A Business Tale

by Marianne Jennings

In the long run, businesses can't build shareholder value without practicing sound ethics. Wouldn't it be nice if all executives had a magical rabbit, like the one in the movie Harvey, to whisper in their ear and remind them of that? The invisible rabbit in this charming fable, Ari, is always on hand to prod Edgar P. Benchley when there's a tough choice to be made. The stakes get higher as Edgar rises in the ranks of corporate America. Cooking the books, trading on insider information, covering up product liability data ... there's nothing Edgar's bosses won't ask him to do or overlook. But "everyone does it" doesn't cut ice with Edgar and Ari. No wonder these two are out on the street so often. Can nice guys succeed? Can straight arrows hit the mark? Why is honesty so inevitably tough? In this wry and wise parable, a seasoned professor of business ethics encourages us all to think about the big questions surrounding ethics---and presents some surprising answers. A Business Tale conclu