Infectious Greed: The Creeping Compromise

Abstract

The recent rash of financial scandals fueled by what Alan Greenspan calls “infectious greed” has made the term business ethics seem like an oxymoron. But scandals are not new to business and greed dates back to the beginning of time. What is new is the convergence of deregulation, lax regulations, pervasive conflicts of interest, globalization, and information technology that has had a major impact on both Wall Street and corporate America.
This climate has inadvertently encouraged managers to “massage” their books to meet ever-demanding organizational goals. Furthermore, external auditors, society’s financial watchdogs, have become more like lapdogs that are careful not to bite the hand that feeds them.
Business schools all across the nation have had a renewed interest in revising ethics courses to make them more meaningful and relevant. There is also evidence that ethics is now being taken seriously in corporate governance. But exposure to ethics in the classroom or the workplace will only go so far in a system fueled by infectious greed.
Teachers in Christian institutions of higher learning have the freedom to integrate biblically based values in the content of their courses while the more secular schools are still struggling over who’s values to teach. Christian schools, therefore, have an edge and a better opportunity to make a difference.