To explore the nature and implications of management views of ethical issues. In the late ‘noughties’ (2005–2010), a lot of companies and managers found themselves accused of making a lot of money through ‘suspect’ business practices. Observers and commentators always say that, if they had been in charge, this would not have happened. Individual ranking

(1): Consider the following business values, and rank them in order of importance according to your own beliefs and principles:

1. Career development of employees

2. Concern for employees as people

3. Concern for the environment

4. Customer orientation

5. Efficiency

6. High quality of products and services

7. Integrity

8. Managerial and organizational effectiveness

9. Profit-making

10. Social responsibility Individual ranking 

(2): Now rank these items again, this time according to the values that you believe are actually given to them by practising managers. In groups of three:

1. Develop a consensus ranking (from top priority to bottom priority) of these business values based on the personal sentiments and values of your group’s members.

2. Calculate the practising managers’ rankings using the average of your group members’ rankings (give 10 points to the top ranked item, 9 to the second, and so on). How does your group’s consensus ranking of personal values compare with the practising managers’ ranking? Is there a difference? If so, why?