Nearly every business professor and philosopher have weighed in with models and tests that can be used for resolving ethical issues. The following sections offer summaries of the thoughts and models of others in the field of ethics.

An internationally known management expert, Dr. Peter Drucker offers the following as an overview for all ethical dilemmas: primum non nocere, which in translation means "Above all do no harm." Adapted from the motto of the medical profession, Dr. Drucker's simple ethical test in a short phrase encourages us to make decisions that do not harm others. This test would keep us from releasing a product that had a defect that could cause injury. This test would have us be fair and decent in the working conditions we provide for workers in other countries. This test would also prevent us from not disclosing relevant information during contract negotiations. Johnson \& Johnson has used Dr. Drucker's simple approach as the core of its business credo.

This very simple ethical model requires only that a decision maker envision how a reporter would describe a decision or action on the front page of a local or national newspaper. For example, with regard to the NBC News report on the sidesaddle gas tanks in GM pickup trucks, the USA Today headline read, "GM Suit Attacks NBC Report: Says Show Faked Fiery Truck Crash." Would NBC have made the same decisions about its staging of the truck crash if that headline had been foreseen?

When Salomon Brothers' illegal cornering of the U.S. government's bond market was revealed, the Business Week headline read, "How Bad Will It Get?"; nearly two years later, a follow-up story on Salomon's crisis strategy was headlined, "The Bomb Shelter That Salomon Built." During the aftermath of the bond market scandal, the interim chairman of Salomon, Warren Buffett, told employees, "Contemplating any business act, an employee should ask himself whether he would be willing to see it immediately described by an informed and critical reporter on the front page of his local paper, there to be read by his spouse, children, and friends. At Salomon we simply want no part of any activities that pass legal tests but that we, as citizens, would find offensive."

A manager of a company came up with a slight variation of the newspaper test by having all of his employees begin every meeting and discussion by asking, "What if the cameras were running? Would we be proud of this discussion or would we be worried?" The purpose of the "What if the cameras were rolling?" test is to have you step back from the business setting in which decisions are made and view the issue and choices from the perspective of an objective outsider...............................

Discussion Questions

1. Take the various models and offer a chart or diagram to show the common elements in each.

2. After viewing the chart, make a list of the kinds of things all those who have developed the models want us to think about as we resolve ethical dilemmas. Remember, you are working to develop a 360 -degree perspective on issues. Stopping at legality is not enough if you are going to think through all the consequences of decisions. Just because something is legal does not mean it is ethical.