Is Behavioral Ethics Really a Thing?

Featured Guests:

Stan Horton - Former Enron Executive; President & CEO, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP

Scott Keith - Regional President, North & Central Florida Region, BB&T;

Marshall Schminke - BB&T; Professor of Business Ethics (Management)

Robert Folger - Distinguished Alumni Endowed Professor in Business Ethics

Merrell Bailey - Managing Partner, Your Caring Law Firm

Episode Transcription:

Stan Horton:                      I was on the Enron executive committee when the company went bankrupt. I just witnessed firsthand how a company can implode just due to poor ethics. I saw good people do bad things.

Paul Jarley:                         It's not just about good people doing bad things.

Marshall Schminke:        But it's also interesting to figure out why bad people do bad things and good people do good things. Right?

Paul Jarley:                         It focuses on what people do rather than what authorities say they should do.

Rob Folger:                         The advent of behavioral ethics was the advent of doing research on what people do and why they do it rather than telling them what they should do.

Paul Jarley:                         And it might empower people to step forward and question things. Even when it turns out their wrong.

Merrell Bailey:                  How would you be able to train a teller to say it's okay to tell a client no and we will back you up and you won't lose your job and you won't lose your health insurance and your...

Paul Jarley:                         Even if you're wrong?

Merrell Bailey:                  Even if you're wrong.

Paul Jarley:                         Right.

Paul Jarley:                         Behavioral ethics holds the promise of helping companies do the right thing. But will firms provide faculty with the access necessary to help them solve their deepest problems? Or, will they just keep them locked up in the closet?

Paul Jarley:                         This show is all about separating hype from fundamental change. I'm Paul Jarley, Dean of the College of Business here at UCF. I've got lots of questions. To get answers, I'm talking to people with interesting insights into the future of business. Have you ever wondered, "Is This Really a Thing?"

Paul Jarley:                         On to our show.

Paul Jarley:                         This podcast is a little different. It was done over drinks and hors d'oeuvres before the Colleges' Deans' Advisory Board Meeting in September. We brought together five people with a common interest in ethics, had a conversation, and edited it down to what you're about to hear. Our guests were:

Paul Jarley:                         Merrell Bailey. Merle is a four-time alumnus of the College. She's on our Deans' Advisory Board and has degrees in Accounting and Law. Two fields with extensive codes of ethics.

Paul Jarley:                         Scott Keith is Regional President for BB&T; in North and Central Florida. BB&T; sponsors both an ethics class in the College as well as the faculty member who teaches that course, Marshall Schminke. Marshall is the BB&T; Professor of Business Ethics. He joined us for the evening via Skype because he was speaking at a conference in East France.

Paul Jarley:                         They're joined by Rob Folger. Rob is considered the Father of Behavioral Ethics. He sits in an endowed position that was funded by our last guest.

Paul Jarley:                         Stan Horton. We caught up with Stan a couple of weeks after the event and added his insights into the conversation. Stan is an alum of the College and the President and CEO of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners....