ABSTRACT
The topic of business ethics has grown so much that nearly every business textbook devotes a chapter or section to it. In fact, according to a recent survey, purchasing agents placed ethics as the number one skill needed in their industry (“Critical knowledge & skills purchasing pros now have to have,” 2004). As mentioned in Chapter 1, even the business community’s interest in ethics is evidenced by the established and continued growth of the Ethics Officer Association (EOA; now the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association, ECOA), which is dedicated to promoting ethical business practices (Weeks, Loe, Chonko, & Wakefield, 2004). Many corporations are now appointing ethics officers. However, despite these trends, unethical behavior continues to occur in nearly every company in every industry.
