The Book That Makes Ethics Impossible to Ignore

Most business ethics books read like legal disclaimers. This one reads like a conversation with someone who has spent decades inside the rooms where integrity either holds or breaks down.

In Establishing Workplace Integrity: Six Lessons in Values-Based Leadership, Professor Paul Fiorelli tackles the questions that keep compliance officers, executives, and leaders up at night. Not in abstract theory, but through real stories, hard lessons, and the kind of practical wisdom that only comes from years of working with organizations at every level.

All royalties from the book go to an ethics scholarship fund Paul has created for Xavier University MBA students.

Read the Book

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The book walks through six of the most important challenges any organization faces:

  • How culture shapes behavior before anyone realizes it

  • Why engaged employees make better ethical decisions

  • What actually drives people to cross lines they swore they never would

  • What it really feels like to be the person who speaks up

  • How compliance programs succeed or quietly fail

  • What happens when individuals and organizations find themselves on the wrong side of the law

What makes it different is the way it's written. Paul has never believed that serious subjects require boring delivery. You'll find pop-culture references woven alongside federal sentencing guidelines. You'll find storytelling that one reader described as having a thriller vibe alongside frameworks you can put to work on Monday morning.

Whether you lead a team of five or a company of fifty thousand, this book will change how you think about what integrity actually means at work and what it costs when it's missing.

The Ideas Behind Every Keynote

When Paul steps on stage, the ideas in this book come with him. The same lessons, the same real world stories, the same unflinching look at what it actually takes to build a workplace where integrity runs deeper than a mission statement.

The book gives people something to take home. The keynote gives their whole team something to act on.

Work With Paul

  • Instructive, Inspiring and Entertaining!

    “Professor Fiorelli's talent to make otherwise dry topics so fascinating makes this an instructive, engrossing read. His clever use of anecdotes, film, song and social media hooked me! Professor Fiorelli makes a convincing case that an ethical, values-based company culture really does produce good outcomes for all. His lessons are both practical and inspiring.”

    — Anonymous

  • Ethics Matters

    “Professor Fiorelli does an excellent job reminding and giving us all additional insight to the importance of how to win in the marketplace. Companies that choose to not play by the rules, value profits over values and integrity, will ultimately be a cautionary tale to us all. Winning is important, but how we choose to compete even more so! Well done!”

    — Rick A.

  • A Great Educational Book

    “I don't normally get excited about reading professional works as I focused on learning and internalizing the materials like cramming for an exam. I was totally absorbed in the book! It was immersion in a great story with a need to banish everything that might take me away from it. The mix of pop culture with teaching principles keeps the text light while emphasizing important concepts. The various anecdotes and details included took on a thriller vibe and positively drove home the points and purpose of the work.”

    — Molly A.

  • The Impact of Ethics in the Workplace

    “As the founder of a financial services consultancy, I see the impact that ethics and integrity have on the success of investment advisers every day. Likewise, I see that firms that ignore ethics find themselves without clients or success. The anecdotes that Professor Fiorelli shares in his book are simple to understand, quickly able to be emulated, and most importantly, will have a direct positive impact on any business leader or employee looking to improve the culture of their organization.”

    — Matthew S.

Read The Book

All royalties from Establishing Workplace Integrity go to The Fiorelli Ethics Endowed Scholarship. Each year, this scholarship is awarded to a graduate student in the Williams College of Business at Xavier University who is taking an international ethics course (involving overseas travel).

If such a student cannot be found, the scholarship may be awarded to a graduate student with financial need in the Williams College of Business who is taking any ethics course. As a final alternative, the scholarship may be awarded to a graduate student with financial need in the Williams College of Business who is pursuing any course of study. The scholarship may be awarded to multiple students if funding is sufficient.

Contribute to the fund by purchasing the book or visit the fund donation page.

Real World Ethics Case Studies

The cases in Paul's book were chosen for one reason: they are real. Real organizations, real decisions, and real consequences that shaped how Paul thinks about ethics and how he teaches it. Each one is drawn directly from the research and stories behind Establishing Workplace Integrity.