Tag Archives: moral

Morality in Business and Politics

Calypso entices Odysseus, who stays with her for seven years before returning to his wife, Penelope.

The topic arose with a handful of acquaintances this year; otherwise, I probably would not have felt it necessary to write about it. Given the way I feel the

zeitgeist is flowing and the situation where the U.S. Secret Service has found itself in the past several days, this is something that needs to be addressed.

Most people that know me know that I feel that President Obama is very hit-or-miss with his policies; however, I think his administration’s recent actions hit the nail right on the head. Over a dozen officers created a stir from possible activity with prostitution, and they were all sent home immediately. One officer, General Fraser, commented that it was behavior “not in keeping with the professional standards expected.”

More poignant, though, was a comment by a street vendor named Edwin Yepes, who said in a CBS article, “They are supposed to come here and set the example….it’s better if they don’t come than if they damage our image of them.”

What a stain on the United States!

And yet, recent conversations I have had seem to indicate that many people don’t see a connection between personal judgment and professional performance. The classic examples are Kennedy and Clinton; one acquaintance told me it was okay for these men to X-Y-Z as long as they were doing their job. While there is no denying that these men performed superbly on the job, their judgment has to be questioned. Continue reading Morality in Business and Politics

Joe Paterno and Responsibilities of an MPA Student

I rarely post a very direct blog. Usually, my intent is to keep this column very effervescent, but this incident has left me very distraught. Perplexed even. See, it has been very difficult for me to reconcile my emotions over this event because the line of what I deem right and wrong is now hazy.

Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in FBS with 409 victories, was recently fired by Penn State for failing to report an incident involving former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky.

If you have not heard, the winningest coach in D-1 football, Joe Paterno, was fired amidst a sex scandal involving an assistant coach. Paterno was allegedly notified of a sexual assault incident in 2002, reported it to Penn State officials, but failed to take further action. The assistant coach, in the meantime, had allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct for years and was even seen on the Penn State campus weeks before the scandal emerged, despite being relieved of official business nearly a decade ago.

The rub is that Paterno was fired and this angered many Penn State fanatics. Paterno is not accused of any actual misconduct; however, he was the head coach, overlooked the program, and as a result, is at least partially to blame for the scandal….right?

How does this relate to MPA? There are numerous times when certain people in a firm engage in poor practice and put the jobs of many employees in jeopardy. Nevertheless, even those who engage in poor practice in a firm are usually on a larger team and whatever work they do should be reviewed multiple times.

Yes, I said that: someone did something unethical, it was reviewed several times and it still got through.

The question is how does this happen? Are those who let such actions occur necessarily bad? I don’t think that Joe Paterno is bad… Continue reading Joe Paterno and Responsibilities of an MPA Student