Elmhurst College, in partnership with the James S. Kemper Foundation, is pleased to announce its new Institute for Business Ethics. Using workshops, speakers, forums, and other academic and professional resources, the new Institute for Business Ethics (IBE) will address a topic that touches us all: corporate responsibility and "ethical infrastructure."
Programs and events will begin in earnest this fall. The IBE web site is accessible now at http://cbe.elmhurst.edu/ibe.
"There is a big, gaping wound in American business today, and a critical need to heal it," said Dr. Dan Primozic, chair and associate professor of philosophy at Elmhurst. "The focus of the IBE is on corporate responsibility."
In speaking about an ethical infrastructure, Primozic defined it as "what's in place in your organization that'll make ethical behavior possible. It's sort of a checklist, or a set of rules and standards."
As evidenced by the current scandals at Enron, Arthur Andersen, Worldcom and other firms, business ethics is a topic that is especially current and relevant. The Institute for Business Ethics seeks to hone a successful model for examining ethical issues, which can be easily replicated by corporations, colleges and other organizations.
The Kemper Foundation laid the groundwork for such a model in 2001. It is designed to take a hard and realistic look at ethical behavior in the professional decision-making process. Primozic noted that the IBE's first program, "will be a pilot program, or a test case for that existing model. We'll build upon it and refine it."
The Institute for Business Ethics is sponsored in part by the James S. Kemper Foundation. Its presentations and activities will be hosted by:The Elmhurst College Center for Business and EconomicsThe Elmhurst College Department of PhilosophyThe Elmhurst College Center for Professional Excellence
The first IBE program, an examination of social responsibility, will feature five corporate executives and five academic leaders. Over a period of 12 weeks, they will seek specific procedures for an internal "ethical audit" that would be applicable to nearly any company or organization. All work will be posted on the IBE web site.
"The IBE has specific and practical goals," said Dr. Gary Wilson, director of Elmhurst's Center for Business and Economics, "We hope that our seminars can become useful as a model of ethical development for the professional and educational communities, as well as for the public. We also seek a concrete, 'best practices' approach on how to resolve ethical dilemmas at the leadership level."
The Kemper Foundation agreed. "We applaud the dialogue between private colleges and major corporations," said Dr. Thomas Hellie, executive director of the James S. Kemper Foundation. "I believe that both sectors can learn from each other."
The James S. Kemper Foundation primarily supports American colleges and universities, and has traditionally emphasized business education. Headquartered in suburban Chicago, and affiliated with the Kemper Insurance Companies, the Foundation currently gives priority to projects on ethics and values in business education, and linkages between liberal arts colleges and the corporate sector.
The Elmhurst College Center for Business and Economics functions in the context of combining broad-based, liberal arts learning with the emphasis of a practical major. The Center exemplifies Elmhurst College's commitment to both purposeful learning and professional excellence.
Elmhurst College is a four-year private college located 16 miles west of downtown Chicago. Approximately 2,700 full-time and part-time students are enrolled in the College's 22 undergraduate academic departments and six graduate degree programs.
Founded in 1871, Elmhurst College is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
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