Alcorn State to host business ethics forum
By Joan Gandy
The Natchez democrat
NATCHEZ — Corporate CEOs go to jail for fraud. Industry financial officers enter false data into the records. Company owners file false reports to inflate the public perception of their businesses.
These and other unethical business practices have become all too well known in recent years, and, in response to that climate, the Alcorn State University Graduate Business Programs is holding “Ethics in the Marketplace and Beyond,” a forum featuring four experts in the area of business ethics.
The April 19 program, open to the public, will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a reception at the ASU business building on the Natchez campus. The program begins at 7 p.m.
“Ethical challenges in today’s business environment impact most all of us either directly or indirectly,” said Steve Wells, interim dean of the ASU School of Business.
“Financial debacles continue to raise questions regarding ethical behavior in the marketplace.”
Panelists include Keith Starrett, U.S. District Judge in the Southern District of Mississippi; Walter Brown, Natchez attorney and former chairman of the Mississippi Ethics Commission; Becky Vaughn-Furlow, director of human resources at Trustmark National Bank; and John Igwebuike, attorney and assistant professor at the ASU School of Business.
Igwebuike will speak on “Business Schools Responses to Ethical Challenges in the Marketplace.” He said the challenges loom large.
“There is a dire problem going on in ethics in the corporate and marketing arena,” Igwebuike said.
“And many of the heads of these large companies are people who gained their degrees in business schools, often in the most prestigious business schools,” he said. “What they do affect the lives of millions of people.”
Moreover, their unethical actions affect not only the DOW, the NASDAQ but also “whether families can buy groceries and whether people can retire.”
Illustrating how the actions of few can have wide-ranging consequences over many is one of the lessons he presents to his classes, Igwebuike said.
“As teachers, it is our responsibility to diffuse and inculcate in our students moral values and the significance of ethics in the workplace,” he said.
“We must teach students to stand for something, for things far more valuable than just a job or just money — their name, their integrity and their reputation.”
One quote he uses with his classes is from Martin Luther King Jr.: “If you don’t find you’re willing to stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
The faculty at a business school has a big responsibility, Igwebuike said.
“We must live it out. They are watching who we are as well as what we say,” he said. “We must model integrity in what we say but also in what we do. We must build that integrity into the classroom.”
Other topics on the program will include “Ethics in the Office: Will Your Behavior Earn a Pink Slip,” by Vaughn-Furlow.
Brown’s topic will be “Mississippi Ethics Law: The Grand Experiment.” And Starrett will speak on “Sexual Harassment: What You Don’t know Can Cost You.”
Wells said the forum is for the benefit of the business school students but also for the public.
“In addition to exposing our students to the real world experiences of the speakers, we cordially invite everyone to attend the program,” Wells said. “We are honored to have these distinguished individuals participate in the discussion of this topic.”
