MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Want a More Ethical Team? Build Expertise, Not Just Guidelines

Ethics is often associated with the abstract realm of philosophers. But there’s nothing abstract about the risks for business leaders: Ethical missteps can expose their companies to a host of reputational, regulatory, and legal risks. In response, companies develop ethical guidelines or codes for decision makers and set up boards to govern guideline usage. For example, companies under growing pressure to fight bias are developing protocols to enable customer service representatives to treat all complaining customers fairly. Another example is companies that are revamping guidelines to ensure fairness and the implementation of diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments at all stages of the recruitment process (such as screening or selecting), often aided by algorithms.

However, a significant challenge arises when leaders need to apply ethical guidelines — which are, by design, generic and abstract — to concrete, pressing dilemmas. The practical application of ethical guidelines requires skill, not merely noble intentions.

About the Author

Manos Gkeredakis is an assistant professor at IESE Business School. Haridimos Tsoukas is a professor at the University of Warwick’s Warwick Business School and the University of Cyprus. Jacky Swan is a professor at Warwick Business School. Davide Nicolini is a professor at Warwick Business School.

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