Markkula Center of Applied Ethics

Dennis Moberg Named to
Presidential Professorship in Ethics

Dennis Moberg, the newly appointed Presidential Professor of Ethics and the Common Good at Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, is trying to broaden the definition of courage.

[Dennis Moberg]

A nationally respected scholar of business ethics, Moberg says that most people think of courage in terms of the actions of soldiers, police, firefighters, or others who face physical danger. But a courageous person, he argued at an August meeting of the Society for Business Ethics, "could also be someone who wants to change an organization." Whistle blowers or other organizational reformers fit within Moberg's concept.

Moberg has been expanding traditional ideas about business ethics for many years as a professor of management at SCU's Leavey School of Business and Administration. He has published four books and more than 30 articles, including "The Ethics of Organiza-tional Politics" (1981), which is the most frequently cited article in the field of business ethics. A business ethics textbook to be published in 1999 by Oxford University Press profiles Moberg as one of the most influential researchers in the field.

As Presidential Professor, Moberg receives support for ethics research, leadership in Ethics Center activities, and community service. He is already involved with a Center ethics training program for Charles Schwab Corp. With Gil Amelio, partner in the Parkside Group and former CEO of Apple Computer Inc., he facilitated a session of the Center's Ethics Roundtable for Executives on dealing with bad news. He will coordinate the roundtable in the coming year.