Ethical standards tend to filter down from the top of an organization. Employees look to company leaders for guidance. The organization’s moral tone, as established by management personnel, is the most important single determinant of employee ethics. At Best Buy, Richard Schulze, founder and chairman, is the person who must put ethics concerns on the front burner and make sure that employees stay focused on that priority. The most influential ethics spokesman at Timberland is CEO Jeffrey Swartz, a third-generation CEO whose grandfather founded the company. With pride, he points out Timberland’s slogan: “Boots, Brand, Belief.”9

In recent years, top management has often been guided by advice from professional service firms such as McKinsey & Company, Ernst and Young, and Merrill Lynch and Company. Too often these firms are recommending strategies that result in quick, short-term gains. Alan M. Webber, who has been studying professional service firms for 20 years, notes, “They want the money right now.” He says, “. . . to make the most money, you actually have to believe in the product or service you offer and care for the customers or clients whom you serve.”10