In a perfect world, it’s always clear what’s right or wrong. In the real world, things are often not so clear. Someone’s wrong can be your right, which means your right will definitely, at some point, be someone else’s wrong. Most of the time, the “right” choice is subjective. In business, many of these ethical challenges appear in the form of bribes, conflicts of interest, issues of honesty and integrity, and whistle-blowing. BriberyBribery is the act of giving money, goods, or other forms Read More
Encouraging Ethical Behavior
How do businesses encourage and support ethical behavior? Often the ethical tone of a business is set by organizational leadership. Consider the following observation by the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI) on the results of the National Business Ethics survey: For discrimination in particular, employees indicated that most of the observed misconduct (56%) was committed by those in leadership. Some industries seem to be particularly perilous for employees; nearly two out of every Read More
Company Codes of Ethics and Codes of Practice
An increasing number of companies requires employees to attend trainings regarding business conduct. These typically include discussions of the company’s policies, specific case studies, and legal requirements. Some companies even require their employees to sign agreements stating that they will abide by the company’s rules of conduct. As part of more comprehensive compliance and ethics programs, many companies have formulated internal policies pertaining to the ethical conduct of employees. Read More