Morale of morals

In the announcement ("Firms favour director dons", THES, November 1) of an otherwise noteworthy initiative by the Employers for Higher Education forum, I was saddened to see ethics described as an "esoteric subject" by Val Butcher, executive officer of the forum.

Business, like many other areas of national life, has recently found itself under a "moral spotlight" which has, unfairly, failed to reveal that most businesses and business people are moral. Perhaps part of the reason for this is the tendency of business to view ethics as "esoteric" and therefore of little relevance to the "hard world of business". On the contrary, ethics is at the centre of all human activities because it is about the way we behave, the values and standards we adhere to, and the way we relate to each other. These concerns are as central to business as any other area of life.

As one academic, among many, concerned with ethics in business I am concerned that its importance be recognised and the subject not dismissed as "esoteric".

Graham Wood

Treasurer European Ethics Network-UK University of Salford