From an online class for a CPA Ethics test, forwarded by Miss Monica.
A January 1995 article in the California Management Review, “A View from the Trenches”, interviewed 30 recent Harvard MBA graduates. Among their comments:
Organizational pressures, not character flaws, lead people to act unethically.
Whistle-blowing is a professional hazard.
Staff-level employees often receive explicit instruction from middle managers to do unethical or illegal things, e.g., overlook kickback schemes or support cover-ups involving sexual harassment.
Questionable behavior does not hurt one’s career. In fact, it seems to accelerate advancement.