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Ethics Today Online Published by the
Ethics Resource Center
================================================== ** A Word from the President: Season's Greetings! Season's greetings from all of us at the Ethics Resource Center! We thank you for the opportunity to work with you and the confidence you have in our organization. Ethics takes many forms - a set of principles, an organizational department, a training course, a marketing message, a budget item. Above all, though, ethics is about people and making a choice about right or wrong when the outcome affects others. It is our wish now and throughout the year that the resources we provide can help you make the tough ethics calls when you need to. As our gift to you this holiday season, we are making available another new resource, a white paper entitled "Critical Elements of an Organizational Ethical Culture." You can read more below about this report and how to download it for free from our website. In the coming year, we plan to make available more of our findings through white papers and webcasts, and hope you will continue to be a part of our network. Patricia Harned, Ph.D., President ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Research Identifies Three Workplace Actions That Contribute Most to Employees' Ethical Behavior and Compliance Ethics Resource Center and Working Values, Ltd. Partner to Help Companies Improve Ethical Culture Three ethics-related actions by management and coworkers have the greatest impact on employee ethics and compliance - an influence more profound than formal ethics programs and organized activities. They are:
These findings come from new research released by the Ethics Resource Center (ERC) and Working Values, Ltd. The report, "Critical Elements of an Organizational Ethical Culture," results from collaboration between the ERC and Working Values. The report builds on the ERC's 2005 National Business Ethics Survey® (NBES), which measured ethical culture by asking employees if management and coworkers demonstrated various "ethics-related actions" (ERAs) in the workplace. Read the press release at: Working Values® Ltd., a SmartPros
company, is a leading developer of integrated values-based corporate
responsibility and ethics awareness and compliance learning programs.
Learn more about Working Values at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ White Paper: Critical Elements of an Organizational Ethical Culture The 2005 National Business Ethics Survey found that employees who perceive their managers, supervisors, and coworkers displaying "Ethics Related Actions" (ERAs) are more likely to observe the outcomes expected of an effective ethics and compliance program than those whose colleagues and managers exhibit fewer such actions. This new white paper builds upon the NBES findings on ethical culture and explores which ERAs have a greater impact on program outcomes. In addition, this paper presents new analysis on whether ethics training is more useful for junior employees than for senior employees. Download a free PDF copy of "Critical
Elements of an Organizational Ethical Culture" at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What Would You Do? Ethics Courses
Get Context Experts recommend a contextual approach to ethics training that they say is all too rare, according to this WSJ article. Instead, employers have often deluged workers with "long lists of do's and don'ts." But that doesn't help navigate the really gray areas, according to W. Michael Hoffman, executive director for the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. By contrast, Dr. Hoffman says, actually discussing ethical dilemmas raises people's level of awareness. The article cites ERC's 2005 National Business Ethics Survey that found 69% of respondents said their employers provided ethics training, up from 55% in the 2003 survey. "Lots of companies are training, but it's not really making a big difference," said Patricia Harned, president of the Ethics Resource Center, who also noted that employers often rely too much on one-size-fits-all ethics programs, instead of tailoring programs to different types of workers at different levels of the hierarchy Read the rest of this article at:
"In the best of all possible worlds, the conscience of each individual employee would be sufficient to maintain ethical workplace practices. However, an individual's values and moral code may be ignored as a result of the pressures and difficult choices faced in daily decision making. In addition, employees' potential unethical behavior has repercussions for others in the organization and for the organization itself. Ethical decision-making and behavior are therefore the responsibility and challenge of both the individual and the organization. Within the organization, it is the responsibility of managerial leaders to determine the most effective means of disseminating information and creating expectations about ethical behavior. " The remainder of this article discusses organizational ethics training within organizations, specifically addressing how training can help establish an ethical climate and minimize the risk of civil and criminal liability to organizations. Read this article at:
Developers of ethics training programs are often asked by clients to develop programs that employees will take seriously, says this article by ethics training company Working Values, Ltd. "Like the adage 'you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink,' it's one thing to develop engaging training programs that are interactive, fun and full of energy. It's another to expect that a fun program in and of itself is going to draw the attention of busy employees and managers that have too much on their plates already." Read the rest of this article at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Compliance Week: The Risk Of Being Ethically Tone Deaf At The Top [In August 2006, ERC President Patricia Harned started contributing a monthly column on ethics to the well-known national publication Compliance Week. This newsletter on corporate governance, risk and compliance reaches over 40,000 financial and legal executives at U.S. public companies electronically every Tuesday morning and is published as a glossy print magazine on the first day of the month. Compliance Week has granted permission for ERC to reprint Dr. Harned's columns after they have appeared in both the electronic and print versions. For more information about Compliance Week or to subscribe, please visit http://www.complianceweek.com] While being able to point to a Code of Conduct and existing internal controls may help leaders sleep a little better, even enforcement agents are beginning to realize that corporate malfeasance often results from two things: bad decisions by individual actors, and a corporate culture that allows the conduct to occur. The magnitude of that message--that at the same time corporations must worry about individual employees, they must also foster an overall environment that discourages misconduct from taking place--is huge. Time and time again, we've heard policy-makers, pundits, and even prosecutors declare that for efforts to prevent and detect misconduct to succeed and an ethical culture to take root, the effort must come from the top. But what exactly does tone at the top look like? How does it get established? Read this column originally published
in the September 6, 2006, electronic edition of Compliance Week,
at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Charles A. Bowsher Receives 2006 Pace Leadership in Ethics Award Former Comptroller General Recognized for Outstanding Contribution to Corporate Governance Washington, DC, October 17, 2006 -- The Ethics Resource Center (ERC) Fellows Program has awarded the 2006 Stanley C. Pace Leadership in Ethics Award to Charles A. Bowsher, former comptroller general of the United States and chairman of the Public Oversight Board (POB). Every year since 1999, the ERC Fellows Program has honored an organization or individual whose accomplishments have contributed to ethical business conduct. "As a group committed to ethics and compliance, the ERC Fellows are highly selective in choosing the Pace Award recipient," said Dr. Patricia Harned, President of the ERC. "Mr. Bowsher has modeled ethical leadership throughout his career and we are honored to have him accept this award." Mr. Bowsher will receive his award at a Fellows function in January 2007. Read this press release at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ERC Board Spotlight: The Honorable Stephen D. Potts, Esq., Chair, ERC Board of Directors [ERC is proud of the many wonderful and accomplished individuals that serve on the organization's board of directors. As with any organization, its effectiveness and long-term success begin at the top. This new regular feature will highlight individual members of the ERC Board.] The Honorable Stephen D. Potts, Esq., joined the ERC Board of Directors in 2000. In 2001 he was named Chair of the ERC Fellows Program and held this position until he was elected as Chair in 2004. In June of 2006 he was re-elected for a second term. Mr. Potts came to the ERC Board after a decade of public service as the Director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE). This agency directs government ethics policy for millions of political, career and military officers in the federal government. Prior to that, he enjoyed a distinguished legal career as a partner in the respected firm of Shaw Pittman Potts and Trowbridge (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman). As evidence of his solid reputation for fairness, honesty and deliberateness in the execution of our government's ethics policies, Steve served as Director of the OGE for ten years under two administrations, Republican, George Bush, Senior, and both terms of Democrat, William J. Clinton. Although asked to serve a third five year term, he decided that any office, no matter how well run, needs new leadership after a decade. This is eloquent testimony to his commitment to ethics in government as well as his leadership in government service. Steve's leadership, negotiation skills, and professional diplomacy led OGE worldwide in showcasing how governments could adopt effective ethical standards. While available to all, Steve concentrated on providing outreach to emerging democracies "planting seeds of ethics that can potentially take hold and end the corruption which has enslaved so many countries." His goal was to help US corporations and those abroad develop a level playing field on which the global economy could flourish. Such efforts contributed to economic development in many emerging countries and provided increased opportunity to citizens. Throughout his career, Steve has been respected for his integrity and his devotion to high ethical standards in all his business dealings. Noting that "the public trust is critical to good government, but also contributes to good business," Steve actively sought ways to integrate ethical principles and standards of conduct into both public and private institutions by contributing to the tools that would help both. Many years after his "retirement," Steve's advice on issues of ethics in the public sector is still sought by colleagues in the United States and around the world. In his roles as an ERC Board member and a senior ERC expert in the field, Steve has traveled to Albania, Bucharest, Prague, UAE and Australia continuing his mission to bring an understanding of the importance of ethics in government to those abroad. Steve's vision for ERC is to continue developing tools and information that will assist organizations in determining the effectiveness of their ethics programs. While ethics offices and programs have evolved in their breadth and sophistication from the early 1980s, measuring the "impact" of such programs is still in its early stages. Steve hopes that during his leadership, ERC's research data can be used to address such open questions with quantifiable research versus the anecdotal evidence of program effectiveness. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ERC Launches Partners Program The ERC Partners Program is an Ethics Resource Center (ERC) initiative to affiliate with several leading service providers in the ethics and compliance industry. Through this initiative, professional service providers can offer their clients access to ERC's advanced measurement instruments and benchmarks. The resulting data allows Partners to better identify and address client needs. The data also enhances ERC's research on trends and best practices in organizational ethics. Benefits of working through an ERC partner include:
For more information about the ERC Partners Program, please call 202-737-2258 or email ethics@ethics.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Publications & Media Coverage The following stories appeared in California papers following the release of results from a survey conducted this fall by Ethics Resource Center for the City of San Diego. The survey found that 41 percent of city workers who responded reported witnessing ethical misconduct at work.
The Ethical Job
Hunter, 12/13/06, BusinessWeek ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Supporting Character and Integrity We extend our gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the Ethics Resource Center this year. Without your dedication and trust, many of the programs and projects highlighted in this newsletter would not be possible. The Ethics Resource Center achieves its goals through its research, surveys and measurement tools, network of international ethics centers and character education programs. These programs can only continue through philanthropic support. We invite you to join our loyal contributors in lending your support. And now you can make a secure donation
online at: 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. To find out more about how you can support the ERC and its many programs, call 202-737-2258. ======================================================= Copyright (c) 2006 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: For questions about your subscription, please email ethicstodayonline@ethics.org The Ethics Resource Center, 1747 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW, Suite 400 ======================================================= |
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