James Drogan

...this blog using the word "ethics" would result in a reasonably large number of hits.  It would be fair to conclude that this is a subject that has been, and continues to be very much on my mind.  Each semester Prof. Ferritto is kind enough to invite me to address incoming graduate students on the subject.  All courses I teach have a module on ethics.

Whence this interest comes is, I suspect, my small town upbringing and my long career at IBM.

I have, from time to time, commented that I prefer the word "integrity" to "ethics" for the former seems to me in require action while the latter is satisfied with compliance or even no action at all.

Recent allegations against Rajat Gupta, formerly of McKinsey and Company, have caught my attention.  I especially call your attention to this morning's FT op-ed, McKinsey Model Springs a Leak (Gapper, J. (2011, March 10). McKinsey Model Springs a Leak. Financial Times, 9.).  It is synopsis of the effort required to build integrity, the overriding importance of the quality, and quickness with which it can all fall away.

Without integrity, not much else is of lasting value.