Building Success with Business Ethics: Advice from Business Leaders (Collection)

9. Making Moral Decisions

Today, Roger Arnold is executive vice president and Chief Distribution Officer for Wealth Enhancement Group, a financial advisory firm based in Minneapolis that serves the Midwest. Roger recalls a dilemma he faced a few years back when he had the national responsibility for distribution for products for a large financial services company. His top-producing regional manager, whom we’ll call Sam, was using a questionable sales technique to boost revenues. Sam’s approach wasn’t illegal. Roger wasn’t even certain it was unethical. But deep down, Roger just knew that Sam’s technique wasn’t right. It wasn’t in their clients’ best interests. So Roger told Sam to stop using his technique. Roger thought he’d made it clear that ...