Ethix is a bi-monthly publication of the Center for Integrity in Business in the School of Business and Economics at Seattle Pacific University. Ethix provides illustrations of business ethics challenges through positive examples of best practices and exemplary leadership.

For too many business and academic institutions, business ethics is only designed to keep a business out of trouble or to avoid further regulation. Much of this is in response to problems in America since the mid 1990s--the “dot com” fraud, a wave of corporate crime (Enron, etc.), and the recent subprime lending scandals. The rest of the world is not exempt from these challenges. In some parts of the world, corruption, bribery, and the lack of rule of law make it almost impossible to do business at all. The situation has been made more complicated by the transformation of business through technology and increased globalization.

Ethics: Damage Control or Mission Control?

We believe ethics is about more than not doing wrong or protection from mistakes; ethics is about doing right. Sound ethics must build into the mission of the business a commitment to do the right thing, not just to avoid the wrong thing.

Ethix features in depth Conversations with notable leaders. Past Conversations have included CEOs of Fortune 50 multinational corporations, CEOs of smaller companies worldwide, academic presidents, technology leaders, and a few critics. Our goal for these conversations is to capture good approaches to tough issues, in addition to gaining insight into the character of leadership. No leader has all the answers, and we are not endorsing all practices these leaders present. But we believe exposure to their practices will provide good examples for other business leaders and academics.

Other standard features of Ethix include:

• Technology Watch: insight into technology trends relevant to business
• In Review: comments on relevant books and films
• Ethics @ Work: advice for handling particular business ethics dilemmas
• News Notables: excerpts about ethical issues in the news with editorial comments
• Best Practices: highlighting a model business practice
• Update: new developments on featured companies or individuals
• Forum: readers’ response to Ethix questions
• Letters: response from our readers
• Guest essays

We invite reader participation through suggestions, comments, ethical dilemmas, reviews, forum participation, and essays. [make this hot so you could navigate to the Your participation section].

Background on Ethix

Ethix was first published in September/October 1998 under the name “The Bulletin of the Institute for Business, Technology, and Ethics (IBTE).” IBTE is a 501 (c) (3) non profit established in April 1998 by long time friends David W. Gill and Albert M. Erisman, primarily as a vehicle for this publication. The publication was renamed Ethix in the May/June 1999 issue at the suggestion of a colleague Mark Neuenschwander (The Neuenschwander Company). David and Al continued as co-directors of IBTE until September 2003, when David decided he was tired of the travel and wanted to do something on his own in his home area of Berkeley, California. He is now writing, speaking, teaching, and consulting in the Bay Area of California, and can be found through his website at www.ethixbiz.com.

Ethix has continued under Al’s leadership since that time. In September/October 2006, when Al was named the director of the Center for Integrity in Business at the School of Business and Economics, Seattle Pacific University, the publication of Ethix was moved into the center. The editorial control remains with Al Erisman, and IBTE continues in the background as the non-profit home for the tools and earlier content of Ethix.