National Surveys

Published every two years, ERC's National Business Ethics Survey® (NBES) is the nationally-recognized barometer of workplace ethics, in terms of both status and trends.

2011 National Business Ethics Survey is now Available.
View Key Findings and Survey Methodology
Over the past two years, 45 percent of U.S. employees observed a violation of the law or ethics standards at their places of employment. Reporting of this wrongdoing was at all-time high - 65 percent - but so too was retaliation against employees who blew the whistle: more than one in five employees who reported misconduct they saw experienced some form of retaliation in return. According to the seventh National Business Ethics Survey® (NBES): Workplace Ethics in Transition, ethics cultures in business are also at their weakest point since 2000.

Download The 2009 National Business Ethics Survey
Released November 2009
View Survey Methodology

The 2009 National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) is the sixth in a series of reports that began in 1994. NBES has grown into a mainstay of research on ethics in the American workplace.

NBES is the most exacting longitudinal research effort examining organizational ethics from the employee perspective. The long-term nature of the study is important because it provides context for national trends. NBES is the only longitudinal study that tracks the views of employees at all levels within organizations to reveal real-life views of what is happening within organizations and the ethics risks they face.

New for 2010: The 2009 NBES Supplemental Research Briefs:

NEWLY RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2010: Reporting: Who's Telling You What You Need to Know, Who Isn't, and What You Can Do About It

RELEASED AUGUST 2010: Retaliation:
The Cost to Your Company and Its Employees

RELEASED JULY 2010: Ethics and Employee Engagement

RELEASED JUNE 2010:The Importance of Ethical Culture: Increasing Trust and Driving Down Risks

RELEASED JUNE 2010: Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers: Who's Working at Your Company and What Do They Think About Ethics

RELEASED FEBRUARY 2010: Saving the Company Comes at a Cost: The Relationship Between Belt-Tightening Tactics and Increased Employee Misconduct

As the only longitudinal survey measuring how employees at all levels in more than 3,000 U.S. workplaces view ethics within their own organizations, NBES is a valuable tool for business leaders, policymakers, boards of directors, ethics and compliance officers, consumers and investors interested in monitoring ethics trends and better understanding ethical practices within organizations. By giving voice to ethics concerns of employees at all levels, the NBES also helps to make leaders aware of the diversity of ethics perceptions.

Employee perspectives on ethics truly matter because they provide a real view of what is happening within organizations. Such input helps leaders assess effectiveness and risk using models based on real – not theoretical – information.

NBES is rooted in an academically rigorous methodology but also grounded in practical business ethics concerns. That balance is maintained through an advisory group of experts from business and academia, who vet survey questions on a range of current and emerging ethics issues including: