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

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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.

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.

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.

Street-Smart Ethics is a practical guide to the quagmire of situations that professionals encounter on a regular basis. Written in a common-sense style, filled with pertinent examples, and interesting antidotes, the book should be compulsory reading for anyone working in contemporary business.

Street-Smart Ethics by Clinton W. Mclemore is a book that should be read not only by people who aspire to be involved in business, but also by anyone who wants to make ethical decisions in the gray and complex areas where we function in everyday life. The book is divided into three parts, part one is "A non-Nonsense Premier on Ethics," part two is "Ancient Wisdom for Modern Time," and part three is "Testing Your Mettle." Each part is divided into several subsections with a lot of real life example, making it easy to grasp the author's point.

The first part begins with an analysis of what now have become the classical study cases in corporate ethics, Enron and WorldCom and the new ethical implications for people holding MBA and CPA degrees. In the next section, the author analyses the relationship between law and ethics and the implications for individuals. Breaking the law is clearly identified as being something "bad." However, there are other circumstances where "ethical dilemmas" are not clear (such as when an act or behavior may be accepted within the legal framework but may be unethical). According to the author this gray area is where many people fail to behave correctly. Ethics tell us what other members of society perceive to be our moral obligations. That is why many professions such as doctors and lawyers develop their own ethical codes that should guide them in their practices.

In this first part Mclemore also presents some suggestions as to how to avoid getting involved in unethical dilemmas. His recommendations include leaving a company one works for when one discovers that the values of the organizations are not as one expected. The author also presents some recommendations for those employees who decide to "blow the whistle," which include consulting an attorney before taking any action as well as making sure one will be able to withstand the hostile attacks that "blowing the whistle" often entails.

In the last section of part I, the author makes a good job in distinguishing simple versus complex ethical dilemmas and the way to approach them. Simple dilemmas involves straightforward question of right and wrong. The general approach suggested by the author to simple ethical dilemmas are to consult knowledgeable and wise colleagues who may have faced similar dilemmas in the past and to consult whatever codes of conduct that may apply. Complex moral dilemmas emerge when we have to choose between two or more evils or two or more goods. The author makes this comparison clear by using a series of examples both in business and personal context. However, at the end of this section, I think the author fell shortly in explaining two approaches or theories to solving ethical issues: duty-based (deontological) theories that focus on duties, and consequence-oriented (teleological) theories that focus on consequences. Although the author makes it clear that the purpose of this book was not to explain these theories in detail, he does not link this section of the book with the others. Then, he should have either explained these theories in detail or leave this section out of the book.

In part II of this book, Mclemore takes 50 proverbs from the Bible to develop a guideline for Christian people that could serve as a guide to staying out of troubles and to use it to enhance our wisdom, integrity, judgment, and many other "virtues" that are valuable to society. Every proverb is followed by a short explanation on how to apply it to everyday life, as well as provides questions for reflection. I found this to be a good technique in presenting the material because most of the questions for reflection are straightforward, making it easier to remember and apply the material presented in the book. Furthermore, the author uses his psychology background to make excellent recommendations as to how to learn the most from this section and from the entire book, which is something that many books lack.

In the last part of this book, the author provides a series of questions and problems that should help the reader to test the material learned from the book. He does a good job in breaking down the questions and problems into simple and complex ethical dilemmas. Simple ethical questions are presented to be answered as true and false, while complex ethical questions are presented in short cases.

I think Mclemore does a good job in expressing in simple words (160 pages) the challenges involved in ethical issues both in the business and personal arenas. This will be an excellent book for those students who have not been exposed to ethics readings before because it is a straight forward reading.

Street-Smart Ethics: Succeeding In Business Without Selling Your Soul is a meaningful guide written by psychologist and corporate consultant Clinton W. McLemore especially for those Christians seeking to prosper in the business world, but not at the expense and pain of others. Offering Proverbs-based guidelines to stay on an honorable path, true-false self-test questions, ethical brainteasers, a solid primer of professional principles for dealing well and fairly with others, Street-Smart Ethics is a practical, balanced, useful, Christian-based ethics instructional guide for doing business in the world.

In this time of history repeating itself and major corporate scandals being splashed across the media again, Dr. McLemore's book is a refreshing primer on developing and maintaining personal integrity in the workplace. Whether or not the reader is a Christian, he or she will enjoy the engagingly-written Proverbs-based section in Part II of the book. This fine little tome is well worth the time investment!

In this time of history repeating itself and major corporate scandals being splashed across the media again, Dr. McLemore's book is a refreshing primer on developing and maintaining personal integrity in the workplace. Whether or not the reader is a Christian, he or she will enjoy the engagingly-written Proverbs-based section in Part II of the book. This fine little tome is well worth the time investment!

Street Smart Ethics is a book that should be required reading for all students (high school and college). Our legacy to them has been to give them examples of how greed and arrogance results in lots of money as long as you don't get caught. Street Smart provides an excellent vehicle to remind all of us of other alternative behaviors. When I first read the book, I saw the faces of others in McLemore's case studies. The second time, I saw my own.

Thank you, Dr. McLemore, for putting simplicity back into ethics.

Item was received in the condition as stated. I am very satisfied with my purchase!