By Eric Stock
NORMAL – The alleged tax fraud at Caterpillar is an example of executives considering success and financial gain as moral imperatives, according to a business ethics expert at Illinois State University.
Rick Ringer, director of ISU’s Organizational Leadership Institute said that’s a key reason why good people do bad things.
PODCAST: Listen to Scott and Patti’s interview with Ringer on WJBC.
“One of the most straight forward answers is that as individuals we have an enormous ability to rationalize our own behavior when it’s in our self interest to do so, or the self interests of somebody we like or somebody we love or an organization we love,” Ringer said.
Ringer told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin and Patti Penn in the recent case where Wells Fargo employees opened unauthorized customer accounts, the company had clear ethics standards but it also has a reward system in place that incentivized bad behavior.
“Market share, sales growth, getting the bonus, increasing your revenue is just not a good thing, its the morally imperative things to do,” Ringer explained. “Once you decide this is morally right, then you can justify a whole lot of questionable activities.”
Rick Ringer, director of ISU’s Organizational Leadership Institute tells WJBC’s Scott Laughlin and Patti Penn recent cases of alleged fraud involving Caterpillar and Wells Fargo show how easy it is to rationalize anything that serves our self interests.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
