Arrogance at the Top

Abstract: In the recent past, there has been a plethora of media reports citing corporate scandals.   Mr. John Rigas, the founder of Adelphia Communications, the fifth largest cable operator in the United States, is one of the many corporate officers removed by Federal Authorities in handcuffs. The elderly Mr. Rigas, along with his sons, and other top leadership at Adelphia were indicted. This paper will center on the application of business ethics and inappropriate decisions that Mr. Rigas may have made when he was at the helm of Adelphia Communications. This paper will also demonstrate examples of business practices that may not be illegal; however, they allow serious ethical concerns to remain when inaccurate financial reporting is not questioned in public companies. Ethics is "the study of the general nature of morals and specific moral choices an individual makes in relating members of a profession..." not only when making professional decisions but personal choices as well (Dictionary, 2011, p. 385). Researchers tie the concept of business ethics with a concept of constant struggle and pursuit of moral behavior which sometimes appears to be in a direct conflict with both business and human nature (Weaver, 2011).   Sometimes it is hard to make the right choice, especially when pleasure is involved in choosing a behavior that seems to be good for us, but it may not be the right thing to do as it is described by the deontology theory "the good is defined independently of the right" meaning not everything that is good is right or vice-verse.

Link to Research: http://www.jaabc.com/brcv18n2preview.html

Reference: Murphy, R. & Zelihic, M. (2011) Arrogance at the Top. Business Review, Cambridge. Retrieved from http://www.jaabc.com/brcv18n2preview.html

Author Bio: Dr. Maja Zelihic is a Program Chair for the Masters of Organizational Management, in the Forbes School of Business at Ashford University. She has a Ph.D in General Business with an emphasis in Organizational Management. In addition to being a Program Chair in the MAOM program, Dr. Zelihic is a Chair of Professional Development and Scholarship committee at Ashford University, which is a committee that recommends professional development content and provides recommendations concerning faculty research. She is a Program Chair; Innovation Track at ABSEL (Association for Business Simulation & Experiential Learning).

Dr. Zelihic is the recipient of Western International University Excellence Award for Contributions to Faculty Peer Development, two-time recipient of the University of Phoenix Faculty Scholarship award, was recognized as one of the top 10 Forbes School of Business faculty members in 2013, recipient of the University Fellows grants award in 2014(as part of a team of four), and again the recipient of the University Fellows Grant award in 2016 as the principal investigator.

In 2016 Dr. Zelihic was honored to be the recipient of both The 2016 Excellence in Scholarship Award (nominated by her peers) and Forbes School of Business President's Award for the Excellence in Scholarship.

To name just a few of her international presentation endeavors, Dr. Zelihic presented at the International Symposium of the New Technologies in Sports, delivering a lecture on sports management in April, 2011 in Sarajevo, Bosnia; 2015 IX International GUIDE Conference -Buenos Aires, Argentina; 2015 Multidisciplinary Academic Conference, Orlando, Florida; and she is a three time attendee and presenter at the Finance, Economics, MIS, & Global Business Research Conference, Miami, Florida. This year Dr. Zelihic is going to be presenting at the XI International GUIDE Conference and IX International EdTech IKASNABAR Congress in Madrid, Spain.

Dr. Zelihic was the key speaker at the Economics, Finance, MIS & International Business Research Conference, London presenting her research on Biculturalism in the US workforce.

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-maja-zelihic-90905a35