There are many ideas about the factors that contribute to the ethics of an organization. These ideas range from ethical leadership to a concern for stakeholders to having a mission beyond economic success. While these ideas seem plausible, there is little evidence to support them. More importantly, there is often little you can do to affect these factors. A company that makes coat hangers is limited in the extent to which it can make its mission inspiring.

Do we still need to have in-person, flesh-and-blood meetings? Is there a point to such meetings when we can now see and hear a client or colleague in another part of the country -- or the world -- as if they were seated across from us? Is the belief that being there in-person still matters just a pre-technological bias that will pass as technology makes remote communication even more accessible? My work in ethics tells me that in-person meetings do make a difference - and I can point directly to the reason why.

Let me explain.