Background

The National Business Ethics Survey (NBES)® was first implemented out of the recognition that research was drawing on opinions of executive leadership or the types of practices in place to determine the ethics of organizations. Studies were not being done, however, to consider the perspective of those most impacted by the programmatic activity the employees themselves. NBES was therefore born out of belief that:

1. When an organization puts an ethics and compliance program in place, the end goal is usually to encourage ethical conduct in all its business activities 5;
2. If a program (regardless of its formality) is successful, attitudes and behavior throughout the organization will reflect a positive change in support of the ethical standards of the organization; and
3. The full impact of a program cannot be adequately measured without taking into account the perspective of employees at all levels within the organization.

These guiding ideas have remained constant in the NBES studies over the years. Central to this research is the notion that employee perspectives on ethics in their organizations truly matter, and through employees much can be gained in understanding what an effective program actually does.