Competitive Ethics

Newspapers have long straddled an awkward line between public service and profit. Now those values are in conflict. The internet has upended the industry and profits are way down. But is the web a good substitute? What happens when a city loses its daily paper?

The practice of "acqui-hiring," a larger company buying a smaller one solely to poach its talent, is becoming more common. Is this ethical? Does it harm anyone, or is it a win-win? Here's Gabor Cselle, who was acqui-hired by Google and John Coyle, who co-authored an academic paper on this phenomeno…

Japan's corporate culture is in serious trouble, declare our two speakers. It's "sleepwalking to oblivion," says Michael Woodford, former Olympus CEO turned whistleblower. And according to journalist Michael Zielenziger, the Olympus scandal is an example of larger problems facing Japan's economy.

There used to only be two types of businesses--non-profits and for-profits. Benefit corporations, or B Corps, are now finding a way to do both. B Lab's Andrew Kassoy helped to set the criteria for this new type of business and boutique eyewear company Warby Parker is making money while also being s…