According to an article titled Triumph over Temptation written by Matthew Kirdahy published by Forbes, corporate America's moral compass is either pointed in the wrong direction or it is broken. In this article, Stephen Goldman, a professor at the Catholic University of America School of Law is interviewed about the problems in corporate America as they relate to ethical choices and legal obligations. According to Mr. Goldman, the most expensive ethical error by management in recent history is not the accounting fraud that occurred at Enron. Instead, it is various forms of manipulation by senior executives done in order to increase their personal wealth. Of equal concern is the fact that these senior executives seem to have a sense of entitlement, and believe that they are immune from rules governing both legal and ethical behavior in U.S. corporations.
Goldman makes an unusual comment when he states that a few things have changed dramatically for the better as it relates to ethical behavior. He points to the reduced incidence of sexual harassment and racial disparagement. At the same time, he points to the fact that the average pay of women is still less than 80 percent of the average pay of men in similar jobs with similar responsibilities. Surprisingly, Goldman believes that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was a "weak reaction" to the Enron scandal and did not make the fundamental changes required in the way that U.S. companies do business. In effect, Coleman believes that SOX did not go far to curb executive excesses.
An article written by Louis Lavelle and Amy Borrus published in Business Week, in response to the ethical breakdowns that resulted in some of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history; companies are adopting new ethical standards or strengthening old ones. These ethical standards are being introduced to senior management and to other employees as a way to inculcate emplo
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