Eugene Soltes - Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal

Table of Contents

Ive long been a voracious reader and a prolific collector of books, but writing one of my own has given me a new respect for the stacks and stacks of texts that fill my home. The writing, editing, and rewriting to convey what one wants in an inch-thick pile of paper helped me appreciate that the author on the cover who gets the credit is just a part of a much broader effort.

As the prologue of the book makes clear, this project was one that grew uniquely out of my experience after joining the Harvard Business School. I dont think there is another institution in the world that would have given me the resources, time, andmost criticallythe encouragement to embark on the journey that became this book. I fondly recall my first meeting with Nitin Nohria after he became dean of the Business School. Knowing that he had an interest in business ethics, I showed him a copy of my case A Letter from Prison. His questions and curiosity helped me realize that the problems discussed by the case were not narrow ones contained within a single academic discipline. Dean Nohria saw that my approach was worthy of a book long before I realized it myself, and Ive been incredibly appreciative of his support ever since.

At HBS, Ive been especially lucky to be around two peopleMax Bazerman and Francesca Ginowho not only served as inspiration because of their academic work on the psychology of ethical decision making, but whose encouragement and outright enthusiasm made me want to tackle this question in the broadest possible way. Max and Francesca were kind enough to help me better understand their work over the years I labored on this project, and if not for them this book would reflect a far narrower and ultimately less compelling inquiry. They know how to make research feel genuinely fun and I feel so fortunate that this project gave me an opportunity to spend time with them.

My colleagues in the accounting and management unit at HBS provide the kind of environment that makes coming into school each day a rewarding intellectual experience in all the best ways. From the debates in teaching group, to the hallway conversations, to feedback on presentations, its been a wonderful home over the last seven years. Without these interactions, the initial letters from several former executives I received would simply have yellowed in their envelopes. Luckily, Krishna Palepu nudged me to write the case during my first semester at HBS. Bob Simons, always one to provide a unique and clever perspective, offered me just the advice I needed to turn a letter into a case that would resonate with others. David Hawkins offered me the privilege of making A Letter From Prison the final case taught in our courses cuirriculum. Paul Healy helped me think more deeply about approaching some of the challenges that one inevitably confronts while exploring such a challenging topic. Suraj Srinivasan has been a mentor since I was a graduate student and hes always given me just the right kind of advice. Bob Kaplan gave me the opportunity to discuss the project in his fantastic risk management executive education course, where he pointed out several connections with other areas that I previously hadnt considered.

My day-to-day discussions with Ian Gow, Jonas Heese, VG Narayanan, Karthik Ramanna, Tatiana Sandino, and Gwen Yu made writing this book feel like anything but a solo exercise. Srikant Datar attended the first time I taught the case, when I still had my case method training wheels on, but he still managed to see a spark in what I was doing. Dennis Campbell, along with delivering thoughtful advice, taught me about the wonders of coffee from exotic locales, which was often exactly what I needed in the final stages of book writing.

This project genuinely grew from my experience in the classroom. No one has made me think harder and helped me more in this way than Mike Tushman, who leads the executive education course Program for Leadership Development that I now teach in. He offered me the encouragementand latitudeto push this project further and consider more deeply about how to make it resonate with others. Although Im the one standing in the front of the room, Ive learned so much from the many participants in this program. Hearing them share their experiences has been incredibly enlightening and I deeply appreciate all the PLDers whove contributed to this book, both inside and outside the classroom. Teaching in PLD over the last three years has been one of the highlights of my professional career.

Throughout the years of working on this book, Ive been extremely fortunate to have the help of several extraordinary people whove done everything from rummaging through the library for obscure documents to badgering courts for lost filings. Over the last five years, Ive been especially lucky to have Sara Hesss energy and talent to help bring this project to fruition in innumerable ways. More recently, Im grateful for David Singermans exacting eye as he carefully picked through every chapter with a fine-toothed comb and used his talents to spot inconsistences and improve the clarity of the text. Curating the hundreds and hundreds of references and notes to make this text come together was a major undertaking for which I am indebted to the skillful hand of Natasha Dodge. All this could not have been done without the enthusiastic support of my research director at HBS, Teresa Amabile. Beyond helping me get the financial support needed to work on the project, Teresa helped me carefully think about how to tackle some of the more challenging aspects of this kind of field-based work.

The topic of corporate misconduct, even beyond that covered in the book, is one that Ive explored in other papers, cases, and projects. Ive benefited from the insight and research of Jonas Akins, Nanette Byrnes, Stephanie Havens, Courtney Hooton, Nik Kalyanpur, Sharon Kim, Alastair Su, Elizabeth Watkins, and Hilary White in exploring this topic in all its possible forms. In Baker Library, Meghan Dolan and Barbara Esty helped dig up some of the more interesting and elusive facts for the book. Laura Linard, director of the historical collections at HBS, manages to offer a new fascinating area to explore each time we meet. My sister, Eileen, endlessly supports all my endeavors and always manages to broaden my world with the unique references she sends me.

My longtime co-author and close friend David Solomon was generous enough to read each chapter (and some twice!) and give the kind of constructiveand colorfulfeedback that one could only dream of while working on a project of this scope. Max Bazerman, Derek Haas, and Paul Healy took considerable amounts of their time to offer comments on the books earlier and rougher forms. The effort to provide feedback on a 400-page draft is truly generous. Chris Costa, beyond offering fantastic ideas and pointing me in the direction of new, interesting sources while working on this project, read a copy of the proof and made numerous valuable suggestions. Sometimes it was the informal conversations that proved to be most valuable while I worked through some of the arguments. I have Chester Lee, Eric Powell, and Thales Teixeira to thank for their provocative discussions.

Although the methodological approach I employed for this project differed from the one that I was taught as a doctoral student, I still see the University of Chicago Booth School of Business as my intellectual home. Its here that I learned to think about problems more deeply and rigorouslytools central to any careful inquiry. Im grateful to my advisors, Christian Leuz, Doug Skinner, and Abbie Smith, for helping nurture this skill in me during my time in the program. It was during a fortuitous springtime conversation that Ray Ball introduced me to what research accountants do and inspired me to go in the direction that Ive found intellectually fulfilling ever since. Few conversations have been more pivotal and Im so appreciative for Rays patience in exploring these ideas with me from the ground up.