Business Ethics Are Not Working

Business ethics and approaches to better forms of leadership have been a topic of growing interest for many years (Crane & Matten, 2010; Fisher & Lovell, 2009). Following the internet bubble of 1997–2000 or the 2001 ENRON crisis, with manipulated balance sheets and the lost hope of the ‘new economy’, many market participants and researchers called for behaviour that is more ethical. However, since 2008 the markets have had to deal with another banking, finance and Euro crisis that is still ongoing. Although many thought unethical behaviour of corporations could not get worse, they soon found themselves confronted with new scandals, personal failures of figures like Bernard Madoff and global crises, of which the Deep Sea Explorer and Fukushima incidents were prime examples, which also included government misdemeanour. These also raised questions concerning the efficiency of the control exercised by public bodies. In the wake of the growing number of corporate and pubic scandals, again interest in leadership ethics rose. In the wake of the growing number of corporate scandals, again interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics rose. Business ethics and CSR became popular topics in the media, of interest to journalists and many non-profit organisations formed to promote consumer protection and highlight environmental and transparency issues (Göbel, 2010; Clausen, 2009). These non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are publishing a flood of papers, describing examples of unethical behaviour that are usually difficult for companies to explain, especially for those who pride themselves on their socially positive mission, vision and value statements.