Historical Perspective on the E&C Practice
This overview of significant events in the recent history of ethics and compliance is offered in support of preparation for the LPEC certification exam and is not intended to be all inclusive.
OCTOBER 21 | Best Practice Forum | Succeeding in the E&C Profession
The E&C profession is evolving in both exciting and challenging ways. The field is increasingly endeavoring to attract a diverse set of skills, qualities, competencies and aspirations. The theme of October’s Best Practice Forum is how to succeed in the E&C profession. By attending the forum you’ll learn about: The
Addressing Ethics & Compliance Challenges for Multinational Organizations
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SEPTEMBER 30 | Best Practice Forum | Innovations in E&C Risk Management
Risk Management is one of the most critical areas of focus for E&C programs, both within organizations and in respect to third-party networks. September’s Best Practice Forum will explore how high quality E&C programs use an integrated approach to align risk management activities with other internal key strategic business partners.
Guest Post: Creating an Ethical Culture: The Role of Personality
I teach a course on creating ethical cultures at the Wharton School. Early in my experience teaching it, I was stunned by a comment made by a student near the end of the course. Asked what she might do differently about observed wrongdoing now that she had completed the class,
Why has Retaliation for Reporting Misconduct Skyrocketed?
Spotlight on ECI Research: Why has Retaliation for Reporting Misconduct Skyrocketed? The ECI 2021 Global Business Ethics Survey® (GBES®) uncovered several trends, including that retaliation for reporting misconduct has skyrocketed. In fact, it showed that 79 percent of U.S. employees and a median of 61 percent of global employees in
State of Ethics and Compliance in the Workplace 2021
Since 1994, the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) has conducted a longitudinal, cross-sectional study of workplace conduct from the employee’s perspective. Now in its sixteenth iteration, ECI’s Global Business Ethics Survey® (GBES®) data provide the global benchmark on the state of ethics & compliance (E&C) in business. Since its inception, ECI’s research has provided leaders with reliable data on trends in workplace ethics focusing on the key drivers that improve ethical cultures in the workplace and how changes in culture impact ethics outcomes. The strength of an organization’s ethics culture is measured through multiple indicators of employee behaviors at various levels within an organization, including leaders, supervisors and coworkers. These behaviors demonstrate and promote a commitment to ethics on a daily basis. A thriving ethics culture involves commitment, modeling and the right conduct by all employees in an organization. Our research shows that the quality of an organization’s E&C program and the strength of the organization’s ethics culture is key to achieving desired ethics outcomes. In addition, 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. These are: pressure in the workplace to compromise ethical standards; observations of misconduct; reporting misconduct; and ultimately, the retaliation perceived by employees after they reported misconduct.
Pressure in the Workplace
Organizations cannot effectively function if the rules and policies that serve as the guidepost for employees’ actions and behaviors are not followed. Over the years, Ethics & Compliance Initiative™ (ECI™) research has found that the pressure employees may experience to compromise their organization’s ethics standards, policies or the law is linked with an increased likelihood to observe misconduct. In brief—pressure goes hand in hand with higher prevalence rates of misconduct. What contributes to employee pressure? What factors help reduce pressure? Are certain types of employees at higher risk of experiencing pressure? To answer these questions, ECI examined the 2019 Global Business Ethics Survey™ (GBES™) data to assess misconduct rates across the globe, the areas within an organization that contribute to employee pressure to compromise their organization’s ethics standards and to identify who within the organization is more likely to experience pressure.
Moving an E&C Program from Effective to High-Quality
In our last post, we looked at how organizations can create effective ethics and compliance programs. In this last of our series, we explore how trailblazing organizations take this a step further and create high-quality ethics & compliance programs. Organizations with high-quality ethics and compliance (E&C) programs go beyond
Setting the Groundwork for a High-Quality Ethics & Compliance Program
In our last post, we reviewed the DoJ guidance for its prosecutors who are investigating companies that are accused of misconduct and learned their overarching questions and priorities. In this post, we go beyond the basic requirements that the DoJ outlines and look at how organizations can create effective ethics