|
Published
by the Ethics Resource Center You are receiving this e-mail newsletter because you have previously expressed an interest in the Ethics Resource Center. We hope you will find it informative and interesting. If you prefer not to receive it, however, you may unsubscribe at any time by following the link at the end of this issue. You are invited to forward this newsletter in its entirety to anyone you think might benefit. If you received the newsletter from a friend and would like to receive your own issue every month, please visit /today/et_subscribe.html. We will not share your e-mail address with third parties other than the list management company we use to deliver this newsletter. ****************************************************************************
================================================== ** A Word from the President: Peer Influence on Ethics Although top management and supervisors have authority to enforce standards of behavior and the ability to lead by their own example, their impact on employees' ethical behavior has its limits. Many employees spend almost no time at all interacting with top management and may have only limited interactions with their supervisors. In contrast, employees often spend a substantial amount of their time at work interacting with co-workers. Because co-workers are likely to be involved in similar kinds of work, employees may seek out their advice and guidance on a variety of work issues, including those that relate to ethics. In fact, our research suggests that how employees perceive the ethical behavior of co-workers can affect their own ethical behavior. The good news is that, according to our 2003 National Business Ethics Survey, more than eight in ten employees said that co-workers not only talk about, but also carefully consider ethics in making business decisions. In addition, more than nine in ten said their co-workers model ethics and support them in following company ethics standards. Of concern, however, is that nearly one in three employees said their co-workers accept questionable ethics practices that result in business success. As a result, employees may be getting mixed messages about appropriate ethical behavior from their co-workers. Currently, further research and analysis is underway on this and other organizational ethics topics through the 2005 National Business Ethics Survey which will be published in September 2005. In addition to our research, ERC hosts several programs that recognize the importance of peer influence on ethics. The ERC Fellows Program is a unique forum of the nation's leading thinkers in corporate ethics whose members include chief ethics and compliance executives from some of the largest manufacturing and services corporations and non-profit organizations, as well as government liaison and business ethics professors from several of the nation's leading universities. Their twice-yearly meetings allow the members to participate in intensive off-the-record discussions with their peers and to hear from key individuals in the industry. At the recently completed July meeting, for instance, 52 Fellows representing 28 member companies heard from Mary Beth Buchanan, United States Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, on compliance-oriented aspects of effective compliance and ethics programs. In addition, author and professor Tom Tyler from New York University spoke to the group about procedural justice and fairness within organizations, and a number of the Fellows working groups shared updates on their research. Also in July, ERC hosted the Student Fellows Program, welcoming 38 students from six secondary schools that participate in ERC's Student Ethics Office (SEO) program. The SEO program gives secondary school students the opportunity to build and practice ethical leadership skills while helping their peers. Modeled on corporate ethics offices, SEOs have credibility within the school population because solutions are proposed and implemented by other students based on their own experiences and perspectives. The Student Fellows Programs brings together students from participating schools to work with and learn from their peers. Finally, we at the ERC are taking time this summer to discuss with our co-workers how to better communicate, promote and exhibit our core values within the organization. Our brief instructions for this activity are included in this issue to provide an example to organizations that would like to implement a similar process in their organizations. Patricia J. Harned, President ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** ERC Fellows Consider Compliance, Procedural Justice and Fairness The ERC Fellows Program held its summer meeting on July 14-15 in Rossyln, VA. Fifty-two individual representatives from 28 member companies attended the meeting, which featured presentations by Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and Director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, and New York University professor Tom Tyler. In addition, ERC President Pat Harned and Senior Researcher Amber Levanon Seligson provided a brief update on the status of the 2005 National Business Ethics Survey report. Ms. Buchanan's presentation on the topic "What Do I Look for in an Effective Ethics and Compliance Program When I'm Considering Declining Prosecution?" was followed by a comprehensive facilitated discussion. Dr. Tyler spoke on the topic "Procedural Justice/Fairness within Organizations" and his PowerPoint is included below. The remainder of the meeting consisted of updates from six Fellows working groups that are conducting formal research projects, including surveys, interviews and literature reviews.
Additional Fellows working groups that did not present at this meeting include:
The Fellows Program is made up of 54 representatives from 30 member companies, including 42 corporate representatives, 8 academic invited Fellows, 2 non-profit representatives and 2 government liaisons. Read more about the Fellows Program at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Procedural Fairness and Justice Tom R. Tyler, a Professor at New York University, says procedural fairness and justice are "valuable in themselves and valuable as instruments to promote organizational goals" in this presentation. Professor Tyler teaches in the psychology department and the law school and his research explores the dynamics of authority in groups, organizations, and societies. In particular, he examines the role of judgments about the justice or injustice of group procedures in shaping legitimacy, compliance and cooperative behavior. His presentation considered:
View the PowerPoint presentation at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Student Fellows Program Expands To Include New Schools and Returning Student Fellows The Student Fellows Program met from July 18-22 at the Lockheed Martin Center for Leadership Excellence in Bethesda, MD. Thirty-eight students from six schools, including three local public schools, two private local schools and a New York high school, attended all or part of the meeting. The program included activities for new Student Fellows and for new participant schools, as well as new and returning Student Fellows from returning schools. The full group worked together on a day of outdoor team-building exercises and those attending the full week participated in a strategy session on the last day. This session included a Four Quarter Focus Activity in which the students identified specific goals for each quarter of the school year. The students' enthusiastic responses included the following examples:
Read more about the Student Fellows Program
and the Student Ethics Office at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Student Fellows Program Viewed From Both Sides Vikrant Nahal Arya recently graduated from Washington-Lee High School, Arlington, VA and has been an intern at the Ethics Resource Center since early July. He attended the Student Fellows Program in 2004 as a high school senior and was awarded the first ERC Student Leadership in Ethics Award in January 2005. This summer, he is working as an intern with the ERC in Washington, DC, and participated as a staff member in the Student Fellows Program. "It's been almost a month since my internship started here at the Ethics Resource Center. Over this period of time I have gained a lot of experience and exposure to issues pertaining to ethics in general and ethics in business companies in particular. I have also learned the way non-profit organizations function, something that was somewhat of a mystery to me before. One of the most enriching experiences for me was the presentation I made at the Character Plus Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The mere sensation of standing before other professionals and talking about something that one truly believed in was extraordinary. While all these factors have made my time here at the ERC most interesting the icing on the cake was when I got the opportunity to be a part of the staff team that organized the Student Fellows Program (SFP)." Read the rest of this article at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Student Fellows Respond to July 2005 Program Three students who participated in recent Student Ethics Office / Student Fellows Program activities submitted short essays containing their thoughts about the SEO and Student Fellows Program following the July meeting. "I joined my school's newly built Student Ethics Council because some of the social behaviors that I observed in my school were concerning to me. Those behaviors were hurting the school from providing its best education in a pleasant, comfortable, and ethical environment. Since Washington-Lee has a vigorous and challenging curriculum, many students (including the bright ones) are pressurized to cheat on tests; not because twenty-four hours per day is insufficient to study, but because those students get involved in various other activities which hinders them from presenting their academic skills. Secondly, I have seen a minority of students bullying others in places such as the cafeteria. Activities such as these make it extremely harmful for students of all kinds but especially for foreign students who also have to cope up with many cross-cultural challenges. It results in students hesitating to come to school because the school community does not provide the warm-hearted welcome they require. Finally, the most recent problem that has grown enormously in recent years in our school is the act of stealing and damaging school and student's properties. I plan to help start solving these problems by gathering my peers in a cooperative manner." Read the rest of this submission at:
"So yes, when I first got involved with the SEO, it could easily be said that I was absolutely clueless as to what I was doing there. "Having lived through an entire year of serving in Lake Braddock's SEO, I can safely say that not only has my opinion of my school changed a great deal, but I've also gained more confidence in the belief that I can do something to change it. Just being surrounded by people who have some of the same beliefs and goals that you do is enough to make anyone feel unbelievably more confident in what they're capable of doing." Read the rest of this submission at:
Read the rest of this submission at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Celebrating Students as Ethical Leaders: Nurturing a Student-Centered Character Education Initiative On June 16, three students accompanied ERC Character Education Manager Katie Sutliff to the CharacterPlus Conference in St. Louis to make a presentation on the Student Ethics Office program and character education at the secondary school level. The presentation focused on the challenges faced in providing character education at the secondary level, such as resources, relevance and quality, the basic structure and elements of the SEO program, and the experiences of the students. The presentation was followed by a question and answer period. View the PowerPoint from this presentation
at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Applying the Power of Association on Campus: A Model Code of Academic Integrity This article by Gary Pavela says that schools are paying renewed attention to the importance of academic integrity, and considering the value of traditional honor codes. Reasons for this, he says, include "an apparent increase in academic dishonesty by undergraduate students; the withdrawal of some faculty members from the full scope of responsibilities traditionally associated with teaching and mentoring students; the need for a shared set of values to revitalize a sense of community on campus; and the expansion of student autonomy as the exercise of disciplinary authority in loco parentis wanes." His article includes a Model Code designed to accommodate these trends and today's college environment. Specifically, he says, punishment from the top down without student involvement won't work well with most American college students. "Candor, suasion, and the influence of peers might, especially if colleges define their relationship with students as an association, grounded in shared rights and responsibilities. That's why it's a new day for honor codes on college campuses, or at least for "modified" honor codes that give students a significant voice in defining and enforcing academic integrity policies." Read the report at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Honor Codes, Modified Honor Codes, and Academic Integrity Policies The Center for Academic Integrity, affiliated with the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University is a consortium of over 390 institutions that share experience and expertise with colleagues. CAI provides online resources on issues of academic integrity, including links to more than 100 member organization honor codes, to college and secondary level institutions. View the list of honor codes at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Communicating, Promoting, Integrating Core Values ERC Staff has been working on a values communication activity, designed to provide each staff member with the knowledge and skills to:
Staff members were paired up according to communication styles, usually matching two employees with different methods of communicating. Each pair was tasked with working together to create a new method of discussing, promoting and integrating into daily practice ERC's values of Honesty, Respect, Trust, and Excellence. The pairs were asked to prepare a brief (5 minutes or less) presentation for delivery at staff meetings. Read an example on the topic of excellence
prepared by one of ERC's teams at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Jerry Brown Internship for Ethics in the Workplace Created, Awarded Programs Manager Jerry Brown was a vital member of ERC staff from 1997 until 2005 when he passed away. During Jerry's tenure at ERC he was a dedicated mentor to staff members. He helped them to understand the mission of the organization, and learn how to achieve its goals. As a tribute to the professional development he nurtured within junior ERC staff members, ERC has dedicated a new internship in Jerry Brown's memory. This internship will be offered each summer to a student who is interested in learning about organizational ethics, and is committed to fostering ethics and integrity in organizations and individuals. We are pleased to announce that the first recipient of this dedicated internship is Amanda Kennedy, a rising junior at Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University, who interned at the ERC this summer through the Distinguished Scholars Program. She plans to continue studying to the doctoral level and then to pursue a career in teaching undergraduate or graduate courses in Women's Studies, Political Science, Cultural Studies, or a similar topic. She is also interested in writing and publishing essays, books, or articles in these subjects and would like to eventually participate in politics. Her responsibilities this summer included adapting the Student Ethics Office (SEO) manual and model for a college setting and designing an ethical leadership training program for RA's, writing MAXIMize the Moment lessons for the current program and writing and adapting lessons for college students. She also helped revise the SEO manual, assisted with planning and running the Student Fellows Program in July, and worked with other staff members to prepare a literature review for the Fellows Program working group on risk analysis. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Publications and Media Coverage -- "More Workers Bending The Rules," CBS Early Show, July 26 On July 26, ERC Character Education Manager Katie Sutliff, and Board Member Susan Meisinger of the Society For Human Resource Management (SHRM) appeared on the CBS Early Show as part of a story on employee lying and misconduct. In particular, the Early Show noted that office misconduct is on the rise and cited a CCH annual study on absenteeism which showed that the number of employees calling in sick is at a five-year high. The majority, they said, are not really sick at all and, based on CBS interviews, many don't even feel guilty. "I think the trend we're seeing is cause for alarm," said Ms. Meisinger, noting that today's job-hopping workers have lost loyalty to companies that fire at will, or whose leaders set bad examples, like Enron and Tyco. She says they think "If those leaders are able to get away with what those leaders are able to get away with, what is the difference if I take an extra day of leave?" Ms. Sutliff sees a cost to worker's self respect. When you join a company, she said, "You are to some extent agreeing to live by whatever values and standards and the policies of the organization you (are) signing on to. Is taking a pen a horrible thing to do? No. But if you were to say this is something you've been asked not to do, and you've done anyway, well then it becomes pretty clear that that's not the right way to go." Read the story or view the video at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- The ERC recently added two full time staff members: John Truslow, Senior Consultant and Research Analyst John Truslow has returned to the Ethics Resource Center as a Senior Consultant and Research Analyst after serving four years as the assistant director of The Center for the Study of Professional Military Ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. John has a master's degree in Philosophy (Teaching Ethics) from the University of Montana, a unique program that specializes in the teaching of ethics in traditional and non-traditional settings. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he has his undergraduate degree in political theory from the University of the South ("Sewanee"). At the Naval Academy, John was responsible for facilitating a comprehensive assessment effort designed to a) coordinate, articulate and enhance the Academy's ethics, character, and honor initiatives, b) create and implement useful evaluative tools and internal systems appropriate to the Academy culture, and c) foster a participatory environment in which a wide range of individuals utilize the findings of this assessment effort to achieve their own goals. He coordinated a National Conference on Ethics in Leadership of Business and Military Organizations, sharing USNA expertise in the areas of ethical leadership and organizational design. John oversaw the Academy's "Ethics Across the Curriculum" program, developing faculty to advance the teaching of ethics in all academic departments, and in doing so, opened a comprehensive Teaching Ethics Resource Room be used by faculty, students and staff who want to develop ethics as part of their regular course work. He also taught and lectured to undergraduates in various settings, to master's candidates in the Naval Postgraduate School's Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) program, and to officers in professional military education schools, such as the Navy Chaplain School. In the last few years, John has spoken many times on the subjects of philosophical ethics, organizational behavior, ethical leadership, moral development, systematic moral reasoning and the ethics of government / politics. His current interests include the ethics of taxation (and tax reform), the role of foundational American values as a guide to public policy, and human rights. In 2004 and 2005 he has spoken at numerous conferences, including those of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics and the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum. Prior to his work at the ERC in 2000 and 2001, John was a computer and internet technology specialist in many capacities, from sales to software training to systems engineering. He still lives in Annapolis, Maryland, where he spends all of his free time killing his grass, juggling, and writing the Great American Novel.
Laurie Choi joined the ERC as a project specific research analyst in the fall of 2004 and became a full-time employee in May 2005. Her expertise in anti-corruption initiatives in Latin America contributed to the investigation of best practices among comparable public and private sector organizations for international projects. Ms. Choi's current role at the Ethics Resource Center focuses on survey design, development and statistical analysis. Ms. Choi's previous experience includes working at the International Institute of Boston, where she taught immigrants and refugees job skill requirements, interviewing techniques, vocational ESL and fundamental computer skills. She has also worked as an Executive Program Assistant for FINCA International, a micro-enterprise non-profit organization and as a Consultant with the World Bank Institute's evaluation group and World Bank's Social Protection unit, Latin America and Caribbean division. Ms. Choi received her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a minor in Spanish from Boston University, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with distinction. In May 2005, she completed a Master of Public Policy in the International Policy and Development Track at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute, where she wrote her masters practicum entitled, "Civic Engagement and Political Corruption in Latin America: An Empirical Investigation Using the World Values Survey (WVS) 1999 to 2002 Wave." Ms. Choi is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Korean. -- National Business Ethics Survey 2005 Notification Research and analysis for the National Business Ethics Survey 2005 is nearing completion, with the final published report due out in the fall. If you would like to be notified by email and receive a free copy of the executive summary when the report is available for purchase, please follow the link below to submit your name and email address. Submit your name for NBES notification at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Support Organizational Ethics Research (and get NBES 2005) The National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) SM has proven to be of great value to organizations, as it identifies the issues and challenges facing our nation's employees that must be addressed in order to create and sustain an effective ethics program. The 2005 version of the study will undertake additional analysis of compliance practices, communications efforts by corporations, and industry-specific measures. We are in need of sponsors to enable us to expand the survey to allow for increased representation of prominent industries. Sponsors of this effort will help create a widely used and highly respected resource that business leaders, educators, and researchers like yourself can use to advance ethics and integrity in your workplace, schools and society. Donors of a tax-deductible contribution of $50 or more will receive a complimentary copy of our 2005 NBES and acknowledgment as a sponsor in the publication. Make a contribution to the 2005 NBES at: For more information or to make a major contribution, contact Development Manager Allison Pendell-Jones at allison@ethics.org. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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. ERC thanks the following for their generous contributions:
The ERC also thanks the following for their in kind contributions during the last fiscal year:
The following organizations are contributing members of our Fellows Program:
ERC also thanks these Invited Fellows, Supporters and Liaison for their contributions to the work of the Fellows program:
If you would like to support the work of
the ERC, you can make a tax-deductible credit card donation online at: To find out about other ways to contribute,
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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PLEASE NOTE: Ethics Today will be published 10 times this year, with the November/December issues and the July/August issues combined into one. ======================================================= Copyright (c) 2005 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 For questions about your subscription, please email ethicstodayonline@ethics.org The Ethics Resource Center, 1747 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW, Suite 400 ======================================================= |