Students Help Local Businesses Vie for Ethics Award

By Lanita Withers Goins, University Relations

Contact: (336) 334-3890

Posted 4-27-09

GREENSBORO, N.C. — When it comes to business ethics, how a company is evaluated goes beyond the letter of the law.

A group of about 30 students from the Bryan School of Business and Economics at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro learned that first hand and gained experience exploring and evaluating ethical behavior when they helped local companies apply for the 2009 Piedmont Business Ethics Awards. The awards, given annually by the Greensboro Chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, were presented April 21.

“What I love about this project is, finally, some good actors are getting the attention,” said Wade Maki, a lecturer who teaches the ethics class. “We’ve all heard about the Enrons and the AIGs and the WorldComs. All the bad actors are famous. It’s time the good businesses – that are acting good and doing right – that their stories get told too.

“A lot of businesses would make mistakes by saying, ‘We’re an ethical business because we don’t break the law,’” Maki said. “There’s more to ethical behavior than legal behavior. Students ask about environmental impact or times when businesses passed over opportunities for profit because they thought something wrong was going on.”

Maki’s students were split into teams to research their assigned companies, conducting background checks and interviews with company officials. With that information, the students completed an extensive award application, which was approved by their instructor and company officials before being submitted for consideration.

Students said the real world experience gained was valuable. “The overall picture is that a corporation can be run with profit in mind while treating others ethically, not as a means to gain money, but as individuals or people while still making money,” said Joseph Walker, a junior business administration major who worked with Greensboro-based Pay•Tel Communications Inc.

Senior Casandra Quarrells researched Caudill’s Commercial Electric Company Inc. in Kernersville. A company official shared a story with her about a job estimate that ended up coming in significantly under budget.

“Once the team of workers began doing the job, they were able to use some of the materials that the customer already had instead of replacing them,” said Quarrells, a business administration major. “Caudill’s went back to their client and explained that the new charges would now be much less than they had originally quoted. I thought this was a very honest thing to do. ... Caudill’s could have chosen to charge that customer the original price, but they did the right thing.”

The students’ assistance completing the in-depth application was also a benefit for the companies. “I feel it was truly a win-win for VF and the students,” said Susan Larson Williams, vice president of human resources for Greensboro-based VF Corp., which won the ethics award for a large company. “It’s important for them to see good companies and how ethics are embedded in a company like VF.”

Vincent Townsend, president of Pay•Tel Communications, said his business had been nominated many times, but this year was the first time the company applied for the award.

“It’s a good argument I did that because the wheels were greased to help make it happen by having the students help with the project,” said Townsend, whose company won the award for a mid-sized organization.

Townsend also applauded the students for their early focus on business ethics. “I think it’s critical that young people who are in the education process get a firm handle on the tough issues in business,” he said.