The purpose of this paper is to address the established dilemma of action versus intent as
explanations of the basis of ethical behaviour. In essence it aims to pose the question “If one had a
choice between an executive who acted from cold calculated intent, and behaved ethically as it was
profitable – compared to someone with excellent intent who consistently got it ethically wrong – who
would you choose – the psychopathic ethicist or the well-intentioned bumbler?”. The intended
contribution of this paper is to add some further considerations to that debate.