PSU Magazine Spring 2005

In the public$ best interest Enron is now enshrined in our ver– nacular as a byword for corporale arro– gance and corrupLion. By concealing $1 bill ion in debL, Lhe company wem bankrupL, its pension program van– ished, and more Lhan 20,000 people were lefLunemployed. AdcliLional corporate scandals fol– lowed as Hallibunon, Rile Aid , and WorldCom were hiL with all egations of irregulariLies and fraud. Whal is Lhe public interest responsi– bility of business in a free market economy? This question lies al the heart of the new Center for Profes– sional lntegrity and Accountability, founded in 2004 with a significant contribution from Phil and Suzanne Bogue. The couple made their leader– ship gift as part of Portland State's Building Our Future campaign, which seeks to raise $100 million for Jesse Dillard is director of the new Center for Professional Integrity and Accountability within the School of Business Administration. research, students and faculty, pro– grams, and capital projects throughout campus. Phil Bogue retired in 1981 as a managing panner of Anhur Andersen in Portland . The audit house collapsed as a result of ils Houston office's involvement in the Enron scandal. "The formation of a center such as this one is importam because of the continuing turmoil in Lhe corporate world over the pasl several years," says Bogue. "The center will be a place to study what happened , and what may reduce the severity of this problem in future years." The Enron debacle can be seen as one possible consequence of our economic system, suggests Prof. Jesse Dillard, Retzlaff Chair in Accounting at Ponland State's School of Business Administra– tion and the center's director. "Free market capitalism requires growth and accumulation of wealth," says Dillard. "ln ils pure form it's based on self-interest-the only responsibil– ity of business is Lo maximize profits. It's a system that's effective and efficient in producing things, bm when it's dominant over everything else, humanity can lose its way. " Was Enron simply a case of a few bad apples 7 Yes and no, Dillard says. "This kind of thing is cyclical. Every eight Lo 12 years we have a major scandal. Ten years ago we had Lhe sav– ings and loans, before that il was junk bonds. " ln his view, Enron embodied both the good and the bad of the norms of market capitalism, ils top leadership acting without reference Lo any other set of values. Dillard, who is founding editor of the journal, Accounting and the Public Interest, wants the center to ask funda– mental questions about the role of business in a democratic society. "ls the primary purpose of business sim– ply to create wealth for shareholders? Or do all members of society have a moral responsibility to act in the public interest?" The Center's research, education, and outreach activities will be aimed al expanding the discussion beyond the business professions, because all mem– bers of society are stakeholders. "We want to make people aware of the ethi– cal issues," Dillard says. "We can't tell them what the answers are, but we The Campaign for Portland State University need Lo Lalk about where business fits in our society. It's hard Lo imagine alLemaLives-Marxism didn't work and Lhe only oLher model anyone in the West has Lried yet is free markeL capi– Lalism Some of the European coumries are on polentially interesting paLhs. " Dillard sees himself faciliLaLing an ongoing academic and community dis– cussion. "What excites me most is the intellecLual energy and curiosity com– ing together here . My job," Dillard says, "is Lo provide facu lty, sLudents and communiLy members with the resources Lhey need Lo fully explore public interest and susLainabiliLy issues. Phil and Sue Bogue's early support has been key in Lhis respect. " Wi,y is Ponland SLaLe Lhe right place for the Center for Professional lntegriLy and AccounLabiliLy? "Because relevance guides the work of the School of Business Administration and Lhe University," Dillard notes. "We want Lo do Lhings that maLter to life in this world every day. There's a passion here al PSU and in Ponland for asking tough questions, a recepLiveness to new ideas, a willingness to take on wide-open subjecLs. "If we can't do it here, where can we 7 " -Katlina Ratzlaff Learn more about how the Building Our Future campaign is helping faculty, students, and community members find solutions to today's most urgent challenges on our Web site www.pdx.edu/giving.