Euronews Special Report – Learning World: “In Business”, 30th November 2012:
Switzerland: the business of ethics (excerpt)
“Bert Wolfs, one of the founders of the Swiss Business School, is convinced that business ethics are vital: “In 2001, Enron, a large energy company in the United States, went bankrupt and that also led to the bankruptcy of Arthur Andersen, which was the fourth largest auditing company in the world. This inspired us, due to the misbehaviour of senior management, to really organize an Ethical Business School. And to who could we teach better and where could we start for the change? It was with our students. Companies are doing well by doing good and they think they then apply all the aspects of ethics. But in real life you have to apply it in your business. So you have to be fair, you have not to accept bribery, you have to implement a code of ethics in your company. Now we’ve made it concrete and I think that helps to change the behavior of managers and students.”
More than 300 students have taken this course at the Swiss Business School over the past 10 years, focusing on doing ethical business rather than just on making money at all costs. Honesty and transparency are essential for economic survival.”