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Living in the Gray: Lessons on Ethics from Prison

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Abstract

Often overlooked once they are remanded to custody, incarcerated former business executives can provide valuable insight into the inner workings of organizations while also contributing to the dialogue on of business ethics within the undergraduate business curricula. This paper summarizes experiences of white collar offenders obtained through a questionnaire-based research method to elicit lessons on ethics from prisoners and to provide a unique learning experience for undergraduate business students. Data was collected from 12 questionnaire responses (n = 12) which resulted in four major themes involving business ethics: core values, ethical responsibility, ethics training, and ethical culture. Narrative responses, integration of ethical decision-making research and student discoveries are included for each theme.

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Notes

  1. Names have been changed.

  2. See Footnote 1.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank, Peggy Johnson, Theresa Schulz, and Alexandre Ardichvili for their assistance in reviewing this manuscript. She would also like to thank Lisa Aguado, John Nye, and Leah Hoglin for their assistance in compiling data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Winona, MN, 55987, USA

    Jana L. Craft

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  1. Jana L. Craft
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Correspondence to Jana L. Craft.

Appendix

Appendix

Student generated questions for incarcerated former executives

Ethical Development

  1. 1.

    Do you feel you had/have a good understanding of your personal core values? How did those core values guide your decisions while on the job?

  2. 2.

    What was the most important aspect of a career in business for you? (bottom line, wealth, challenge) What motivated you the most while working for your company?

  3. 3.

    Who do you think is responsible for the ethics of a company?

Ethical Decision-Making

  1. 4.

    Did you have a written code of ethics at your company? If so, did you base your decisions around those codes?

  2. 5.

    Did you believe that your business decisions followed your particular company’s core mission, vision, and values? Explain.

  3. 6.

    Did you think you should have been held to a higher ethical standard, given that you were in a position of great power? Explain.

  4. 7.

    Do you feel your employees were equipped to recognize and resolve ethical dilemmas? Explain.

Corporate Environment

  1. 8.

    Please explain the corporate culture within your company during your involvement.

  2. 9.

    Is it possible to have a very aggressive corporate culture yet foster an ethical environment?

Reflection/Advice/Future

  1. 10.

    If you could choose to redo anything, what would it be?

  2. 11.

    Do you think anything good came out of this?

  3. 12.

    What is your biggest regret?

  4. 13.

    Do you plan on taking on the business world once again when you are released? If so, do you think you will encounter any roadblocks getting back into the business world? Explain.

  5. 14.

    What advice would you give to a business student about to embark on their chosen career path?

  6. 15.

    How do you feel about a Business Ethics class questioning you on your ethics?

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Craft, J.L. Living in the Gray: Lessons on Ethics from Prison. J Bus Ethics 115, 327–339 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1398-z

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