Trouble ahead in business ethics?

IT WAS reassuring to read in "Redefining the MBA" (Business & Money, Oct. 14) that ethics instruction is an integral part of the effort by your area's business schools to make their programs more relevant to contemporary needs in the business community.

The Ethics Research Center's ongoing study of corporate ethics demonstrates that the future leaders of American business have their work cut out for them on the ethics front.

Our recent survey of employees at publicly traded companies showed roughly one in seven giving their employers a below-average or failing grade in their approach to ethics. Moreover, 22 percent of respondents said results are rewarded by their employers even at the expense of unethical practices. And when asked, "How often does your job conflict with your personal values?" 20 percent of all public-company employees answered "sometimes or always." Yes, those are minority shares of opinion, but they are still substantial. And as the wave of corporate scandals early in this decade showed, it takes only a few wayward managers to bring a company down.

PATRICIA HARNED
Washington

The writer is president of the Ethics Resource Center.