Years ago, I saw a movie called Putney Swope. It was about the only black advertising executive in a fancy, Madison Avenue firm. He was elected president of the firm, because all the other voting members thought that they were each are shoo-ins for the job, and Putney was the only candidate who wouldn’t give them any competition. He proceeded to re-make the firm in his own image. He re-named his company “Truth and Soul, Inc.”

Putney had a very firm set of business ethics. He took all kinds of clients, and made hilariously offensive commercials for all of them, but he refused to advertise for any company that sold cigarettes, liquor or toy guns.

I was thinking about Putney Swope because a few days ago I had a discussion with my MBA students about ethics. I asked them if there were any industries they would refuse to join because they were unethical. I emphasized that I was only talking about legal industries, businesses that were condoned by the government, but were still morally or ethically questionable.

I was a little surprised by my students’ responses. Every single one of them was willing to defer their judgment to the government. They all agreed that they would work for any legal industry without any qualms. If it is legal, they agreed, then it must be okay.

“Okay. Let’s suppose you are officials in the British East India Company. You are licensed by the Queen of England to sell opium to the Chinese. You are not breaking any of your country’s laws if you do it. Is it ethical?”

A hush fell over my class, then a murmur. A few of them translated what I had said into Chinese to make sure they all understood.

“No! It is wrong to sell opium. Opium is very bad for the Chinese people.”

“Okay, so can you think of anything else that is wrong, even though it is legal?”

That got them thinking. One young woman said that she would not work for a company that sold diet products, because so many of them are dangerous or fraudulent. Another said that she would not work for a company that sold toy guns, because selling guns to children teaches them to be violent.

I was pleased that my class was able to come up with their own ethical judgments, even if it took them a little prodding to get there. I hope they will be able to hold on to these judgments, and not defer those who are higher up in the chain of command.

At the end of Putney Swope, Putney discovered that his followers at the firm were willing to take money from anyone. They would write copy for cigarette makers, liquor manufacturers and toy gun makers, without giving it a second thought. Rather than let his company fall into the hands of the unworthy, he planted a bomb and blew up the whole place.

It is a cautionary tale to unscrupulous businesspeople everywhere.