There’s No Accounting for Good Ethics…Or is There? Patricia J. Harned, Ph.D. Chief Executive...

There’s No Accounting for Good Ethics…Or is There?

Patricia J. Harned, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Ethics & Compliance Initiative


What Do We Mean by Ethics?

• Ethics = a decision that impacts another person

• Most decisions have an ethics component:

o Procedures and controlso Accuracy of recordso Management of errorso Meeting financial obligationso Transparency of financial statementso Funding or cutting programso Employee supervisiono Treatment of colleagueso Personal use of time & information

Questions?


Presentation Plan

• Current State of Workplace Ethics

• Drivers of Good Conduct in Organizations

• Telltale Signs


About ECI• Leading the Movement for Responsible Organizations

o New ideas grounded in research o Best practice communityo Education and certification

• Comprised of:o Ethics Research Centero Ethics & Compliance Association o Ethics & Compliance Certification Institute


• Longitudinal, cross-sectional study

• Implemented eight times since 1994

• Government data through 2007; 6,420 responses in 2013

• Dual mode: Online and phone (including cellular)

• Oversampling for companies with 90K+ employees

• Data weighted by: collection mode; age, gender, and education of respondent; company size

• Sampling error: +/- 1.2 percent at 95% confidence level

About the National Business Ethics Survey®


The Current State of Workplace Ethics


• In 2010, 11% of federal employees observed illegal or wasteful activities in their agency.

– 35% did not report the activity– 35% of incidents cost more than $100,000

• “I can disclose a suspected violation…without fear of reprisal.”

– 20% disagreed/strongly disagreed

Source: 2011, US Merit Systems Protection Board, Blowing the Whistle: Barriers to Federal Employees Making Disclosures

Fraud, Waste & Abuse in the Public Sector


• 34% of US employees observed fraud, waste or abuse in their workplace during 2013.

• 8% observed some form of corruption.

-Source: ERC’s 2013 National Business Ethics Survey™

Fraud, Waste & Abuse in the Public Sector


Observed Misconduct



Who Commits Misconduct?

53%



Who Commits Misconduct?

60%



Questions?


Drivers of Good Conduct


#1 Awareness of Standards & Resources

Industry Benchmark Data

-Source: ERC’s National Business Ethics Survey™


#1 Awareness of Standards & Resources



Questions?


#2 CultureMost managers think of themselves as ethical.

They are often perceived as ethically neutral or altogether unethical.Trevino, Hartman & Brown. (2000). California Management Review


#2 Culture



#3 Accountability


Telltale Signs


Signs of An Unhealthy WorkplaceVast Majority of Misconduct Committed by Individual “Bad Apples”

Strong Ethics Culture

Weak Ethics Culture



• Strong economy• Poor management practices• Lack of awareness of standards & resources• Employee feelings of pressure• Rumors of retaliation

Indicators of Ethics Risk

“Listen to the whispers and you won’t have to hear the screams.” Cherokee Proverb


Questions?


Upcoming Resources from ECINational Business Ethics Survey® Reports:

Generational differences & ethics Employee connection to culture (collective identity) Gender Differences & Tone at the Top National Business Ethics Survey® - Contracts Management Industry National Business Ethics Survey® - Internal Auditors Global Business Ethics Survey

Benchmarking Group Reports: Conflicts of Interest Anti-corruption Programs Working with Monitors Regulatory Intelligence


For More Information

Pat Harned, Chief Executive Officer

[email protected]

www.ethics.org

mailto:[email protected]

There’s No Accounting for Good Ethics…Or is There? Patricia J. Harned, Ph.D. Chief Executive...

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