Discussant's response to "With firmness in the right";

              Discussant's Response to
"With Firmness in the Right"
Theodore F. Bluey1
Deloitte & Touche
I have an interesting assignment today in a number of respects. First, I
am a practicing auditor being exposed to the hallowed halls of academe. This
would not be so bad, except for my assignment - to discuss a paper prepared
by a well-respected auditing professor. Again, I thought I could cope with that,
until I heard the topic - professional ethics. Nonetheless, I prepared for this
task by doing background reading on the subject. Then, on April 2, the paper
on ethics arrived. Eagerly, I ripped open the envelope and began to read. My
heart sank. Professor Neumann, from the University of Illinois, had made "Hon-est
Abe" the cornerstone of his paper. And then for good measure, he brings
the Bible into his discussion. I think you get the picture: I'm to try to stir up
some controversy about Abe Lincoln and the Bible. Politics and religion -
two subjects my mother told me I should never discuss in public.
In my remarks, I plan to discuss the apparent decline of ethics first, fol-lowed
by illustrations of what I believe constitutes ethical behavior and what
does not. In some cases, my comments will contrast with those of Professor
Neumann and, in other cases, will expand upon some of his thoughts. I will
conclude by discussing what is being done to reclaim the high ground in the
war on unethical behavior, especially the impacts on businessmen of "ethics
by consequence!" And somewhere in all of this, we might find the time to
discuss my work at the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Decline of Ethics
The decline of ethics - we hear it every day - is not just in business, but
in sports, government, and religion. It seems that every aspect of society is
in pursuit of the pot at the end of the rainbow at the expense of ethical values.
In the sports arena, there are allegations of point shaving (North Carolina
State), recruiting violations (Southern Methodist), drug use (Ben Johnson),
and gambling (Pete Rose). In the government, there are the Iran-Contra
hearings, investigations into the activities of several senators, the HUD scan-dals,
and the seemingly endless rumors of bribes and kickbacks. In the re-ligious
sector, we have had numerous controversies surrounding religious
leaders. And of course, in the business world, there are the insider trading
scandals and the savings & loan crisis, to name just a few.
1The author would like to acknowledge the significant contributions made to this paper by Teri
List and George Phillips of the National Office of Deloitte & Touche.