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Ethics
Today Online Volume 1, Issue 6, February 2003 This newsletter
is published by the Ethics Resource Center.
The 1956 Melbourne Olympics are among my earliest memories of televised events. I still find thrilling the idea of the top athletes in each country, after dedicating much of their lives to practicing, competing to be the best in the world. For that one short period, we cheer on our own countries but also stand in awe of individual achievements regardless of nationality -- from Olga Korbut to Sonja Henie; from Roger Bannister to the 1980 US Olympic hockey team. That is why the current public spectacle surrounding the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) is especially disturbing. An organization designed to ensure the development and support of amateur athletics, whose mission is to "preserve and promote the Olympic ideal as an effective, positive role model that inspires all Americans," has become enmeshed in a bitter melodrama. What should be a celebration of achievement has turned into a farce of apparent confusion about the meaning of ethics, characterized by hidden agendas and recriminations. It is too easy in this scenario to point out villains and identify heroes.* Instead I prefer to use the troubles at the USOC to focus on the vulnerabilities of organizations and, with the same lens, to emphasize that organizations must do more than just establish rules and create structures. To be truly effective, ethics must be an integrated part of the organizational culture rather than an appendage grafted on to the administrative systems. Ethics officers cannot be mere window dressing, but must be seen as fundamental to the organization and prized for contributing to its values and atmosphere. Their positions and their perspectives must be heard and respected, especially in tough situations that call for organizational self-scrutiny. From the top down, leaders in the organization must respect and model the ethics process, even when it seems like "swimming upstream". Those who perceive ethics programs as merely a way to ambush them or their pet projects are confusing the ends and the means. When made a part of the organizational culture, good ethics programs will help prevent problems before they occur and resolve issues when they arise. As painful as top management may find a report or inquiry, they cannot demand or allow allegations to be swept away through sanitized reports or misleading verbal briefings, even when done under the notion of "damage control." Concealment or obfuscation simply makes it worse. Following the prescribed ethics process, however, generally results in greater respect adhering to the organization, both from within and externally, for living the values they espouse. Clearly ethics structures, even good ones, are not enough. An active understanding and integration of ethical values must accompany them because these values drive the health of good ethics systems. There is no doubt that the USOC created their ethics committee and appointed an ethics officer with good intentions. What we learn from the current situation, however, is that they never made a serious effort to integrate a fundamental set of values throughout their administrative structure. As more information surfaces one thing becomes clear: There was a chasm of misunderstanding about values between the ethics committee and the executive committee of the USOC. The result is a dysfunctional organization that has endangered its mission. There has been one Congressional hearing with more likely to follow, and there is a criminal investigation to determine if the events constituted a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. No matter the outcome, it will take a decade for the USOC to recover its reputation. Much like the recent ethics disasters in corporations, the Executive Committee failed to keep faith with its stakeholders. The failing can be seen as a structural one, but I believe it is due in large part to a failure to take responsibility for upholding a strong set of values in the committee. Sadly, those who will be punished the most are the amateur athletes who look to the USOC for support. These men and women are dedicated to the values set forth in the Olympic Charter, which states, in part, "Olympism is a philosophy of life, exalting and combining in a balanced whole the qualities of body, will and mind. Blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles." They should be able to rely on the same commitment from the USOC. Stuart C. Gilman, ERC President * In the interest of transparency, we note that this issue hits close to home for The Ethics Resource Center. Several individuals associated with our organization were either part of the investigation or members of the USOC ethics committee and subsequently resigned. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Seven Steps For Changing The Ethical Culture Of An Organization How can an organization, especially one facing ethical concerns such as those at the USOC, change its culture to one that promotes and rewards ethical behavior? ERC Principal Consultant Frank Navran identifies the following seven steps to organizational change: 1. State your position, philosophy or belief 2. Create formal organizational systems 3. Communicate expectations through informal (leadership) systems 4. Reinforce the policy through measurements and rewards 5. Implement communications and education strategies 6. Use response to critical events to underscore commitment 7. Avoid the perception of hidden agendas Read more about these seven steps at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** ERC Fellows Discuss Scandals, Legislation, Measuring Ethical Effectiveness The Ethics Resource Center (ERC) Fellows Program is a select group of corporate, government, non-profit and educational leaders who share an expertise and strong practical interest in the fields of organizational ethics. The program provides an intimate forum for meaningful dialogue around cutting-edge ethics issues, which then prompts the formation of collaborative working groups and research teams to address ethics issues and challenges facing organizations today. An emphasis is placed on work products or research outputs with practical applications for corporate member organizations. At their recent January 15-17 meeting, the Fellows participated in discussions of these four timely issues: -- Initiatives of The Business Roundtable John Castellani, President of the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs from leading US corporations, discussed the effects of the corporate scandals of 2002 and how to recover the lost confidence of the public. In the wake of Enron and regular media reports of abuse and scandal, corporations must combat the negative perceptions by making real changes in business. Mr. Castellani remarked that while Sarbanes-Oxley is a good effort at new corporate legislation, more is needed to repair the health of corporate America. Trust needs to be rebuilt and re-established. Mr. Castellani offered some ideas, including training of corporate leaders, increasing transparency at the highest levels, and improving the audit process. Furthermore, he noted that good governance enhances and supports the innovation and creativity in the marketplace because the companies that can be trusted are the ones that individuals would want to invest in. -- New Corporate Legislation ERC Fellow Jo Pease, Shell Oil Company, led this discussion with Dean Shahinian and Lynsey Graham, Counsel for the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, on new corporate legislation affecting ethics officers, in particular the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The Fellows agreed that while the new Sarbanes-Oxley Act is commendable, there is an opportunity now to refine the language, examine the requirements imposed on corporations as a result of these new laws and make any necessary additional changes to deter future wrongdoing and expand the scope of this important legislation. -- New Perspectives Mary Broad, Principal Consultant with Performance Excellence and Toni Hodges, a measurement and evaluation consultant, addressed metrics of ethics program effectiveness with ethics training as the focus. The two outside experts discussed evaluating training programs, transfer of knowledge from training to practice, and return on investment, noting that it has been difficult to measure tangible results and benefits of ethics training programs. Following a discussion of various assessment methods, the Fellows decided to make this the topic of an impact study and to consider researching other industries to see what information is available that might apply and be transferable to ethics training programs. -- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Facilitation Payments Frank Vogl, President of Vogl Communications and a member of the ERC Board of Directors, along with Thomas Patton, partner at Tighe Patton Armstrong Teasdale, PLLC, led a panel discussion on the ethical debate around facilitation payments. Alexandra Wrage, General Counsel Northrup Grumman and President of TRACE (Transparent Agents and Contracting Entities) also participated in the discussion. In general, the FCPA prohibits corrupt payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or keeping business. However, the Act contains an explicit exception for " facilitating or expediting payments" for "routine governmental action" and these are an area of concern for American companies. "Many multinational firms see the use of facilitating payments abroad as legal because it is allowed under the FCPA and the OECD Convention" notes Mr. Vogl. "The acceptance of the system of facilitating payments creates a disturbing ethical polarization. On the one hand we have the leading industrial nations of the West and on the other we have all other countries. It is legal under the FCPA for U.S. firms to use facilitating payments in Canada and in the U.K., France, Germany and Australia, but U.S. executives will note that they do not routinely make such payments in these countries because it is not culturally acceptable there […] Western firms do routinely make 'facilitating payments' in countries that they consider to be 'less developed' such as Brazil, Bangladesh, China, South Korea and South Africa." Mr. Vogl noted that in an increasingly globalized world, the ways in which corporate executives act overseas impacts corporate reputation. Because of that, many companies are working to minimize or eliminate facilitation payments entirely. For instance, Shell states in its business principles that companies "should outline their approach to facilitation payments in their business standards guidelines which offer guidance on gifts, entertainment, hospitality, conflicts of interest, use of intermediaries and other potentially 'grey' areas involving third parties." Although international corporate management and corporate lawyers often determine issues related to these kinds of payments, Mr. Vogl raised the question of whether ethics officers should also have a seat at the table when corporate policy on facilitating payments is discussed. Read Frank Vogl's notes from his presentation
on facilitation payments at: Read the Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** About the Fellows Program The purpose of the ERC Fellows Program is to identify, examine and further understand the critical organizational ethics questions challenging organizations today. Its mission is to: Identify, clarify, research and critically evaluate organizational ethics and compliance trends, issues and ideas.
Get more information on the ERC Fellows
Program at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** ERC Fellows Research Reports and Publications As part of its mission, the ERC Fellows Programs has funded studies and publishes these timely reports: --Insights 2000: A Report of the ERC Fellows offers key insights, challenges, implications and recommendations from the program's first three projects: Ethics as a Leadership Issue, Ethics and Compliance in a Global Economy, and the Integration of Principle into Practice. Read more about this document and get
a PDF copy at: --In Managing Ethics Upwards, the Ethics Resource Center Fellows identify the trends that have characterized the role of the ethics officer, the leadership styles of executives, and their relationship with each other in the realization of an ethical workplace. In addition, the shifting role of upper-management is explored within the context of a global economy and overall "global integrity". Read more about this document and
get a PDF copy at: --Ethics and Compliance in a Global
Economy: Making the Case reflects a desire on the part of the
Fellows to contribute to the goal of building an "ethical world."
In this regard, many leaders in U.S. businesses and not-for-profit
organizations, as reflected in the Fellows group, see this publication
as assisting in the quest to define the most appropriate and most
effective means of promoting the highest standards of business ethics
worldwide. Read more about this document and get
a PDF copy at: --Moral Person, Moral Manager discusses what it means to be an ethical leader? Is it enough to apply sound ethical practices in your decision-making process without sharing your thoughts with others? How important is one's reputation for ethical leadership and what effect does it have on a company's employees? Linda Trevino's article, Moral Person/Moral Manager, was also published in the California Management Review (CMR) and was one of three final contestants for CMR's Accenture Award. One judge noted that the article was "strategically important for the improvement of business" and that "it should be required reading. Order a reprint of Moral Person and
Moral Manager from: --Integrating Ethics and Compliance Programs: Next Steps for Successful Implementation and Change, based on interviews with over twenty-five ethics officers at leading organizations, identifies common challenges in implementing ethics and compliance programs and suggests ways for organizations to address them. In particular, it focuses on how to better integrate ethics codes, training, help lines and other program elements into everyday business activities. An article based on this study was also published in the Fall 2002 issue of Business and Society Review (see below) Read more about this document and get
a PDF copy at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Integrating Ethics and Compliance Programs: A Study of Ethics Officers in Leading Organizations Broadly defined, integration is the ability to put ethical principles into practice. Yet ethics officers often know more about developing programs than about integrating them with their organizations' formal systems and informal practices. This study, and the two related articles, is based on the insights of ethics officers in leading organizations who have wrestled with these concerns. "Ethics is a journey, not a destination," notes author and ERC Research Manager Joshua Joseph. It is critically important to know who you are and what you are trying to achieve within your unique organizational culture before setting a values-based ethics program in place. Thinking through these things in advance can help avoid the pitfalls. The study identifies a number of other common threads and conclusions: When trying to integrate ethics programs into a culture, an organization's history can be quite important. The study finds that the ethics policies of many companies began as compliance programs and were broadened into values-based ethics programs. But ethics and compliance differ in some key areas that are not always recognized, including how they are justified and what are the best practices. While one can simply support the development and implementation of a compliance program by saying that "regulations require it," values-based programs are usually instituted because the leadership believes it is important to do more than comply with the law. Thus, they are justified based on diverse needs and goals, such as raising employee awareness of legal and ethical concerns, reducing financial risks, protecting brand and reputation, building employee trust and more. Adding values-based ethics also raises the stakes because companies essentially promise employees that they will do more than the law requires. A company must manage expectations and be careful not to promise more than can be delivered, for employees and customers will quickly notice discrepancies between reality and what was promised. Additionally, Joseph notes that, in some cases, best practices for compliance programs may actually work against achieving values based ethics program goals - a problem that many of the companies interviewed failed to see when they broadened their ethics programs. It is therefore important to look carefully at how compliance program practices may affect new goals for values-based programs. Organizations should not assume that the two will necessarily be compatible. The study also discusses the importance of thinking beforehand about how an ethics program should be structured to best fit within the organizational culture. Finally, effective communication is key. For instance, regular input can be a valuable way to monitor program effectiveness, but seeking input without acknowledging or addressing it can harm program credibility. Order a reprint of this article from: Get a PDF copy of the original study
at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Setting the Stage for Modeling Ethical Behavior A standard refrain heard often when business conduct is discussed is that leaders need to model ethical behavior for their employees. Modeling is a powerful leadership strategy where you show your employees through your own behavior how you want them to behave with others. It has been used successfully to demonstrate flexibility, politeness, decisiveness, compassion, sharing and numerous other desirable traits. It also works extremely well as an ethics-teaching tool. In fact, one of the principal findings of the Ethics Resource Center's 2000 National Business Ethics Survey was that the modeling of ethical behavior by organizational leaders, managers, supervisors and co-workers sets a good example of desired business behavior. Read this article by ERC's Program
Development Manager Jerry Brown, which includes practical tips for
modeling ethical behavior, at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Baldrige Award Criteria Include Greater Emphasis on Leadership Ethics Responsibility for corporate stewardship and ethical business practices starts at the top with an organization's chief executive and governing body, says the 2003 Baldrige Award performance excellence criteria released January 13 by the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). "Senior leaders should serve as role models through their ethical behavior …," according to the 2003 criteria. In addition, it states, "Senior leaders should be responsible to your organization's governance body for their actions and performance. The governance body should be responsible ultimately to all your stakeholders for the ethics, vision, actions, and performance of your organization and its senior leaders." Read the NIST's press release at: In addition to being the basis for a Baldrige Award application, the Baldrige performance excellence criteria are used by thousands of organizations to assess and improve their performance on a wide range of key indicators. The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence is available in editions for business, education and health care at: http://www.quality.nist.gov/Business_Criteria.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Ask the Expert: How Can Your Organization Earn a Reputation for Being Trustworthy? Trust is one of those words that we all use yet rarely define. ERC Principal Consultant Frank Navran says trust is a result of certain specific actions and is tied to the predictability of one's actions or behavior. In his answer, he also includes minimum requirements and best practices for organizations that want to first deserve and then earn trust. Read Frank's answer at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Opinion Poll: Leadership Qualities Which of the following do you consider most important in a leader?
Take our February poll at: Last Month's Poll: In January we asked which criteria you use the most in your business decision-making. 58% answered "Idealistic considerations" (the right thing to do); 23% said "pragmatic considerations" (business consequences of an action); 11% voted for altruistic considerations (impact will on others?) and 8% answered "individualistic considerations" (what will happen to me as a consequence) See the results of last month's poll
at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Ethics Resource Center Advises Companies to Reach Beyond SEC Requirements With the recent release of the Security Exchange Commission's rules requiring that all companies disclose whether they have a Code of Ethics, the Ethics Resource Center (ERC) is urging companies to go beyond the basic SEC requirements. Under the new rules required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, a public company must disclose whether they have a Code of Ethics that applies to their principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer, controller or persons performing similar duties. In addition the company must disclose amendments to or waivers of the code of ethics relating to any of those officers. "While the SEC stopped short of requiring disclosure of whether a public company has a code that applies to Corporate Directors in the exercise of their duties and responsibilities, the ERC recommends that companies have broad-based codes that also apply to directors," said Stuart Gilman, President of the Ethics Resource Center. Read the rest of this press release
at: Read the SEC's press release detailing
its actions at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Searching for Maxims MAXIMize the Moment (MTM) is a subscription character resource that combines current events and everyday issues faced by young people with the time-honored wisdom of maxims -- concise statements that are used to instruct and guide behavior. One can find inspirational quotes or even maxims almost anywhere, but those used by the MTM program are special because they relate to real life and offer ethical guidance in difficult situations. ERC's character development department, which runs MAXIMize the Moment programs for schools and families, with funding from the John Templeton Foundation, is seeking your help. Share the wisdom and the insights of those you admire with students across the country and around the world. When you send ideas and thoughts that have inspired and guided you, we can use them in a number of ways, such as including your maxim in the MTM database, using your maxim in one of our weekly lessons, or featuring your maxim on our public website so even non-subscribers can learn from it. Here are a few sample maxims to inspire your thoughts:
Submit maxims to ERC's character development
program at: Read more about MAXIMize the Moment
and MAXIMize Your Family Time at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Book Review: Sidgwick's Utility and Whitehead's Virtue: Metaphysics and Morality In Sidgwick's Utility and Whitehead's Virtue; Metaphysics and Morality, Kevin Durand, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Henderson State University, brings new focus to the philosophical speculations of Henry Sidgwick and Alfred North Whitehead. Whitehead and Sidgwick were two influential 19th and 20th Century thinkers who provided a large body of work on ethical theory and application and yet are frequently overlooked in examinations of ethical and quasi-ethical theories. Read the rest of Jerry Brown's review
of this book at: You can also order Sidgwick's Utility and Whitehead's Virtue: Metaphysics and Morality from Amazon.com by following the above link. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Turkish Ethical Values Center and Survey In January, the ERC partnered with the Turkish Ethics Values Foundation (TEDMER) to establish a new ethics center in Turkey at a time of mounting public concern about corruption in both the public and private sectors. "Our goal is to conduct research in the area of ethics, offer support and services to institutions and organizations, define corporate ethical codes, and create benchmarks and standards," said Sabih Tansal, President of TEDMER. "Our mission is to contribute to economic, cultural and social life in Turkey." Read the rest of this press release
at: The TEDMER 2003 Ethics Summit held in Istanbul in January included a presentation on the results of Turkey's National Business Ethics Survey conducted by Strateji GFK, a research and planning firm based in Turkey. This survey, modeled on the ERC's National Business Ethics Survey, interviewed a cross section of Turkish citizens to better understand how they see ethics in their workplace and in their society. Get a PDF version of Turkey's National
Business Ethics Survey at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Publications and Media Coverage -- On January 22, ERC Principal Consultant Frank Navran was quoted on a Marketplace broadcast that focused on the new requirements and the ramifications of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Frank commented that, even when companies are not required to do so by legislation, market forces alone are pushing companies to pay for compliance services. "It makes it easier to attract and retain quality people," he stated, "and it makes it easier to be in the marketplace if people trust you." Listen to the entire broadcast at: -- The following letter from Frank Vogl, member of the ERC Board of Directors, was published in Financial Times on January 23. "Sir, Your report on the world's most respected companies (January 20) is to be commended for including questions on corporate integrity in its survey for the first time. The most ethical companies are those whose managements consistently do the right thing in accord with corporate standards, even if this sometimes means losing business. The experience at the not-for-profit Ethics Resource Center suggests that the most ethical corporations tend to be those where top management reviews the corporate ethics code; where executive performance relative to the code is regularly assessed; where company-wide training programmes stress ethical good practices that reach well beyond the requirements of legal compliance; and where the chief ethics officer has direct access to both the chief executive officer and the board of directors. Sadly, very few of the companies at the top of your list of those "that demonstrate the most integrity" meet these requirements. Some are under investigation by regulatory authorities. Some have been prominent in the press for alleged unethical practices. Most do not include chief ethics officers in their senior management teams or involve their boards in corporate ethics reviews. Let us hope that next year's list more accurately applauds the considerable number of corporations that are, in fact, first-class ethical leaders. Frank Vogl, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** News from the ERC -- On January 23, Principal Consultant Frank Navran spoke on the topic of "Ethical Considerations for Political Programs" in a presentation to National Political Action Committee Conference for Corporations and Associations. Recent scandals reveal an undercurrent of distrust of the relationship between government and special interests, caused in part by the appearance of corporate misdeeds which are tolerated because politics is obligated to its corporate donors and in part due to the feeling that government's agenda is unduly influenced by corporate interests. Like all organizations, PACs need to be both trustworthy and trusted, and Frank offered examples and guidelines for how to accomplish that. Political programs must consider two separate ethical questions - what does it take to deserve the public's trust and what does it take to earn that trust. In the context of political action committees, PACs are deemed legitimate so long as their actions meet society's standards and "fairness" seems to be dominant, that is, the represented groups do not accrue undue influence. Frank's discussion outlined minimum requirements as well as best practices. He also noted that an organization can earn trust if society understands and believes that:
Read more on the issue of trustworthiness
in this month's "Ask the Experts" column at: -- On January 15, International Programs Consultant Cherie Raven spoke to a group from Eurasia about the ERC and its programs. The group included professors and lecturers from National University of Uzbekistan, Novosibirsk State University (Russia), State Maritime Academy (Russia) and DS Lomonosov Moscow State University. -- At the invitation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 15 international organizations involved in curbing corruption, including the Ethics Resource Center, met for the 3rd Interagency Anti-corruption Coordination Meeting in Vienna on January 23-24 The participants discussed and agreed upon a framework for future work and draft terms of reference were recommended for review and approval by the membership. These included:
Other participants included four United Nations Agencies and Departments, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the European Commission (EC), Council of Europe (CoE), Commonwealth Secretariat, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Customs Organisation (WCO), and Transparency International (TI) -- All organizations participating in the Interagency Anti-corruption Coordination Meeting made brief presentations about their anti-corruption programs and the challenges they faced. ERC President Stuart Gilman discussed the ERC's work fostering regional ethics centers and initiatives in the UAE, South Africa, Colombia, St. Petersburg, Turkey, Korea and Romania, which were developed with the following objectives:
Stuart remarked on the ERC's experience working with corporations, including 2/3 of the Fortune 100, more than 70 governments, educational institutions, associations, multi-laterals and NGOs, including the World Bank. In discussing the scope of the ERC's work, he referred to the mission of ERC's International Programs, which is to build organizational ethics and good governance capacity in developing countries as a means of advancing their respective agendas of economic and social development. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Offering Our Thanks As a non-profit organization, the Ethics Resource Center depends on contributions from many generous donors. Without their dedication and trust, many of the programs and projects highlighted in this newsletter would not be possible. The ERC sends special thanks to the many individuals who designated the Ethics Resource Center as the recipient of their gifts through the Combined Federal Campaign of 2002. These contributions will provide MAXIMize the Moment scholarships for 36-weeks of ethics education to 50 schools. We invite you to join our loyal contributors
in lending your support. To find out how to contribute or to donate
online, go to: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Ethics Resource Center (ERC) is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization exempt from taxation under the Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Copyright (c) 2002 Ethics Resource
Center. All rights reserved. Please contact ethics@ethics.org for information about reproducing any of the information contained within this newsletter or on our web site. Back issues of Ethics Today are available online at: /today/et_archives.html The Ethics Resource Center, 1747 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW, Suite 400
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