News and Events

Former VP at Lehman Brothers to speak at DePaul University

Lawrence McDonald was an integral part of a faction within Lehman Brothers that passionately tried in vain to stop the firm from heading down the road to destruction. Likewise, he also worked closely with Lehman’s credit derivatives team and saw first-hand the design and construction of what Warren Buffett called  “WallStreet’s financial weapons of mass destruction.” Mr. McDonald will speak on Wednesday, January 20th from 2-4 PM at the DePaul Center (1 East Jackson) in Room 8005 in the Loop Campus. To download the flyer, please click here.

Integrated Project Management Wins Torch Award

The Institute is pleased to announce that Integrated Project Management, where IBPE Board Member Rich Panico is Founder and CEO, is the recipient of one of the 2009 Better Business Bureau's Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics.  IPM previously received the award in 2004 and the BBB's International Torch Award in 2005, the BBB's highest honor.

Through the Torch award, the BBB recognizes companies that demonstrate “high ethical standards of behavior toward customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees and communities.” The award itself “helps to illuminate the importance of a corporate conscience.” IPM provides professional project management and consulting services to the life sciences, food and beverage, healthcare, industrial, and consumer products industries. 

We congratulate Rich and IPM on this well deserved award!

Institute to offer semi-annual ethics training at Lincoln Park Campus

The I.B.P.E. will offer a workshop for DePaul University faculty on increasing ethics deliberation and instruction in a broad spectrum of fields, from the hard sciences to communication. These workshops will take place at the beginning of December. For more information, please contact Summer Brown at sbrown15@depaul.edu.

I.B.P.E. board member Jeff Davis on Green$ense Radio

Harnetech environmental sustainability consultant and I.B.P.E. board member Jeffery Davis recently appeared on Green$ense radio, discussing ways that individuals as well as businesses can alter their homes and offices to be more environmentally sustainable. Jeff dispelled the idea that older buildings and structures are lost causes by pointing toward recycling and solar panels as ways of both saving money and decreasing use of landfill space and electricity. The story can be heard here. 

 Paper written by Laura Hartman, Patricia Werhane and Scott Kelley receives top honors at Society for Business Ethics Conference

The paper, titled "Mental Models that Impede Business’ Role in Global Poverty Alleviation, received the Best Paper Award at the 2009 Society for Business Ethics Conference held in Chicago. For more information, you can e-mail Summer Brown at: sbrown15@depaul.edu.

 Professor Laura Hartman elected as a member of the Society of St. Vincent DePaul

The Institute's own Laura Hartman had the distinction of being elected to be a member of the Society of St. Vincent DePaul. This recognition came about because of Laura's dedication to both sides of the business ethics question, seen through her desire to strengthen the bond between the academic and corporate world.  

Friend of the Institute named 1 of America's most promising Social Entrepreneurs

Michael Pirron, CEO of Impact Makers, was recently recognized by Business Week for his intriguing business model. Impact Makers works with medical providers through constructing disease management plans, yet this for profit company goes one step further. Impact Makers donates 100% of their profits to medical clinics in Virginia. For the whole story, please click here.   

Call for Papers: 16th Annual International Conference Promoting Business Ethics

The 16th annual International Conference Promoting Business Ethics will take place from October 28 to the 30th and will be hosted this year at Niagara University, The conference is sponsored by DePaul University, Niagara University and St. John's University. For more information, please click here.

Institute Director Patricia Werhane Named Among World's 100 Most Influential Ethicists

The Ethisphere Institute has named Professor Patricia Werhane, the Executive Director of the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics, as one of the hundred most influential thinkers in the field of business ethics. To view the article, please click here.

Former I.B.P.E. Wicklander Fellow Publishes in the Journal for Business Ethics

Assistant Professor of Management and former Wicklander Fellow Bin Jiang published an essay titled "Implementing Supplier Codes of Conduct in Global Supply Chains: Process Explanations from Theoretic and Empirical Perspectives," in the Journal of Business Ethics (2009) 85:77-92.

Abstract: Western buying companies impose Supplier Codes of Conduct (SCC) on their suppliers in developing countries; however, many suppliers cannot
fully comply with SCC and some of them even cheat in SCC. In this research, we link contract characteristics –price pressure, production complexity, contract duration– to the likelihood of supplier’s commitment to SCC through a mediating process: how the buying companies govern their suppliers. Our structural equation model analysis shows that the hierarchy/relational norms governance is a perfect mediator of contract characteristics’effects on the likelihood of supplier’s commitment; the market governance, an insignificant one. The managerial implications are provided for successfully implementing SCC in global supply chains.

To order a copy of this essay, please click here.