| One of the three criteria for selecting laureates was that of an acceptable level of ethical behavior in the candidate’s career as a business leaders. The minimal standard was set at the level of the culturally acceptable standard at the historical time when the candidate’s leadership was exercised.Nevertheless, the business school professors who ran the hall of fame program came from and were teaching in a period in American history when the stakeholder ideal of management ethical behavior was predominant. Holding that view was NOT a requirement for selection of a laureates. But enough laureates did exemplify that view that the IBHF, in partnership with the American National Business Hall of Fame, did eventually prepare and deliver a classroom presentation holding out the stakeholder view as a model for students to consider. That presentation is available on this web site and on YouTube under the heading, “BUSINESS ETHICS.” In order to present the student audience with a statistically balanced view of the messages of the program on business ethics, the hall of fame supported a survey of the ethical views of the current presidents of America’s 500 largest corporations. The results of that survey revealed that, at least in public, a substantial majority of those business leaders in the early 1990s claimed adherence to the ethical norms identified in the IBHF presentation on business ethics. Faculty members from Eastern Illinois University and Western Illinois conducted that research. The results are reported in The Journal of Business Leadership. |
