A New Perspective on Ethics Safeguards: Where is the Clout?

摘要

Most companies and professional organizations seem to have written ethics codes, but that doesn't mean their conduct is automatically ethical. Far from it. To be effective, codes of ethics need safeguards to assure they permeate the entire organization, and also need enforcement mechanisms. Safeguards can include training, specific guidelines for specific practices, and so on. But which are the most effective? A survey based on six organizations in five industries around the world examined the efficacy of seven ethics safeguards in 11 areas of organizational activity and the contribution made by each safeguard. Among the results: statements of values are more effective than ethics codes, and written general policies correlate least with ethics applications in most, but not all, areas.