IMAGINING THE MORALITY OF MANAGEMENT

From: RDShatt
To: geoff.moore@durham.ac.uk
CC: weaverg@lerner.udel.eduSent: 5/3/2009 1:33:50 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: RE-IMAGINING THE MORALITY OF MANAGEMENT: A MODERN VIRTUE ETHICS APPROACH

Dear Professor Moore,

I read your article with great interest and think I generally understand it.

I contend that corporate wrongdoing is conceived, designed and implemented by individual corporate officers, employees, agents, and others, and that ethical business conduct is fostered by holding those individuals accountable. I further contend that the US civil liability system undermines business ethics because it distracts attention and diverts economic resources away from establishing clear guidelines governing actions on behalf of a corporation and holding officers, employees and others individually accountable under those guidelines. My contentions are set forth at length in this article: Does the Law Undermine Business Ethics?

Do you think my above contentions about corporate wrongdoing and about the US civil liability system undermining business ethics possess any material validity? (I hope your being in the UK does not undermine asking you the foregoing question.) Are you aware of any scholarship that discusses this idea?

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck
3812 Spring Valley Circle
Birmingham, AL 35223
USA(205) 967-5586

Business Ethics Quarterly

From: RDShatt
To: weaverg@lerner.udel.edu
Sent: 5/3/2009 11:53:10 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: BEQ: Fwd: Beyond Moral Reasoning: A Review of Moral Identity Research and

Dear Professor Weaver,

I am continuing trying to propagate my contentions set out in my article Does the Law Undermine Business Ethics? I am reviewing current articles in the Business Ethics Quarterly to try to find scholarship where my ideas may have a place, and I am sending emails to authors (such as below). I am interested in any help I can get. I hope you don't mind my contacting your authors and advising you whom I am contacting.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck

From: RDShatt
To: karl.aquino@sauder.ubc.ca, Ruodan. Shao@sauder.ubc.ca
Sent: 5/3/2009 11:36:38 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Beyond Moral Reasoning: A Review of Moral Identity Research and Its Implications

Dear Professors Shao, Aquino and Freeman (please note I cannot find an email address for Professor Freeman),

In your article you say:

At a time when many social institutions are failing due to corruption and
unethicalbehavior, it is often easy to blame a few “bad apples” for these
problems (cf. Felps, Mitchell, &Byington, 2006). Yet common experience and a
large body of research in social psychology(Ross & Nisbett, 1991) tell us
that many people can be led to violate even their most deeply heldmoral
standards in the presence of sufficient social pressures. Consequently, if we
want to minimize unethical behavior in business organizations, we must first
remove or weaken theinfluences that motivate employees to act unethically. Or,
as some of the research we havereviewed suggests, we may need to find ways to
activate or reinforce those aspects of the selfaround which moral concerns and
virtues are organized. It is under these conditions that the vastmajority of us
who are neither saintly nor irredeemably sinful might most effectively regulate
ourethical behavior. Conversely, this same tendency to ignore the interaction
between the person andsituation may cause leaders and policy makers to neglect
opportunities to make moral issuessalient, which can have the unintended result
of deactivating that part of peoples’ self-definitionthat motivates them to
follow their moral code.

I contend that corporate wrongdoing is conceived, designed and implemented by individual corporate officers, employees, agents, and others, and that ethical business conduct is fostered by holding those individuals accountable. I further contend that the country's civil liability system undermines business ethics because it distracts attention and diverts economic resources away from establishing clear guidelines governing actions on behalf of a corporation and holding officers, employees and others individually accountable under those guidelines. My contentions are set forth at length in this article: Does the Law Undermine Business Ethics?

Do you think my above contentions about corporate wrongdoing and about the civil liability system undermining business ethics possess any material validity? Are you aware of any scholarship that discusses this idea?

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck
3812 Spring Valley CircleBirmingham, AL 35223(205) 967-5586

Corporate Bodies and Guilty Minds

From: RDShatt
To: Benedict.Sheehy@newcastle.edu.au
Sent: 4/26/2009 10:54:30 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Fwd: CORPORATE BODIES AND GUILTY MINDS

Dear Professor Sheehy,

I have sent Professor Laufer the below email following my reading of your review of his book.

I am wondering how your own views fit in with my thinking and argumentation that I set forth in this article: Does the Law Undermine Business Ethics?

I hope I hear back from you.

Thanks.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck


Subj: CORPORATE BODIES AND GUILTY MINDS
Date: 4/26/2009 10:27:50 A.M. Central Daylight Time
From: RDShatt
To: lauferw@wharton.upenn.edu

Dear Professor Laufer,

I have emailed you before but I don't think you responded.

In researching, I have found the above book of yours and have read this review of it: http://www.bsos.umd.edu/gvpt/lpbr/subpages/reviews/laufer0107.htm

I am not sure I am able to tell from the review your exact stance and your exact advocacy derived from that stance. I hope to find out more about that.

In the meantime, finding your book and reading the review has renewed my interest in finding out the extent to which you agree with the argumentation and contentions I set forth here: Does the Law Undermine Business Ethics?

I hope very much that I will hear from you.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck

ABA Justice Center

From: RDShatt
To: skrzekua@staff.abanet.org
Sent: 5/1/2009 7:32:32 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: ABA Justice Center- request to become involved

Dear Ms. Skrzekut,

I have not heard from you in response to the below email.

If I may, I would be interested in establishing contact with other "involved citizens" who are involved with the Justice Center. Are there any names or email addresses you can furnish me? If you don't wish to give out that information, can you at least send an email to other "involved citizens" that provides my name and email address and indicates I would like to communicate with them and that they should email me if they are receptive to communication with me.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck




From: RDShatt
To: skrzekua@staff.abanet.org
Sent: 4/4/2009 9:18:52 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: ABA Justice Center- request to become involved

Dear Ms. Skrzekut,

Your website says the Justice Center seeks to accomplish justice system reform by "encouraging bench/bar/public collaboration" and that it "draws on the expertise of judges, bar leaders, law professors and deans, involved citizens, and others . . .."

I would like to participate as a member of the public. As to my qualifications as a citizen who wants to be involved and who is involved, I refer you to this "citizen's letter to judges" I am endeavoring to disseminate and other material that may be found at that link.

I look forward to hearing from you in response to this request.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck

Public Justice Foundation

From: RDShatt
To: gerson@texasinjurylaw.com
Sent: 4/30/2009 4:25:54 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Public Justice and business ethics

Dear Mr. Gerson,

I am writing this email to you in your capacity as President of Public Justice Foundation.

I contend that corporate wrongdoing is conceived, designed and implemented by individual corporate officers, employees, agents, and others, and that ethical business conduct is fostered by holding those individuals accountable. I further contend that the country's civil liability system undermines business ethics because it distracts attention and diverts economic resources away from establishing clear guidelines governing actions on behalf of a corporation and holding officers, employees and others individually accountable under those guidelines. My contentions are set forth at length in this article: Does the Law Undermine Business Ethics?

Would you care to comment on my above contentions about corporate wrongdoing and the civil liability system undermining business ethics and whether, as a result, there may be a failure of deterrence in lessening harm and damages to consumers and other victims (which deterrence I would think is important in the mission of Public Justice)?

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck

Symantec Chief Ethics Officer

From: RDShatt
To: ethics@symantec.com
Sent: 4/30/2009 8:25:13 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Does the Law Undermine Business Ethics?

Dear Symantec Chief Ethics Officer,

I am writing this email to you as a result of a class action lawsuit against Symantec Corporation that is pending in the Superior Court in Santa Clara County (http://www.heverly-nortoncase.com/pdfs/ConsolidatedSecondAmendedComplaint.pdf).

The notice that my son received describes the gist of the case as follows:

This lawsuit against Symantec Corp. (“Symantec”) alleges that Symantec, the company that sells Norton computer and Internet security products, has an unlawful policy of terminating subscription time of certain customers who purchased upgrades, without providing a credit or refund for unused subscription time, and that Symantec fails to disclose this policy. The lawsuit asserts that each class member purchased Norton computer security software which came with a subscription for regular “content updates” which keep the security software up to date. These updates are delivered by Symantec via online downloads through the LiveUpdate feature of the Norton software. As the subscription expiration date approaches, the Norton security software prompts the user to consider renewing his/her/its subscription for another term and also presents an opportunity to upgrade to a new product by making an online purchase. If the user then chooses to purchase an upgrade, the new subscription begins when the upgrade is installed, not when the existing subscription expires. Plaintiffs allege that the new subscription should begin when the existing subscription expires, and that Symantec unlawfully terminated subscription time without providing a credit or refund and without disclosing this policy.

Symantec denies these allegations and asserts that, at all times, its actions and business practices have been lawful and appropriate. The Court has not ruled on the merits of the claims. This means that there has been no ruling as to who wins and who loses.

Under the settlement agreement for which court approval is being sought, the offer to each member of the plaintiff class is a $15 voucher or $2.50 cash. The requested attorneys' fees are $2,275,000.

I contend that corporate wrongdoing is conceived, designed and implemented by individual corporate officers, employees, agents, and others, and that ethical business conduct is fostered by holding those individuals accountable. I further contend that the country's civil liability system undermines business ethics because it distracts attention and diverts economic resources away from establishing clear guidelines governing actions on behalf of a corporation and holding officers, employees and others individually accountable under those guidelines. My contentions are set forth at length in this article: Does the Law Undermine Business Ethics?

I doubt that you will be in a position to comment on my above contentions about corporate wrongdoing or about whether the Symantec class action lawsuit contributes to or does not contribute to (and in fact undermines for the reasons set out in my article) the fostering of ethical behavior by corporations and their employees. I do hope, however, that you will at least think about what I say.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Robert Shattuck

Email exchange with Pepperdine professor

From:
To: RDShatt@aol.com
Sent: 4/26/2009 5:35:10 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: RE: Behavioral science and Symantec class action lawsuit

Dear Mr. Shattuck,

An interesting proposition. Unfortunantely, I must decline your invitation.good luck in your efforts. [professor's name]


From: RDShatt
To:
Sent: 4/30/2009 8:36:01 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Behavioral science and Symantec class action lawsuit ...

Thank you for at least replying to me, Professor ______. Needless to say, I think I raise a significant question that is meritorious of consideration by ethics professionals and academics, and it is frustrating not to receive comment. But c'est la vie.

Robert Shattuck


From:
To: RDShatt@aol.com
Sent: 4/30/2009 11:16:59 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: RE: Behavioral science and Symantec class action lawsuit ...

welcome!