Corporate Misbehavior by Elite Decision-Makers
Perspectives from Law and Social Psychology
Conference co-sponsored by the Center for Law, Language and Cognition and The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

On November 12, 2004, Brooklyn Law School co-sponsored a day-long conference with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation on Corporate Misbehavior by Elite Decision-Makers. The conference explored ways in which corporate misconduct and scandals result not from the presence of a few “bad apples” among corporate executives and directors, but from systematic and predictable aspects of group behavior and corporate organization. Prominent social psychologists and organizational and management specialists presented and discussed their research findings and theories of group behavior. Corporate law scholars then commented upon the implications of the findings for policy making.


Schedule of speakers for the event:

Corporate Scandals as Problems of Group Behavior – view video

Moderator: James Fanto, Brooklyn Law School

• John M. Darley, Princeton University, Social Psychology, Princeton University
  “Socializing Normally Moral Actors into a Corrupt Culture”
  
• Linda Trevino and Guoli Chen, Organizational Behavior and Business Ethics, The Smeal College of Business Administration, Pennsylvania State University
  “Unethical Behavior as a Consequence of Elitism among CEOs”
  

• Michael Hogg, Social Psychology, Univ. of Queensland and Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara
  “Social Identity and the Misuse of Power: How Groups Produce ‘Bad Apples’”
  
• Rakesh Khurana and Katharina Pick, Organizational Behavior, Harvard University
  “The Social Nature of Boards”
  

• Dolly Chugh; Mahzarin R. Banaji, and Max H. Bazerman, Organizational Behavior, Harvard Business School
  “Bounded Ethicality and its Ironic Effects for Organizations”
  
• Tom Tyler, Psychology, New York University
  “Can Businesses Effectively Regulate Employee Conduct? Ethical Values, Workplace Justice, and Employee Policy Adherence in Work Settings”
  
• Lawrence Mitchell, George Washington University Law School
  “Structural Holes, CEOs, and Informational Monopolies: The Missing Link in Corporate Governance”
  
• Lynne Dallas, University of San Diego Law School – view continues

• Roundtable discussion with moderators James Fanto and Lawrence Solan, Brooklyn Law School