Home  >  News & Publications  >  Former Attorney General Stresses Ethics Former Attorney General Stresses Ethics Scott Harshbarger, former Massachusetts attorney general, gives a talk at Cooley Dickinson Hospital Monday. He was the first speaker in the hospital's "Let's Talk About It" series. By MARY CAREY, Staff Writer Daily Hampshire Gazette Tuesday, September 23, 2003 -- NORTHAMPTON - Scott Harshbarger had a reputation as an aggressive Massachusetts attorney general, but in a talk Monday at Cooley Dickinson Hospital he urged about 75 community and business leaders to consider ethical issues, not just the law. It is relatively easy to discern when corporate leaders have broken the law, as illustrated by cases including Enron and WorldCom in recent years, said Harshbarger, who was the first speaker in a new series called "Let's Talk About It" organized by Cooley Dickinson. The more difficult questions are ethical ones when no law has been broken but the public trust has been violated, he said, citing the case of Richard Grasso, the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange who resigned last week amid public criticism of his nearly $140 million pay package. Harshbarger urged business leaders in the room to review the ethical foundations of their own organizations and companies. Parents could begin by asking their children, for example, whether it would be better to accept $140 million at the expense of your reputation or decline the pay but maintain your integrity, he said. Corporate heads have lined their own pockets at the expense of their stockholders and employees, bleeding a staggering $7.5 trillion in lost shareholder value, pensions and jobs from every sector of society, Harshbarger said. Business law doesn't need to be reformed as much as business leaders have to be persuaded that they have to do good at the same time they do well, Harshbarger said. "What has occurred over the last two years demonstrates that our institutions are suffering from a massive ethical breakdown." A former director of the national organization Common Cause, he now runs the Harshbarger Governance Practice at a Boston law firm. He was the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in 1998, losing to Paul Cellucci. Harshbarger urged business and organization leaders to "go back to the basics," and review all of their own organizations' practices, from how their boards are composed, to compensation issues and their role in the community. "I think this is an opportunity for us to review how it is we're governing our institutions," Harshbarger said. "There is not enough discussion about common ethical issues - the clash of competing principles. How do you deal with the gray areas? It is not enough to say, 'I'm not a crook.' " Surprisingly, Harshbarger said, some of the companies whose leaders allegedly were breaking the law while lining their own pockets also had the best training programs in business ethics. "But they often don't require supervisors, managers and executives to take the courses," he said. Harshbarger said police always undergo training in ethics, but that there are often stories about how rookies on the first day of their job are told by veteran police officers that nothing they learned in training applies. Northampton Police Lt. Brian Rust, who was in the audience, said in an interview afterward, "That's exactly what happens." But, Rust added, "It's common to any organization. There's always a conflict in trying to bring those (the training and on-the-job experience) back together." Harshbarger said corporate leaders should ask themselves and their boards of directors whether a potential whistle-blower attempting to expose wrongdoing within the company would get attention. Hospital president Craig Melin said he and Cooley Dickinson board members began posing similar questions several years ago, including how they could make whistle-blowers feel safe. Melin said the hospital established a telephone number that whistle-blowers can call anonymously. Mary Carey can be reached at mcarey@gazettenet.com. © 2003 Daily Hampshire Gazette