Management problems at socially irresponsible companies?

Things are getting interesting at Take Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), the maker of the Grand Theft Auto Series. After years of management that was, in the words of the Motley Fool's Tom Gardner, "at best incompetent and at worst dishonest," a group of shareholders including several major mutual funds has ousted the company's CEO and made several changes in the company's board of directors.

The company has been widely criticized for hidden porn in its video games, options backdating, accounting irregularities, and just general managerial incompetence and sleaze. The most interesting quote I've seen on this story so far comes from James Steyer, CEO and founder of the multimedia ratings group Common Sense Media, a non-profit that rates video games for violence and other objectionable content: "If you look at the content of what these guys have distributed, it's so offensive and inappropriate. It's not surprising to learn they had committed massive acts of fraud at the board and CEO level."

This got me to thinking about the idea of trusting management involved in the production and marketing of socially irresponsible products. Is the chief executive of a company that markets pornography or online gambling more likely to dupe shareholders than a company that develops treatments for cancer or children's books?

I don't have an answer to this question, but my knee-jerk reaction is yes: A company that displays little regard for the well-being of its customers is likely to have the same attitude towards its shareholders.