Citizenship American Name Denis Collins | Role Business ethicist | |
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Born Denis Collins
12 January 1956 (age 68)
Bronx, New York ( 1956-01-12 ) Institutions Edgewood College
University of Bridgeport
University of Wisconsin-Madison Alma mater University of Pittsburgh Known for Optimal Ethics System Model Residence Madison, Wisconsin, United States Fields Business ethics, Leadership Books Business Ethics: How to D, Essentials of Business Ethics: Cr, Behaving Badly: Ethical Le, Gainsharing and Power: Lessons f, Ethical Dilemmas in Business | ||
Education University of Pittsburgh | ||
Denis Collins (born January 12, 1956) is an American business ethicist and tenured professor of business at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Biography
Denis Collins was born in the Bronx and raised in Carlstadt, New Jersey. He received a B.S. in business administration from Montclair State University in 1977, an M.A. in philosophy from Bowling Green State University in 1987, and a Ph.D. in business environment and public policy from the University of Pittsburgh in 1990. He specialized in business ethics, teaching it at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Bridgeport, and Edgewood College.
He is a terminal cancer survivor, husband and father.
Optimal Ethics System Model
Collins' Optimal Ethics System Model is a compilation of what he says are best practices for achieving a morally healthy organization (preventing unethical or illegal behavior). They typically take the form of step-by-step instructions, like recipes. Collins offers empirical evidence that sustained financial success requires implementation of this model.
The Optimal Ethics System Model offers best practices in five categories:
- Hiring practices
- Procedures for recruiting individuals who demonstrate and sustain ethical behavior over time
- Orientation practices
- Procedures for orienting new employees to a code of ethics and conduct
- Procedures for orienting new employees to an ethical decision-making framework
- Training practices
- Procedures for teaching ethics
- Operating practices
- Procedures for nurturing respect for employee and customer diversity
- Systems for reporting ethical misbehavior
- Procedures for ethical leadership and management (rewarding ethical behavior)
- Procedures for engaging and empowering employees to achieve superior performance
- Procedures for managing interaction with the natural environment
- Procedures for conducting meaningful community outreach
- Evaluation practices
- Procedures for continually improving best practices
Books
Collins has authored or edited articles and essays on business ethics, social responsibility, participatory management, and service learning; he has also authored, co-authored, and co-edited several books: