Excerpt from, "Moral Leadership and Business Ethics" "A New York Times/CBS News Poll conducted in 1985 revealed that 55 percent of the American public believe that the vast majority of corporate executives are dishonest, and 59 percent think that executive white-collar crime occurs on a regular basis. A 1987 Wall Street Journal article noted that one-fourth of the 671 executives surveyed by a leading research firm believed that ethics can impede a successful career, and that over one-half of all the executives they knew bent the rules to get ahead. Most recently, a 1990 national survey published by Prentice Hall concluded that the standards of ethical practice and moral leadership of business leaders merit at best a C grade. Sixty-eight percent of those surveyed believed that the unethical behavior of executives is the primary cause of the decline in business standards, productivity, and success. The survey further suggested that because of the perceived low ethical standards of the executive class, workers feel justified in responding in kind -- through absenteeism, petty theft, indifference, and a generally poor performance on the job. Many workers openly admitted that they spend more than 20 percent (eight hours a week) of their time at work totally goofing off. Almost half of those surveyed admitted to chronic malingering on a regular basis. One in six of the workers surveyed said that he or she drank or used drugs on the job. Three out of four workers reported that their primary reason for working was "to keep the wolf from the door"; only one in four claimed to give his or her "best effort" to the job. The survey concluded that the standards equation of the American workplace is a simple one: American workers are as ethical/dutiful in doing their jobs as their bosses and companies are perceived to be ethical/dutiful in leading and directing them. "
Gini, A. Moral Leadership and Business Ethics. A focus group paper developed for the Kellogg Leadership Studies Project. This quote is part of a longer paper : http://asdg-99.umd.edu/cplp/KLSPDocs/Agini_p1.htm