A new approach to business ethics is quietly taking hold in executive suites and corporate boardrooms across America. Frustrated by an epidemic of misbehavior at all employee levels, management teams are getting back to basics--back to the idea that personal character and individual responsibility are the ultimate keys to integrity, just as they were back in the days of the Open Range.

A decade ago, the book Cowboy Ethics first inspired businesspeople to look to the Code of the West. Once they did, they discovered that its simple, common-sense principles can be more effective...