I read an article earlier today from the Society of Human Resource Management that evaluated data from a recent Ethics Resource Center (ERC) report. The data shown supported the fact that overall corporate ethics had improved during the recent recession, but were likely to slide again.

(Article link: http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/ethics/articles/Pages/EthicsImproved.aspx)

According to the authors, the ERC had surveyed 2,800 people and evaluated 15 years of data to conclude that we are currently experiencing an, ‘ethics bubble,’ and that once the economy rebounds, ‘misconduct is likely to rise – unless a strong ethical culture is in place.’ Their research recorded misconduct levels at 56% in 2007 and 49% in 2009 after the subprime lending and Madoff scandals hit.

Do you think we are in an ‘ethics bubble?’ Have the recent scandals and recession taught strong enough lessons to our current and future corporate leaders? Has anyone experienced such a fluctuation in ethics before (i.e.: during the dot-com boom/bust)? What can companies do to reduce this probability?