Ethics Resource Center Fact Sheet

Strengthening the Character of Business for 85 Years

The Ethics Resource Center (ERC) is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to the study and promotion of ethical behavior in organizations worldwide. Our mission is to strengthen ethical leadership by providing leading-edge expertise through research, education, and partnerships.

Companies and governments around the world are now well aware of the need for trust in the capital markets and in the companies that help fuel them. Every time a business hires, builds, sells or buys, it is acting for the public as well as for itself, and it must be prepared to accept full responsibility. "Good business" and "ethical conduct" go hand-in-hand, as organizations recognize that ethics is at the very core of earning that trust – the first business management priority.

For 85 years, the Ethics Resource Center has championed ethical business practices by helping organizations strengthen their ethics culture and encourage high standards of business behavior based on ethical values. We help lead the development, implementation and embedding of effective ethics programs, and enable organizations to build relationships of trust with their stakeholders.

How We Achieve This

• Evaluation. ERC provides advisory services to corporations, educational institutions, and all levels of government.
  • Assisting more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100 in ethics policy development and implementation
  • Providing benchmarking services through our proprietary database
  • Conducting quantitative analysis to measure effectiveness
• Research. ERC undertakes cutting-edge research that informs public discussion about organizational ethics.
  • National Business Ethics Surveys, the most rigorous longitudinal research effort to examine ethics from the employee's perspective
  • Industry benchmarking studies, enabling companies to see how their ethics programs measure up to national standards and industry practice
  • Ethics Today, a free monthly newsletter to keep companies and practitioners informed about current research, trends and best practices
  • Topical investigations and practical reports, many of which are implemented through the ERC Fellows Program
    • Best practices
    • Ethics as a leadership issue
    • Ethics and compliance in a global economy
    • Integration of principle into practice
• Character Development. ERC plays an important role in preparing tomorrow's workforce because ethics is learned through a lifetime of experience.  
  • Building ethical behavior into high school culture through our Student Ethics Office program
  • Biannual leadership training for student ethics officers
• Public Education and Service. ERC works with public and private sector entities to promote understanding and implementation of ethics standards and programs.
  • Providing the news media with insight into topical issues in ethics
  • Developing and funding the U.S. Code of Ethics for Government Service
  • Establishing partnership ethics centers in other countries
  • Advising the President's Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management, which led to the Defense Industry Initiative

Partnership Opportunities

Our work is supported by corporate and other organizational contributions.  Support ensures that the ERC can continue to promote strong ethical behavior to enhance public trust in the integrity of American business.

Corporate Leadership Sponsorship, enabling companies to demonstrate their commitment to corporate integrity by participating in annual activities and being recognized on ERC stationary, brochures and the Website for the 2007 calendar year.  Leadership Sponsors support the ERC with an annual contribution of $50,000.

President's Council, an elite group of current and former CEOs, university and nonprofit leaders and government officials, that guides the ERC's research agenda and leads activities that forward ethics education, discussion and practice.  By joining the Council, members become catalysts in helping to shape public policy on the issues that directly affect their organizations and the public interest. They are recognized in ERC materials and featured in 85th anniversary activities.  President's Council participants support the ERC through a three-year commitment of $25,000 annually.