Many successful businesses operated under a set of normative standards, expected behaviors, and guidelines generally accepted by society (Jennings, 2009). In other words, businesses operate according to ethical principles that “consist of standards and norms for behaviors that go beyond laws and legal rights” (Jennings, 2009). These ethical principles are reflected in an organizational application of trust, integrity, fairness and accountability. Research groups have identified fundamental ethical principles such as the application of honesty, fairness, objectivity and responsibility. A company's use of ethical principles demonstrates sound corporate governance and management (Verschoor, 2011). However, when these principles are deliberately ignored, the result is an ethical breakdown in which the organization's core values ​​of trust, integrity, fairness and accountability are weakened or diminished. Unfortunately, in recent decades, reports of such ethical breakdowns in the business world have become widespread and have received much attention due to the number and severity of the scandals (McCraw, Moffeit and O'Malley, 2008). and its CEO are a prime example of a company that has been in the spotlight for unethical and criminal behavior and experienced an ethical collapse similar to that of Enron and WorldCom. The company, Healthsouth, was one of the largest healthcare providers led by its CEO, Richard Scrushy, one of the most fascinating and authoritarian executives of all time. At its peak, HealthSouth employed approximately 50,000 people and had 1,700 locations nationwide (McCord & Magasin, 2010). Nevertheless, Healthsouth and Scrushy received much attention on ethical and criminal issues for exaggerating the middle of the article.......edu/docview/194912771?accountid=28180Mokhiber, R. (2003). Bad feelings at HealthSouth. Multinational Monitor, 24(11), 7-7-8. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/208878914?accountid=28180Pryor, MG, Taneja, S., Toombs, LA and White, JC (2010). THE IMPACT OF OSTRICH MANAGERS ON STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT. Journal of the Academy of Strategic Management, 9(2), 59-59-69. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/814800957?accountid=28180 Verschoor, C. C. (2011). Measuring trust in businesses. Strategic Finance, 92(11), 14-14,16,69. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/866748043?accountid=28180 Yuspeh, A. (2002). Principled leadership. Executive Excellence, 19(1), 3. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f2f654dd-db64-48a3-98a7-21700c59a781%40sessionmgr4&vid=4&hid=15