People joke that there is no such thing as “business ethics.” They call it an oxymoron – a concept that combines contradictory ideas. Sadly, the critics are right. Changing that may require holding those guilty of unethical behavior personally responsible for their actions.

In just the last several weeks a former peanut company owner was sent to prison for 28 years for his role in knowingly selling salmonella-tainted peanut butter that killed nine people. Volkswagen, the world’s biggest automaker, had software in the firm’s diesel-powered cars that cleverly put a lid on emissions during testing. Turing Pharmaceuticals jacked up the price of a 62-year-old lifesaving drug from $13.50 to $750 a pill. And the beat goes on.