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Thank you for sharing your continuum and underscoring the important point that legal does not equal ethical!

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Laws are the minimum standard of legality and they are certainly important in defining that which is illegal.

The Moral Continuum developed by Archie Carroll and Ann Buchholtz in their excellent book identified that which was Moral, Amoral, and Immoral. Kim Cameron and David Whetten expanded that framework and suggested that the categories should be Virtuous, Amoral, and Immoral. My colleagues and I have integrated those ideas to incorporate a Virtuous Continuum that identifies Virtuous, Moral, Amoral, and Immoral ethical choices — with Moral choices being positive contributors and behavior clearly under the ethical umbrella but Virtuous choices being those which optimized ethical duties to all stakeholders and the creation of long-term wealth.

That which is legal falls, most typically, in the Amoral category — although that which is legal may also be Immoral, despite its legality. We know many examples of such a standard, of course.

ENRON was the marvelous example of “the smartest guys in the room” who hired FASB auditors to ensure that their actions were inside the letter of the law, even when their accounting machinations violated the purpose and intent of all reasonable accounting standards. They were always legal but nonetheless profoundly immoral, self-serving, and corrupt.

Thanks for addressing this vital issue!

Cam Caldwell

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