Compelled to Be Ethical: Lessons Learned From the NCAA

Abstract

Ethical scandals, particularly in the world of business are not a new phenomenon. However, the increase in scandals in the 21st century provoked collective agents, namely the United States government, to undertake efforts to affect a change in the ethical behavior of all businesses regardless of industry. This research looks at the history of another collective agent’s attempts to force a change in the target’s ethical behavior. The long and involved history of one of the largest ethics programs, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) provides an interesting perspective into the influence tactics of a collective agent to affect ethical behavior of a collective target.