching ethics. First, let’s discuss what ethics education is not and should not be... Read more →

The Big Hustle Theranos was a privately held health corporation that was touted as a breakthrough technology company. It claimed to having devised blood tests that required only exceedingly small amounts of blood and could be performed very rapidly using small automated devices the company had developed. However, the claims... Read more →

Data Analytics Provides the Answer to Slowing the Spread and Treatment Artificial intelligence (AI) systems can gather huge amounts of data, analyze it, and make predictions. AI is an indispensable tool for data analysis and treatment during the coronavirus. Given its potential widespread use in health-care-decision-making, AI raises ethical concerns... Read more →

Unintended Consequences of the PPP Program? The government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has unintended consequences. Namely, the amount of money a furloughed or unemployed worker receives from unemployment funds can be greater than the regular salary received had that individual returned to work. The main reason is the $600 boost... Read more →

Ethical AI is Built On Transparency, Accountability and Trust by STEVEN MINTZ January 16, 2020 in Ethics, Featured This piece was published by Corporate Compliance Insights AI systems based on machine learning can be used to audit financial data efficiently and look for financial fraud, but ethical risks exist if... Read more →

A Critical Analysis of the Business Roundtable Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation On August 19, 2019, the Business Roundtable issued a Statement of the Purpose of a Corporation that really is a mission statement, not a plan of action. As such, it is short on details about how... Read more →

Business Roundtable Issues a Public Relations Piece Have you read the “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation” put out by the Business Roundtable on August 19? It suggests that corporations should no longer advance only the interests of shareholders. Instead, according to the group, they must also invest in... Read more →

Professionalization versus Commercialization Last week I blogged about the new law in California that changes the rules of the game with respect to college athletes being able to earn money from the use of their names or likeness as well as through endorsement deals. The law, Fair Pay to Play,... Read more →

Were His Disclosures in the Public Interest? Reports that the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in light of the publication of his book, Permanent Record, which is about his experiences at the NSA, raises the question once again whether he did the right... Read more →

Role as a Moral Agent One reason businesses still struggle with ethical behavior is they are unaware of their role as a moral agent. A moral agent is a person who has the ability to distinguish between right and wrong and to be held accountable for their actions. Moral agents... Read more →