|
 |
 |
| Publications: Archives |
|
|
|
|
Ethics Today Online Published
by the Ethics Resource Center
================================================== ** A Word from the President: New Look, New Direction I am pleased to announce a new logo and a new strategic focus for the Ethics Resource Center. As a result of a comprehensive strategic planning process with our Board and staff, the ERC's efforts are now focused on three primary areas-evaluation, research, and character development. First and foremost, we are leading the way in program evaluation. At a time when organizations are investing millions of dollars in efforts to ensure compliance and foster ethical conduct, ERC is leveraging the datasets we've collected throughout the years to measure the effectiveness of ethics and compliance programs. We are also growing our datasets and conducting research to advance understanding of the practices that impact ethics and compliance in organizations. We're excited to be launching this streamlined focus for our center, especially since it draws upon the core strengths we've had for years. Since 1978 the ERC has been conducting research in organizational ethics. In the mid-80s, ERC began collecting data from organizations and in 1994 we began the longest and most rigorous collection of national trends that now provide measures of the impact of organizations. For more than a decade we've conducted assessments of impact of programs in companies, and we are now leveraging these riches of data to help companies measure the effectiveness of their own efforts. Our measurement efforts begin with the launch of several new initiatives:
Finally, we are excited to announce the findings of our 2005 National Business Ethics Survey (NBES), a nationally representative study of employees' views of ethics in the workplace. The 2005 report marks the fourth implementation of the study, and leverages 11-years of data collection. Findings from the research address:
To accentuate its importance, we focus this issue of Ethics Today on the 2005 NBES. It has been our great honor over the years
to be able to add input, offer resources, and to contribute to the
practices that are now commonplace in our industry. With the 2005
NBES, we expand our knowledge and our contributions, and we look
forward to continuing our tradition of adding insight and improving
practice for years to come. Patricia J. Harned, President ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** National Business Ethics Survey 2005 The National Business Ethics Survey (NBES)® was first implemented out of the recognition that research was drawing on opinions of executive leadership or the types of practices in place to determine the ethics of organizations. Studies were not being done, however, to consider the perspective of those most impacted by the programmatic activity--the employees themselves. NBES was therefore born out of belief that:
These guiding ideas have remained constant in the NBES studies over the years. Central to this research is the notion that employee perspectives on ethics in their organizations truly matter, and through employees much can be gained in understanding what an effective program actually does. --Survey Documents State of Ethics in the Workplace More than half of American workers have observed at least one type of ethical misconduct in the workplace, a slight increase from 2003, despite an increase in worker's awareness of formal ethics programs, according to the 2005 National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) released today by the Ethics Resource Center. Employee reporting of misconduct they observe is also down by 10 percentage points. Despite the decrease in ethical conduct, according to the NBES report, "Ethics and compliance programs can and do make a difference. However, their impact is related to the culture in which they are situated." The survey of more than 3,000 American workers, analyzes trends in workplace ethics, the implementation of formal programs, the ethical culture within organizations, the impact of programs, and factors that pose risks of misconduct. Read
the rest of the press release at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- Preface and Executive Summary It has now been eleven years since the Ethics Resource Center (ERC) first began what we now refer to as the "NBES." We undertook that very first study, then called the Ethics in American Business (EAB) survey, to "provide national benchmarks for organizations on key compliance outcomes." Never could we have imagined how much the world of organizational ethics would change in the years hence. Neither would we have guessed that our initial interest in "benchmarks" and "outcomes" would come to have the salience, and also the weight of responsibility, that it does today. Read the rest of ERC President
Harned's preface to NBES 2005 at: Get a PDF copy of the NBES 2005 Executive
Summary at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- What's New in the 2005 NBES? NBES has a core set of questions that remain unchanged from year to year, allowing for trend analysis over time. In the 2005 study, twenty-one content questions have remained unchanged since 1994, forty-four questions are consistent with the 2000 survey, and sixty are identical to the 2003 NBES question set. Some modifications are made each year in the study to allow NBES to reflect the times and to offer insights that can guide the organizational ethics field. In 2005, the conceptual frame for our analysis and reporting has been updated as a result of an important change that has taken place since our last report. In November 2004, the US Sentencing Commission revised Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations (FSGO) to include several substantive changes. Read more about what's new
in NBES 2005 at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Senior ERC staff will be making a number of presentations around the findings of NBES 2005. These include: *October
19, 2005, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Participants will gain an overview of the just released 2005 National Business Ethics Survey® (NBES). The webcast will feature presentations and discussions of:
Get more information about this
webcast and register at:
The 2004 revisions to Federal Sentencing Guidelines advise that ethics and compliance programs should "promote an organizational culture that encourages ethical conduct and a commitment to compliance with the law." Culture tells employees "how things are really done" in an organization, and it has a substantial impact on ethical conduct in the workplace. The recently completed 2005 NBES collected extensive data that measure the impact of culture elements on employees. During this webcast, speakers will present the most recent NBES findings on ethical culture and discuss how participants can leverage those findings to identify the cultural strengths and weaknesses in their own organizations. Specific discussion topics include:
Get more information about
this webcast and register at:
At the EOA meeting, ERC staff will present:
Get more information about the conference
and register at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Findings from previous NBES research studies have found many uses: For organizational leaders:
For university faculty:
For public policy makers:
For practitioners/consultants:
For media:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- NBES Research Team, Authors & Advisory Group NBES 2005 benefits from the rich experience of a multi-faceted ERC research team. The survey instrument was updated in conjunction with our Advisory Group. Analysts skilled in survey research examined the data, and practitioners in organizational ethics and program evaluation participated in the interpretation of findings and the writing of the report. Our work was guided by 21 experts who view the NBES data from a variety of perspectives. We are honored that our 2005 Advisory Group includes compliance professionals as well as ethics officers, and the group also represents specialists in research methods, academics in organizational ethics and sociology, and consultants who apply our findings in the field. Read about the research team
and advisory group at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This research could not have been accomplished without the support of the following donors. Principal sponsorship: Guardsmark, LLC Additional support provided by:
Printing of the NBES research report made possible by:
Read more about these and
other sponsors at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NBES 2005 is available electronically now in PDF, and will be available in three to five weeks in a printed and bound version.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Publications and Media Coverage Following the October 12 release, ERC's National Business Ethics Survey 2005 was cited in the following: "Most U.S.
workers see ethics violations at work" "Workplace
ethics - not so good" "Online Poll:
Ethics in the Workplace" "Workplace
Misconduct on the Rise" "Survey: Ethics
abuses on rise" "Many ethics
violations go unreported" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- About Our New Logo Our new logo is designed to honor our past and anticipate our future. The three interlocking fields of our logo represent our name, but also the three core functions of the ERC - Evaluation, Research, and Character development. While our colors remain the same as they have since our inception, they are now intentionally overlapping to reflect the openness, transparency, and integration that characterize our nonprofit organization. Even the two typefaces of our logo are meaningful in their style. The typeface used within the green fields is contemporary. The typeface used in 'Ethics Resource Center' is that of a classical Roman font -- symbolizing the historic roots of ethics, and the longstanding tradition of the ERC. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 recent contributions:
We invite you to join our loyal contributors
in lending your support. To find out about how to support the ERC,
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. ======================================================= 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 ======================================================= |
About ERC •
Advisory Services
•
Research
• Character
Education •
Resources
• News
•
Publications
• Fellows
• Support
ERC • Contact
Us
Ethics Resource Center,
1747 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20006
Telephone 202-737-2258 Fax 202-737-2227 E-mail ethics@ethics.org