by John Davidson

About the author: John Davidson is a writer based in Austin, Texas.

For those of us who experienced the moral climate of the corporate world in the ’80s, it’s a shock to discover that ethics has become an industry—a billion- dollar growth industry. Ten years ago, ethics programs in companies were rare; the business world was exultantly Darwinian, a dog-eat-dog, corporation- devour-corporation kind of place. The marketplace was by definition amoral, but we celebrated it nonetheless.

Today, 45 percent of companies with 500 or more employees have ethics programs. The Ethics Officer Association, founded in 1991, has more than 400 members, many employed by Fortune 500 companies, and there are 75 to 100 centers for business ethics scattered around the country. Not only are corporations concerned with internal conduct, they’re also sponsoring ethics training...