I read Ed’s entire essay. It speaks more about Ed knowingly breaking the law, which is what he did, rather than situational ethics, which only appears very briefly towards the end:

“My behavior was not intentionally criminal. I really did not know what was going on. The point is, I could have known much of what was going on and acted responsibly.”

He partly blames his demise on Controlled Business Arrangements and how the CBAs in his market area reduced his company income to a point where he emotionally disassociated from the illegality of what he was doing.

Ed ends his essay with the following:
“Not all decisions are business decisions; sometimes it’s just a matter of right or wrong.”

Thanks for the advice, Ed, unfortunately this happens to be the way a child understands morality. Right and wrong correlate with Kohlberg’s Stage One of moral development. According to Kohlberg’s widely accepted theory, throughout life adults are capable of growing ethically through at least six stages. (The Psychology of Moral Development Vol 2. p. 624)

In business, as in life, moral dilemmas are never as simple as black and white. Legal? Yes. Ethical? No.

A what’s with the trend of going to the federal penn and coming out as a motivational speaker-for-hire?

I’d rather resurrect my favorite motivational speaker: Matt Foley.