Ethics education has long been a mainstay of most business curriculums on both the undergraduate and graduate level. But arguably, it has only been a pressing concern in the real world of business in recent years, where scandals such as the Enron debacle and various CEO abuses of corporate expense accounts at Tyco have brought ethics to the consciousness of the boardroom and the public, as well as to academics. According to Alfred Gini, a philosophy professor at Loyola University in Chicago and associate editor of Business Ethics Quarterly: "Because of Enron, all MBA programs, all schools of business, are looking at themselves and saying, 'What happened here, and why did it happen,'" and many CEOs and managers are doing the same (Torres 2005:1).
             Furthermore, consumers are taking greater consideration of the ethical behavior of companies when making their buying decisions. Wal-Mart's reputation has been injured by its association with anti-union activities and the poor treatment of its employees in regards to health care. The 'greenness' of various companies, like Toyota's touting of its environmentally friendly Prius has garnered positive public support and more importantly, increased revenue. Even from a self-interested standpoint, no business can afford to ignore ethics. And a business that seems to have a sound ethical policy and draws a positive response from consumers will, of course, similarly draw greater interest from shareholders who wish to invest their hard-won dollars in a company that is unlikely to be investigated for ethics violation in the near future.
             One a personal level, employees are being encouraged to develop personal mission statements, core values and decision models (Torres 2005:1) Today, "Ethics instruction today is less about 'do this, don't do that' and more about developing strategies for dealing with problems," and one might add, trying to avoi...