Street-Smart Ethics: Succeeding in Business without Selling Your Soul [Paperback]

Clinton W. McLemore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2003

Success, as it is currently defined, usually depends on winning--beating the competition--which often places incredible pressures on business professionals. With engaging writing and a lack of jargon, this book navigates executives, managers, and supervisors through the ethical decisions they must make every day. Street-Smart Ethics is divided into three sections: a primer on ethics, a collection of Proverbs-based guidelines for staying out of trouble, and a self-test that contains true-false questions and ethical brainteasers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When is business behavior legal but unethical? What should you say if your boss pressures you to do something you know is wrong? What is the line between "puffing" a stock and outright fraud? McLemore (Good Guys Finish First) opens this intelligent, timely ethics book by describing the well-publicized downfalls of famous companies, comparing Enron's corporate sins to WorldCom's peccadilloes. His opening section is a kind of a down-and-dirty primer on business responsibility. He explores the relationship between law and ethics, describes what people can do if they are being pressured to act unethically, and discusses the psychological issues that all those involved-from whistleblowers to brown-nosers-may have regarding ethical violations. The second section uses the biblical Book of Proverbs to offer 50 guidelines on "simple prudence," the foundation of ethical behavior, while the final section employs quizzes and longer case studies to stimulate discussion and reflection. McLemore writes engagingly and discerningly, sprinkling the text with insider knowledge gleaned from nearly two decades of experience in management consulting and organizational psychology. This should be required reading for managerial and professional personnel.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...Clinton McLemore helps guide us away from ethical messes, and out of them if we're in them." -- James A. Thomson, President and Chief Executive Officer, RAND Corporation

"...should be read by CEOs, CFOs, anyone aspiring to be a senior business executive...." -- Willis B. Wood, Jr., Chairman, American Automobile Association (AAA), Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Enterprises

"Intelligent, timely... This should be required reading for managerial and professional personnel. -- Publisher's Weekly

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Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press; 1 edition (February 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0664226280
• ISBN-13: 978-0664226282
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #802,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Update of a Classic, March 2, 2003

By 

it (Sunnyvale, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Street-Smart Ethics: Succeeding in Business without Selling Your Soul (Paperback)

This is an update of a classic. Although advertised as a book about business ethics, it can be easily applied to every day non-business life. The author's 20 years in the business world gives him insight into the typical ethical dilemmas in this area and he uses them as examples. His 10 years of teaching shows in the clear explanations and systematic treatment of the subject. There are frequent examples for thought and probing questions to apply to yourself.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time-Tested Ethics Adeptly Applied to Real-World Business, March 13, 2003

By 

Adam Jackson (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Street-Smart Ethics: Succeeding in Business without Selling Your Soul (Paperback)

Clinton McLemore's application of universally true ethical guidelines to real-world, practical business situations in this book is both an excellent guideline for everyday professional situations as well as a source of hope for the ailing ethical condition of today's corporate world.
This book, besides being an excellent guide for executives, details many thought-provoking ethical scenarios worthy of consideration even by employees or one-two person small businesses.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!, March 7, 2003

By 

Douglas D Beyer (Temple City, California USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Street-Smart Ethics: Succeeding in Business without Selling Your Soul (Paperback)

Street-Smart Ethics combines ancient wisdom from the Book of Proverbs with modern thought from everyday life to shed light on the ethical conundrums of contemporary business practices. Clearly organized and free from technical jargon, Clinton McLemore gives very practical guidance to prevent the business disasters that plague our society.