Watching the ouster this week of Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson leaves us scratching our head. Why would someone talented enough to head up a major technology company claim to have a phony computer-science degree? Thompson obviously was doing fine without it. So he didn’t need to lie in order to get ahead in the tech world. But he did anyway . . . and you know the rest of the story. Read more...

As we write this column, the news is full of dire articles about the impending U.S. default on its loan obligations. The great debate over our budget has us musing about the meaning of the term “full faith and credit” . . . especially how it relates to the ethics of selling in today’s business climate. Read more...

Many business professionals savor their independence. That’s why corporate employees often go independent as their skill, knowledge, and client list grow. But even as a free agent—a lone cowboy or cowgirl—how independent are you really? Are you subject to the influences of other entities in your professional life? Do you let those influences affect your decisions—and your ethics? Do you let them call all the shots? And most important, can you truly be an independent and unbiased professional when industry “ranchers” with huge stakes in your success brand your hide, but have little ownership of your mistakes? Read more...

Even the best-intentioned business owner can fall prey to the temptations of unethical conduct. How? By giving in to four seductive pressures. Read more...

"Mistakes." Now that’s a word that not only describes the Madoff mess (sayonara, Bernie!), but also the recent history of our economy. But the question now is, have all the guilty parties—from the Wall St. titans to the corner mortgage brokers to the Washington politicians to the overly ambitious homebuyers—learned enough from the past to not repeat their mistakes in the future? Read more...