The role of ethics in business and what students should know about it: digest of the proceedings: UAA-ABM executive forum UAA campus, Sept. 11, 2003.

• Position: University of Alaska Anchorage

Thomas R. Case Dean College of Business & Public Policy University of Alaska Anchorage

"The concept of an executive forum came from the first meeting of the College of Business & Public Policy Business Policy Advisory Council. The 40 members raised the current state of business ethics and the credibility of business as a critical issue facing our society. As a College of Business, we emphasize ethics within the curriculum, and hold our core values as a standard for our students. We convened four faculty experts and three business representatives to provide perspective on this issue."

Vern C. McCorkle Publisher Alaska Business Monthly Forum Sponsor

"Business is concerned about the quality of graduates because we spend as much as 30 percent of our training budget on re-training for basic skills. Also, generation X and generation Y students have trouble relating to 'geezers' trained in a 9-to-5 mode. At the same time, we are facing an incredible pace of change; 20 percent of what we do is obsolete every five years. One needs to learn 5 percent more about a career every year just to keep up! The basic core values that form a code of ethics must be the constant that bridges across generations as a unifying force."

George Geistauts, PhD Director, MBA Program, CBPP University of Alaska Anchorage

"I think that to a major extent business ethics is a cultural issue, where the organization's culture defines what its members will consider to be appropriate ethical behavior. The signals our society sends out on morality and ethics are mixed. For example, large percentages of students have admitted to cheating in schools and colleges. Why shouldn't they continue to 'cheat' in their organizational positions? As another example, sports heroes are regularly caught using illegal performance-enhancing medication. Thus, societal signals frequently reinforce the overwhelming importance of winning and scoring higher, whether it's the home run record, the acquisition of power, or the accumulation of wealth! Signals as to what is right and wrong do count!

"Here are but two of several signals that I wish our society and our executives would send out more strongly. First, CEOs must recognize that symbolically they are also 'Chief Ethics Officers.' Their behavior sets the ethics tone for the business. Second, what is legal defines the floor and not the ceiling of ethical behavior. Let's celebrate ethical heroes and sanction the ethical villains. It is right to be...