Better Ethics NOW: How To Avoid The Ethics Disaster You Never Saw Coming (Second Edition) [Hardcover]

Christopher Bauer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 2007

Can you really afford the legal, financial, and public relation nightmares an ethics problem can cause? Certainly not. Yet, most individuals and companies consistently miss or ignore significant 'red flags' for ethics problems simply becasue they haven't learned how to recognize them easily.

This book provides easy, effective, and immediately applicable ideas and tools for both recognizing and mitigating common but often unrecognized risks for ethics problems of all shapes and sizes.

Stephen M.R. Covey, author of The Speed of Trust has said, "A terrific book on ethics. What makes Better Ethics NOW especially practical and valuable is Christopher Bauer's focus on assuming personal responsibility as opposed to mere finger-pointing. Well done!"

Steve Odland, CEO of Office Depot has said, "Christopher Bauer's book is practical and provides information that will help companies perform better. Every manager and executive can learn from reading Better Ethics NOW."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book meets ethics challenges head on with simple solutions, keeping you from having to learn them in the school of hard knocks." --Olen Parker - COO - American Design Drafting Association

"Christopher Bauer has given us some very straight talk about the single most important subject in business today - ethics. The great lesson from Christopher is that ethics isn't about 'the other guy.' Ethics are everyone's responsibility. If you want to build a business based on integrity, you should get Christopher Bauer's book for every employee." --Joe Calloway - Best-selling author of Becoming A Category of One, Indispensable, and Work Like You're Showing Off

"Better Ethics Now should be studied and used by senior management to build better ethics within their businesses." --CEO Refresher Magazine

About the Author

Christopher Bauer has been helping companies integrate solid ethical principles into high performance strategies for over twenty-five years.

As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Bauer brings a unique perspective to understanding the thinking behind ethics problems as well as how to prevent them. His approach is direct yet his tone is conversational and his ideas easily and immediately able to be put into action.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Aab-Hill Business Books; 2nd edition (November 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976586339
• ISBN-13: 978-0976586333
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,027,115 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for Managers, December 6, 2007

By 

Glenn Shepard "www.GlennShepard.com" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Better Ethics NOW: How To Avoid The Ethics Disaster You Never Saw Coming (Second Edition) (Hardcover)

The CEO of one Fortune 500 company told me that this topic is what keeps him up at night, because the exposure is so incredible when you're responsible for tens of thousands of employees. But I also know from my clients that the problem can still spell disaster for managers of small businesses, non-profits, and even in the government sector. Dr. Bauer summed it up best on page 78 in the section titled "Ninety-Nine Percent Ethical Is Not Enough". This book should be a requisite for anyone in any supervisory capacity.

Glenn Shepard
Author of "How to Be the Employee Your Company Can't Live Without" and "How to Manage Problem Employees"

5.0 out of 5 stars Keep Out of Court and In the Black, December 29, 2008

By 

Shel Horowitz "Shel Horowitz, author, Guerril... (Hadley, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Better Ethics NOW: How To Avoid The Ethics Disaster You Never Saw Coming (Second Edition) (Paperback)

A straightforward basic book on ethics in large corporate environments. Dr. Bauer makes some important points, including the differences among behavior that is legal but not ethical (such as working for a concentration camp), ethical but not legal (Gandhi's campaigns against the British), or both legal and ethical.

Other interesting points:

* Lawyer review creates the danger of mealy-mouthed statements that hold up in court but may actually make your company seem less ethical. Make sure the language is clear even after the lawyers go through it.

* Ethics programs are useless without employee buy-in

* Effective modeling of leadership and excellent customer service make ethics problems less likely

* Where to look for ethics challenges before they turn into crises (one benchmark: understanding the difference between a valid incentive and an ethically problematic inducement)

In Bauer's view, most ethics problems have roots outside the workplace, in emotional and financial issues faced by an individual employee; he has some ideas about minimizing their impact. Also about ensuring alternative reporting channels, so if a subordinate has to report a boss, there's someone other than the boss who can receive the message.

Shel Horowitz's award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, demonstrates how to build a business around ethics, environmental sustainability, and cooperative practices--and how to develop marketing that highlights those advantages.