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Today archives. Published
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** A Word from the President: Corporate
Social Responsibility and Organizational Ethics ==================================================
================================================== ** A Word from the President: Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Ethics Ask business leaders about the ethics of their organizations, and the variety of responses they will conjure can be rather impressive. For some leaders, the effort to highlight their organizational ethics is more of an exercise in providing a laundry list of good deeds, including such things as international investments in community development, volunteer programs in the local community and/or donations to charitable organizations. As an organization that benefits from the latter, we're always grateful for the contributions that allow us to operate, but by no means do we want gifts to the Ethics Resource Center to be considered the ethics of our donors. In reality, those types of initiatives fall into a related, but different, category known as corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is a form of giving back to the global and local community and helping to create a sustainable world through responsible business practices. Organizational ethics, as we define it, constitutes the standards of conduct that guide the decisions and actions of the employees and management of an organization, based on a set of shared core values. When it comes to ethics and CSR, an organization can have one without the other. Consider, for example, a company that gives generously to local charities, but treats its employees poorly or uses shady accounting practices to report a glowing but dishonest financial status. In those cases, CSR may become "window dressing" for a corrupt company. Conversely, an organization that has an ethics program with all the bells and whistles but whose precepts are not supported or followed by leadership may not have the organizational mindset to act responsibly in the external world. The most impressive of CSR activities are those that grow out of, and therefore reflect, the true commitment of an organization to living by its values. As ERC's Principal Consultant Kenneth Johnson notes later in this issue, it is important to integrate organizational ethics and social responsibility into a comprehensive applied ethics and policy framework. An effective ethics program sets up a framework for the total operations of the company, creating an ethical culture that establishes a basis for acting responsibly toward and supporting the extended community. In this issue of Ethics Today, we offer an introduction to CSR, especially as it relates to organizational ethics. It is our hope that by addressing this important topic, we can highlight the importance of organizational commitment to these activities. We also hope we can steer organizational leaders who want their CSR activities to "count" as an effective ethics program to reconsider their perspectives. Finally, while committed to corporate social responsibility, it is important to note that ERC focuses mostly on the organizational ethics side. One of our primary goals is to measure the effectiveness of organizational ethics programs and to help organizations address their areas of challenge. In some cases, a larger emphasis on CSR is something we recommend as an outgrowth of an effort to strengthen the ways a company exemplifies its ethics. Our hope is that, through program assessments and research, we can help create organizational environments where employees are encouraged to act responsibly toward each other, the organization's stakeholders and the larger community. Patricia J. Harned, President ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Integrating Applied Ethics and Social Responsibility: Ethical Complexity or Ethical Chaos? A picture opposite of a deserted street in Keet Seel, an ancient Anasazi village in northern Arizona, serves as a lifeless, yet vivid reminder that the complexity of life demands a direct tie between ethics and policy for our communities to be sustainable and capable of further evolution. In "simpler" times, people holding shared purposes, values, and visions of a desired future populated communities like Keet Seel. The challenge in our more complex times is to integrate the various fields of applied ethics to more consciously develop these shared core beliefs. Anasazi villages such as Keet Seel provided hope,
identity, and purpose for the members of their communities. The Anasazi, a people
who built and populated such villages, survived and thrived as a culture for
over a millennium. They lived in a harsh, dramatically beautiful environment
in what is now the Southwestern United States, only to abandon the high desert
plateau they had called home within a few generations of building such villages.
Leaving relatively suddenly in the thirteenth century, the Anasazi ultimately
lost their separate identity as they merged with other tribes: leaving more
questions than answers to be found in their ruined villages, pots, rock art,
and middens. Read this article at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Business for Social Responsibility Business for Social Responsibility is a global organization that provides information, tools, training and advisory services to make corporate social responsibility an integral part of business operations and strategies. The BSR website offers a large collection of online tools and guidelines on corporate social responsibility. While some content is reserved for members or subscribers only, the content listed below is freely available:
Access BSR's corporate social responsibility resources
at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** The What, Why, How of CSR: A beginner's guide to corporate social responsibility Business in the Community (BITC) is a UK based
association of 700 companies committed to improving then positive impact of
business on society. Its CSR Toolkit provides basic business case information
for those defining their approach to corporate social responsibility. The material
is largely derived from BITC's Winning with Integrity report, published in 2000.
The toolkit includes an overview on CSR topics, including Community, Environment,
Ethics, Human Rights, Marketplace, Vision & Values, and Workforce along
with a PDF of each relevant chapter of the report. The executive summary for Winning with Integrity
(PDF) is available at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** The Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative According to its website, the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) "is a multi-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder program that seeks to study and enhance the public role of the private enterprise." The CSR Initiative achieves its mission through a combination of collaborative research, educational activities and outreach. The publications list provides links to books and book chapters, academic journal articles, reports, working papers, speeches and presentations, and articles and commentary. Access CSR Initiative's publications list at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Justifying Corporate Philanthropy This series of "Ethics at Work" columns written by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir, research director of the Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem and published in the Jerusalem Post, considers three key questions about corporate philanthropy and community involvement. He discusses possible ethical objections to corporate philanthropy and provides some guidelines to deal with them. He concludes that such community involvement is justified because shareholders want it, because it is good for business, and because it is irresponsible for firms to ignore their vast impact on communities. Read "Corporate philanthropy: Do corporations
have an ethical obligation to contribute to the community?" at: Read "Justifying corporate philanthropy: Managers
have to display leadership in advancing the ethical interests of shareholders,
as well as their financial interests" at: Read "Corporation and community: Should corporations
contribute money to charity?" at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Corporate America's Social Conscience As a result of the US financial scandals and ensuing legislation, a UN initiative to get multinationals more involved in the world's social issues, and investors' demands for companies to become more socially responsible, more U.S. corporations have developed a "sustainable development plan." Senior managers have started to realize that failing to assess their organization's social, economic, and environmental strategies can seriously hurt the bottom line. It's not all costs and competitiveness that drives the trend, however. Employees may feel better when they work for a company committed to improving society, which may reduce turnover and improve worker productivity. Read this article at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** United Nations Global Compact In 1999, United Nation Secretary-General Kofi Annan challenged business leaders to join an international initiative - the Global Compact - that would bring companies together with UN agencies, labor and civil society to support universal environmental and social principles. Today, organizations from around the world are engaged in the Global Compact, working to advance ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. The Global Compact seeks to promote responsible corporate citizenship so that business can be part of the solution to the challenges of globalization. Read more about the Global Compact at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Guidelines For many organizations, financial reporting alone no longer satisfies the needs of stakeholders for information about overall organizational performance. "Sustainability reporting" has developed as a process for publicly disclosing economic, environmental, and social performance. The independent Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has as its mission the development and dissemination of globally applicable Sustainability Reporting Guidelines for voluntary use by organizations for reporting on the impact their activities, products, and services. Participants include representatives from business, accountancy, investment, environmental, human rights, research and labor organizations from around the world. Started in 1997, GRI is an official collaborating centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and works in cooperation with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Global Compact. Read more about the GRI at: The Sustainability Reporting Guidelines are the foundation upon which all other GRI reporting documents are based, and provide core content relevant to organizations in all sizes, sectors, and locations. Read the Guidelines at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Corporate Ethics, Governance and Social Responsibility: Comparing European Business Practices to those in the United States This study, conducted for the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, looks at the similarities and differences between the U.S. and European business environments. Though Europe may lead in many social and environmental performance measures, business operations in the United States and Europe are not as different as many assume. Read the study at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Can Small
Be Responsible? Read the report at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in the e-Economy: A Commentary The paper explores the concepts of business ethics and corporate social responsibility in light of globalization and the transition from the industrial to the digital era. For instance, the revolution in communication technologies has significantly empowered the customer. Enhanced customer awareness and sensitivity to business and social responsibility issues, along with consumers' increasing ability to react, may mean companies in the digital age will be expected to develop even stronger cultures of corporate social responsibility. Read this commentary at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Publications and Media Coverage -- Ethics at Work: A National Survey (UK) In January 2005, the Institute for Business Ethics (IBE) carried out its first national survey of full-time workers in the UK on the subject of ethics at work. The survey was done in cooperation with Management Today and the interviews were conducted by MORI earlier this year with a structured sample of 759 full time employees. The survey:
According to the press release and executive summary, the responses have been compared where possible to a survey carried out in 2000 by KPMG Forensic and Management Today and to the ERC's series of National Business Ethics surveys in the US. Read the press release Read the executive summary at:
This article discussing the difference between ethics and compliance programs refers to the ERC when listing things companies think they get out of corporate ethics codes, including:
Read this article at: The first in this two part series quotes ERC Board Member and Fellow Barbara Kipp, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, as one of three ethics and compliance officers interviewed about their experiences. The article says they agree "active support from the top may be the most important aspect of having a successful ethics program." The second part of the series focuses on ERC Principal Consultant Kenneth Johnson's concern that, "too many companies are focusing all or most of their attention on process and little or none on outcome." The articles are available to Compliance Week subscribers.
For more information, visit: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- On Tuesday, June 7th, 2005, the CBS Early Show taped an on-site interview with Character Education Manager Katie Sutliff for a story on dishonesty among non-management employees. The broadcast date has not been determined. -- Research for the National Business Ethics Survey 2005 is underway, 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. We thank the Open Compliance and Ethics Group for a gift in support of the National Business Ethics Survey 2005. ERC also thanks the following for their contributions:
We invite you to join our loyal contributors in
lending your support. 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 July and 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.,
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