Ethics Today & Teaching Inside the Bubble

Business ethics itself is still in a large part in its infancy when we think of it in the classroom environment. Developed and embraced for the collegiate setting starting in the late 70’s having been adopted from the hollow halls of religious places of worship and moved onto the campuses of America.

It seems that more than ever that ethical purveyance in the business world is splashed across newspapers and evening news channels. We have become immune and worse yet have built a level of tolerance to such stories that we have lowered our expectations, as a society, of our business leaders. So, how does one teach the bright minds of tomorrow the ethical imperatives needed to be future ethical business leaders of tomorrow?

In a recent lecture I covered the mishandling of standards, protocols and guidelines of Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp or better known as HSBC. HSBC had engaged in, through lack of institutional controls, a money laundering scheme with a number of Mexico’s drug cartels. Hundreds of millions of dollars had been laundered through the company. The penalty for such infarctions, not to mention violation of international law, was what amounted to be a slap on the wrist. The sum total of penalties leveled against the company was less than half a quarter’s profit for HSBC.  The total jail time handed out, zero days. The reason why was a common occurrence, one my students understood and were not at all surprised by.

As with many situations today HSBC was too big to fail and now to punish as well due to their worldwide clout in the marketplace. When one has money and power one has control of law. When one has control of law they have control their own destiny.  We have in front of us not a case of a wealthy citizen buying their way out of a crime but now a company. By no means is the first or the last instances of power and money dictating terms that we have or will see in the future.

As a professor it is imperative that students not only comprehend knowledge gained but can apply the knowledge they have learned. So how does a professor overcome lack of application in the real-world setting in the classroom?

HSBC:Too big to jail

James O’Toole

http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/12/news/companies/hsbc-money-launderin...