Content area
Full Text
Does workplace productivity increase when an organization dedicates resources to developing and prioritizing an ethics program?
As members of the AGA's Professional Ethics Board, our automatic response to this question is: "Yes, of course, it does." However, instinct is likely not enough to convince organizational leaders to spend scarce assets on enhanced ethics programs. Organizational decision-makers need confidence that a high benefit-to-cost ratio is possible before making these investments. It is difficult to show that every dollar spent on improved ethics yields a dollar-times-X productivity improvement. Nevertheless, the productivity costs of not establishing and adhering to a strong code of ethical conduct are often - and painfully - easier to measure.
In our search for empirical evidence to support our hypothesis that better ethics means better productivity, we reviewed studies published by the Ethics & Compliance (E&C) Initiative (ECI), a provider of independent research about workplace integrity, ethical standards, and compliance processes and practices in public and private institutions. ECI's research includes the National Business Ethics Survey® of workplace conduct in the United States and the Global Business Ethics Survey® of workplaces in leading world economies.In ECI's words, an E&C program exists to:1
- Ensure and sustain integrity in the organization's performance and its reputation as a responsible business.2
- Reduce the risk of wrongdoing by parties employed by or aligned with the organization.
- Increase the likelihood that, when it occurs, wrongdoing will be made known to management within the organization.
- Increase the likelihood that the organization will responsibly handle suspected and substantiated wrongdoing.
- Mitigate penalties imposed by regulatory and governmental authorities for violations, if they occur.
ECI distinguishes between a minimum standard E&C program and a high-quality E&C program. When organizations expect their E&C programs to achieve a purpose beyond compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, they embrace the following five principles of a high-quality E&C program:
1. E&C are central to business strategy.
2. E&C risks are identified, owned, managed and mitigated.
3. Leaders at all levels of the organization build and sustain a culture of integrity.
4. The organization encourages, protects and values reporting concerns and suspected wrongdoing.
5. The organization takes action and holds itself accountable when wrongdoing occurs.
While some organizations may view their E&C programs primarily...