In a world with a lot of serious problems, we wanted to see if the entertainment sector had anything to contribute to the ethics discussion. In our conversation (starting on p. 6) with Al Weiss, the leader of Disney’s entertainment parks (DisneyWorld, Disneyland, Disney Japan, and Disney Paris), we found that creating a place for fun requires a serious focus on ethics.
How does personal ethics connect with corporate ethics? That’s our forum question for the next issue. Items in the news suggest there is a growing connection (see NewsNotables, p. 14). So we asked Weiss to share with us what he does to keep his focus and not get isolated at the top of the organization. He responded with a carefully articulated set of five principles that he regularly keeps in front of himself. These are summarized on p. 11.
Elsewhere in this issue you will find several reviews of books and films (p. 12), the response to an interesting dilemma of freedom of expression in the workplace (p. 16), and my comments on why office buildings continue to be built when technology can enable people to work from anywhere.
We look forward to your comments.
Al Erisman
Executive Editor
PS We are in transition at Ethix, moving from a publication of the Institute for Business, Technology, and Ethics (a small independent nonprofit) to a publication of Seattle Pacific University’s Center for Integrity in Business at its School of Business and Economics. We are excited about the leverage of a larger base, and have worked hard to preserve the independent voice of Ethix. We will provide more detail about this transition in the next issue.
In the meantime, please make sure you send in your subscription if you haven’t already. The next issue will feature a conversation involving the CIOs of The Boeing Company and Microsoft.