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Every year I challenge students in my Stanford University Ethics on the Edge class to find new examples of drivers of ethics transgressions. Every year they do. A few years ago it was anonymous social media. The latest: the sharing economy. Is Uber spreading unethical employee practices and unsafe passenger experiences by categorizing drivers as independent contractors and defending sub-par safety checks? Or is Uber really “just a platform” and therefore justified in dumping responsibility for ethics on the technology, the users, the drivers, and society? (more…)

2016 was a year of landmark ethics challenges. The year closed with an unprecedented Presidential-scale conflicts of interest quagmire and alleged cyber interference with the US election. Along the way, landmark “in or out” binary decisions such as Brexit left divisiveness, uncertainty, and waste in their wake. Looking forward to in 2017, we should focus on one element of ethical decision-making: banishing the binary. (more…)

It was a pleasure to moderate Plenary session 2 on Ethics and Government-Business relations in Doha. Speakers: Kriengsak Chareonwongsak, President of the Institute of Future Studies for Development; Former Prime Ministerial Advisor, Thailand Mari Kiviniemi, Deputy Secretary-General, OECD; Former Prime Minister of Finland Ashwani Kumar, Senior Advocate Supreme Court; Former Union Minister for Law & Justice, India Bruno Lafont, Co-chairman of the Board of Directors, LafargeHolcim Please see the full video session here: http://www.worldpolicyconferencetv.com/videogallery/plenary-session-2-ethics-and-government-business-relations/

Uber awaits the results of the pending case in the European Court of Justice (ECJ)—a case that could have a significant impact on its ability to operate in Europe in accordance with its “we’re just a platform” business model. The Uber case will likely influence other cases, from Airbnb to Electrolux’s reflections on an Uber-like washing machine service to driverless car fleets. (more…)

This article was first published by the French Chamber of Great Britain (link) That was the question posed by Philippe Chalon, Chair of the Chamber’s Economic Updates, to Peter Todd, Dean of HEC Paris and Susan Liautaud, Vice Chair of Council and Court of Governors of the London School of Economics & Political Science on the premise that education is key for the competitiveness of nations (more…)