That may be what consultants and business owners say. But small businesses must not be listening. Nearly every company convicted of ethics violations in 1997 employed 200 or fewer people, according to the U.S. Sentencing Commission. That's understandable, since small businesses greatly outnumber large companies and are probably less adept at dodging prosecution. Still, you expect small-business owners to look out for their customers, especially in small communities.
Integrity is even profitable, experts claim.
But abuses remain, even in Mayberry. Every few months, Margaret Fletcher bought a new clutch for her aging foreign subcompact. It got to where I drove almost everywhere in second gear so I could stay off the clutch. Had she known, a few ounces of brake fluid would have put her back on the road. But Denise Dietrich knows the feeling.