On Thursday, March 27, join The Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility and The Atlanta Press Club for a lively exploration of the blogosphere – the fast-growing world of online journals, now estimated to comprise nearly 100 million weblogs covering nearly every conceivable topic, including business. The rapid growth and far-reaching effects of the blogosphere has led to some hard-to-answer questions. What ethical standards, if any, should apply in the freewheeling blogosphere? Should bloggers be expected to adhere to traditional journalistic standards of attribution, truthfulness, fairness, privacy and accountability? How does advertising influence the content of the weblogs? What are the ethical responsibilities of businesses in the blogosphere?

Led by a panel including David Rubinger, vice president for corporate communications at Equifax; Jeremy C. Garlington, publisher of The Garlington Report (a weblog); Greg Lisby, professor of journalism at Georgia State University; and Lea Donosky, interactivity manager, Atlanta Journal Constitution, the program will explore this on-going debate. The reception and cash bar, to be held at The Commerce Club downtown, will begin at 5:30, followed by the program at 6:30. You may register online here. To express our thanks to the 2008 supporters of the Center, members may register at no charge! If you have not joined the Center this year, you may do so here. This program is made possible with grant support from Assurant.

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Remembering Elmer Johnson

Elmer Johnson, who passed away in February, was a friend to the Center who had a marked influence on the founding of The Southern Institute for Business and Professional Ethics, the predecessor to The Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility. Mr. Johnson had an illustrious career, serving as managing partner of the national law firm Kirkland & Ellis for nearly two decades and as executive vice president, director, and general counsel of General Motors Corporation. He also served as president and CEO of the Aspen Institute and was an outspoken advocate of corporate ethics as early as the 1970s.

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Ethics, Leadership and the CEO, a leadership forum featuring a panel of CEOs and a presentation of highlights of the Center’s new National Survey of CEOs on Business Ethics, will be held on Friday, May 9, 2008. The program will feature a panel of leading Atlanta CEOs who will comment on the findings. The survey of more than 300 CEOs was sponsored by UPS and conducted in collaboration with Clemson University's Robert J. Rutland Center for Ethics. The event will be held at The Commerce Club, downtown from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Hold the date, as invitations will be mailed early next month.

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Do you know of someone who been a leader in advocating higher ethical standards in an industry or professional field? Someone who has responded to ethical issues by encouraging others to act in the best interests of society? If so, consider nominating that person for the 2008 Ethics Advocate Award. Nominations are now being accepted for the Ethics Advocate Award presented by The Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility at Georgia State University. Nomination forms are available for download here. The award will be presented this fall at a gala and ceremony at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

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A new issue of the Center’s online journal, GoodBusiness, is now available here. Doing Business in China – The Ethical Landscape features fascinating articles based on the personal observations and expertise of business executives and scholars. These articles explore the developing market economy in China, as well as the difficult ethical challenges affecting future growth and the prospects of organizations that do business in this complex country.

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• Steve Olson, Associate Director of the Center, was honored as the recipient of the Fredric M. Jablin Dissertation Award from the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, University of Richmond. The Dissertation Awards, which carry a cash prize, honor scholars from a range of academic disciplines who have explored and written on topics that demonstrate substantial insights and implications for leadership studies. Competition for the Awards is intense, and awardees are recognized at an annual colloquium, after which members of the Jepson faculty facilitate a related discussion. The title of his dissertation is "The Ethics of Leadership: Construction of an Analytical Framework, with Application to Ken Blanchard's Theories of Situational and Servant Leadership." An in-depth interview with Dr. Olson on his dissertation appears in the February 2008 International Leadership Association newsletter.



• Steve Olson gave the Spring 2008 Thompson Lectures on Leadership & Ethics at Kettering University in Flint, Michigan. The title of his talk was "Deep Challenges of Leading for Sustainability: Ethics, Values and Your Identity."



• The Center for Ethics and Corporate Responsibility conducted the annual "You and The American Economy" program for more than 100 outstanding Atlanta-area high school students. The February 25 event, co-sponsored by Georgia State, Georgia Council on Economic Education and Atlanta Rotary Club, was a six-hour exploration of future career opportunities and economic trends. This was the 32nd annual program, founded by former RCB Dean Michael Mescon.



• John Knapp, director of the Center, gave a presentation entitled 'Fostering Ethical Cultures in Nonprofit Organizations' at a prgram on nonprofit management sponsored by Georgia State's Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.



• Dr. Knapp is a faculty member for the 2008 Corporate Ethics and Compliance Institute, conducted by Practising Law Institute, a national educational institution for the legal profession.

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