The State of Ethics & Compliance in the Workplace: A Look at Global Trends

Employees around the world have spoken: the newest GBES report is now available!

The Global Business Ethics Survey® (GBES®) is a rigorous, multi-country longitudinal study of worldwide ethical trends.  ECI’s team of expert E&C researchers measure ethical practices in 42 countries and 5 regions, the largest study of its kind.  

The GBES provides deep and lucid insight into workplace integrity, ethical standards, and compliance processes and practices at both public and private sector organizations around the globe.  Organizations can leverage the GBES data to benchmark the success of their programs and develop plans for improvement.  

While a multitude of factors influence ethical behavior, the interplay of four major ethics outcomes are tied to the daily micro decisions employees make with respect to how they behave in the workplace.  ECI has been tracking the following ethics outcomes for 20 years: pressure in the workplace to compromise ethical standards; observations of misconduct; reporting misconduct; and ultimately, retaliation perceived by employees after they report misconduct.

Not an ECI Member? Complete this form to get the GBES Research Summary, highlighting some of the top trends revealed in ECI’s 2023 report!

Since 1994, the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) has conducted the most reliable longitudinal, cross-sectional study of workplace conduct from the employee’s perspective.

Referenced from boardrooms to classrooms, this rigorous study has been a benchmark for many ethics & compliance (E&C) professionals. Over the years, leading academics, survey researchers, experts on culture and business ethics have worked on ensuring validity regarding the survey questions, methodology and results.

Now in its 17th iteration, ECI’s Global Business Ethics Survey® (GBES®) data provide the global benchmark on the state of ethics & compliance in business across the globe.

Survey participants are asked to provide insight on a variety of topics, including the strength of the ethics culture in their workplace, the instances of misconduct that they have observed and what, if any, efforts are underway in their organization to promote integrity.

Make a Contribution to GBES today!

With your ongoing support, ECI will continue to sustain its longitudinal data collection while expanding its focus on special topics of interest to the ethics & compliance community.

Your support provides the opportunity to expand our reach to serve others in meaningful ways. Let’s continue to make this important research possible.

Become a funder today!

The 2022/2023 GBES data collection took place between August 2022 and January 2023. Employees in 42 countries were surveyed, and 75,495 employee responses are included in the dataset.

Survey respondents were 18 years of age or older, currently employed at least 20 hours per week for a single employer and working for an organization that employs at least two people.

Historically, ECI has reported findings from the research under two titles:

  • The National Business Ethics Survey® (NBES®) which provided measures of U.S. workplaces. The NBES was administered in the U.S. only in 1994, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 (two times), 2012 (two times), 2013, 2015 and 2017, including subject-specific NBESs.
  • The Global Business Ethics Survey® (GBES®) which expanded the study to assess workplaces globally. The GBES was administered in countries outside of the U.S. in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

In 2017, ECI updated both the U.S. and global measures, now under a single banner as the Global Business Ethics Survey. The NBES and GBES have historically been fielded by the Ethics Resource Center (ERC). After a strategic alliance, ERC is now branded under the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI).

ECI’s longstanding research on workplace integrity provides insights for evidence-based decisions by corporate, academic and other institutions across the globe. Corporations, foundations and individuals invest in the work of ECI because they value the research it provides. 

We are grateful for the generosity of our funders and appreciate their ongoing support. Without their investments in our research, ECI could not collect data from employees around the world and provide mission-critical reports for business leaders and the ethics & compliance community.

With your ongoing support, ECI will continue to sustain its longitudinal data collection while expanding its focus on special topics of interest to the ethics & compliance community.

Consider joining this illustrious group of funders to help ECI continue its research efforts. Your support provides the opportunity to expand our reach to serve others in meaningful ways.

Contact Information

Tel: 571-480-4417
Email: pat@ethics.org
www.ethics.org/donate

Special thanks to KPMG for supporting ECI’s implementation of the GBES survey among employees in 12 countries in Latin America.

Click on the button below to learn more about becoming a GBES funder and joining these prestigious companies.

Become a GBES Funder

Visit ethics.org/services/ to learn more about our GBES benchmarks and ECI’s assessment services, including culture surveys, our high-quality program (HQP) assessment and more.

What Do We Do with Your Info?

One of the ways that ECI supports ourselves and our mission is through our Ethics and Compliance Initiative Membership. Your contact information will only be used to send you relevant updates, original research and training opportunities that will help you in your career as an E&C professional.

This prevents you and your mailbox from being overloaded with e-mails that aren’t useful. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Become an ECI member

For ECI Members

Below you’ll find the link to the most recent GBES report as well as links to download several previously published reports.

You must be logged in to see the members only content below.

We Asked: “How Has the GBES Helped You and Your Organization?”

Here’s what some of our members had to say about how the GBES reports have been able to help their organizations in the past.

“We are committed to continuous improvement to our ethics and compliance program, and the global data, analysis and practical guidance on addressing trends that is provided in the GBES reports is essential to our work.”

The Boeing Company is a sponsor of the GBES

Norm Good, Senior Director of Ethics and Business Conduct, The Boeing Company
“We support GBES because we believe it is critical to have independent research on compliance trends. It gives us a point to compare our own internal organization and highlight areas to raise attention and tweak our program.”

GE funds the GBES

GE Compliance Operations Director, General Electric Company
“The Global Business Ethics Survey’s comprehensive focus on both longitudinal data and emerging trends provides critical insights. The survey also provides timely insights from businesses adapting to the challenges of COVID-19, helping the member community assess and respond to the complexities of today’s world. Leidos is proud to support ECI research. Their sound insights are fostering strong ethical cultures for businesses worldwide.”

Leidos funds the GBES

Michele Brown, SVP, Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer, Deputy General Counsel, Leidos
“The GBES report provides excellent external benchmarking on the state of ethics and compliance. GSK is excited to support this work and pull through any learnings to ensure we continue to operate at the highest ethical standards.”

Saubiya Kidwai, Senior Director of Ethics and Compliance, GlaxoSmithKline plc