2. Session overview
Last three sessions:
Stakeholder approach, CSR and related concepts
Corporate Governance
Ethical Theory
Today: Managing individual and corporate
values - Business Ethics Management
2
3. Business Ethics Management
“Business ethics management is the direct
attempt [of companies] to formally or
informally manage ethical issues or
problems through specific policies,
practices and programmes.” (Crane and
Matten 2010:185)
3
4. Why business ethics management?
Corporate scandals
Concern about reputation
Part of risk management
Compliance with regulation (especially US)
Part of good corporate governance
“It is important that all employees should know what standards of
conduct are expected of them. We regard it as good practice for
boards of directors to draw up codes of ethics or statements of
business practice and to publish them both internally and
externally.” (Cadbury Report, 1992)
(mimetic behaviour)
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5. Components of business ethics
management
Value and mission statement
Code of ethics
Reporting/Advice channels
Ethics awareness raising and training
Ethics managers / officers /board committees
Risk management systems
Stakeholder consultation, dialogue and partnership
programmes
Auditing, accounting, reporting
Ethical culture
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6. Examples of corporate mission and
value statements
“The mission of Merck is to provide society with superior products and
services by developing innovations and solutions that improve the
quality of life and satisfy customer needs, and to provide
employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities,
and investors with a superior rate of return.
Our values:
Our business is preserving and improving human life.
We are committed to the highest standards of ethics and
integrity.
We are dedicated to the highest level of scientific excellence and
commit our research to improving human and animal health and
the quality of life.
We expect profits, but only from work that satisfies customer
needs and benefits humanity. We recognize that the ability to
excel -- to most competitively meet society's and customers'
needs -- depends on the integrity, knowledge, imagination, skill,
diversity and teamwork of our employees, and we value these
qualities most highly.”
7. Examples of corporate mission and
value statements
BP
“We help the world meet its growing need
for heat, light and mobility. We strive to do
that by producing energy that is
affordable, secure and doesn’t damage
the environment.
BP is progressive, responsible, innovative
and performance driven.”
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8. Types of ethics codes
“Codes of ethics are voluntary statements that commit organisations,
industries, or professions to specific beliefs, values and actions and/
or that set out appropriate ethical behaviour for employees” (Crane
and Matten 2010:191)
Organisational or corporate codes of ethics
Professional codes of ethics
Institute of Chartered Accountants Code of Ethics
National Association of Estate Agents Code of Practice
Industry codes of ethics
Responsible Care (chemical industry)
Programme or group codes of ethics / standards
UN Global Compact
http://www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/TheTenPrinciples/index.html
PACI Principles for Countering Bribery (World Economic Forum)
SA 8000 (labour standard)
ISO 26000 (social responsibility)
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9. Code of conduct vs code of ethics – two
‘extreme’ views (Fisher & Lovell 2009:392)
Code of conduct
Focus on compliance with law and with company’s
own rules and policies
Goal: prevent criminal conduct and protect company
from self-interested action
rules to prescribe and proscribe certain behaviour
Example issues: conflicts of interest, insider dealing,
personal use of assets
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10. Code of conduct vs code of ethics – two
‘extreme’ views (Fisher & Lovell 2009:392)
Code of ethics
focus on commitments of company
links to values and visions of the company
seeks to build relations of trust with all stakeholder
groups
encourages employees to display behaviour based on
virtues such as integrity and honesty
sets out general principles
Example issues: equal opportunities for employees,
value for money products and services, respecting
human rights, respecting the community, the
environment
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11. Look at the examples you brought:
Do you think this is a code of conduct (regulating
employee behaviour) or a code of ethics (setting out
organisational commitments to stakeholders) or both?
Why?
Do you think the code addresses sufficiently the
ethical/CSR issues that the company is facing? Why?
Why not?
What do you like about this code, what do you dislike
about this code?
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12. What makes a code / ethics programme work?
Clearly based on values (linked to values and mission statement)
Balance between principles and prescriptions
Stakeholder orientation
Employees (and other groups) are involved in drawing up the code
‘User friendly’ style of code (e.g. provision of examples, reasonable
length)
Support structures (implementation and communication, training,
speak up mechanisms etc)
Support from top-level management
Follow-through (e.g. consistent policies and actions, violations are
taken seriously)
Embedded in an ethical culture
Reference to ‘higher level’ codes (industry, global codes etc.)
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13. Corporate Scandals and
whistleblowing HBOS and the
banking crisis
Whistleblower:
Paul Moore
Worldcom, Enron and
accounting fraud BP Oil Spill
Whistleblower: Adam Dillon
Whistleblowers:
Cynthia Cooper, Sherron Watkins
Maxwell
pension scandal
Whistleblower:
Harry Templeton
14. What is a whistleblower?
An employee (or ex-employee) of an
organisation
Is in possession of privileged information
about what s/he perceives to be illegal and/or
unethical conduct in the organisation
Decides to (voluntarily) bring this information
to the attention of those who might be able to
rectify this malpractice
Internal/external whistleblowing
15. A recent whistleblowing case
Paul Moore and HBOS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GsyJ9V136E&feature=related
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2009/02/18/finighan.uk.whistleb
Why did he decide to speak up?
To what extent would his personality have played a role?
What consequences did he have to suffer for his actions?
What do you make of his motives?
Why did not more people raise concerns as he did?
What would have happened if senior management had responded
to his concerns?
16. What is at stake in whistleblowing cases?
the need for employees to feel able to exercise moral
agency (i.e. follow their conscience and/or their
professional ethos)
public interest in information that affects societal welfare
(avoidance of harm)
VS
the contractual requirement of employees to display
loyalty to the organisation and respect confidentiality of
information (potential damage to organisation)
Likely negative consequences of whistleblowing (career-
related, financial, emotional, health-related)
protection from malicious and ill-founded accusations
from disgruntled employees
17. How should companies respond?
Formal ‘whistleblowing’ policies
What do your corporate codes of ethics examples say
about internal whistleblowing (e.g. raising concerns,
reporting violations, speaking up)
Organisational culture
18. Good practice for a formal internal
whistleblowing policy
Commitment to internal whistleblowing policy (part of
corporate responsibility policy)
Gives employees the option to raise a whistleblowing
concern outside of line management
(internal/external contacts)
Offers employees a right to confidentiality when raising
their concern
A guarantee against retaliation and victimisation of the
bona fide whistleblower and a provision of
disciplinary action against those who maliciously make
a false allegation
Organisation provides well-trained personnel to investigate
reports
Provides feedback to employees about outcome of
investigation
19. But ...
“Employees are encouraged to report actual or potential
infringements of the BG Group Principles. ... BG Group
employees who have concerns or queries are encouraged
to speak to their manager. If this is not possible, employees
can call the independent service TalkDirect for guidance
and advice in confidence.” (BG Group)
“As a duty of your employment, you are required to raise
concerns about possible violations of the law, a regulation
or the Code... Report your concerns to your manager or, if
necessary, a senior manager, or any member of the
compliance, legal, responsible business or human
resources functions at IMI Group or local level... When you
encounter a particular sensitive situation and you are not
comfortable using the regular reporting channels, you can19
report a concern via the IMI Hotline.” (IMI Group)
20. Potential Downsides of Corporate
Whistleblowing Policies
possible consequences if reporting illegal and unethical
conduct is made compulsory in organisations (Tsahuridu
and Vandekerckhove 2008)
can turn moral responsibility of employees into liability, holding
them responsible for failing to blow the whistle
instead of encouraging moral autonomy may increase control of
people by organisations
shifts responsibility for ethical behaviour from organisation to
individual members
cultural differences (Hassink et al. 2007)
CNIL in France and anonymous whistleblowing hotline
21. How can employees raise concerns
(more) effectively?
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22. Enablers for ‘Voicing Values’ (Gentile 2010)
- Tips for Employees
Enlist allies
Select and sequence your audience
Gain greater confidence in your viewpoint as a result of
securing more information
Work through incremental steps
Change the frame of the problem: position it as opportunity
seeking rather than risk management, for example, or as a
‘learning dialogue’ rather than a reproach
Find win-win solutions
Appeal to shared purpose, values (appeal to alignment)
Normalise (managing this kind of conflict is just part of doing
the job)
Play to your strengths (how can you best influence?)
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23. Organisational culture and ethics
Paul Moore:
“The sales culture had got markedly out of balance
with the ability to control this sales culture.”
“I witnessed and resisted a reckless lending
culture that ultimately led to the bank’s collapse.”
“It was a kind of culture that celebrated bullying.”
24. Ethical organisational culture – beyond a code
of ethics and ‘speak up’ mechanisms
Organisational ‘lived’ ethos
Schein’s levels of culture:
artefacts, espoused values, basic assumptions
(1992, cited in Fisher & Lovell 2009:411)
Role of senior managers
commitment, communication, example
Encouragement of dialogue and debate
encourage employees to voice concerns
no stifling of dissenting voices
Fostering of autonomy and ‘moral imagination’ (see
Gentile’s [2010] Giving Voice to Values approach)
25. Ethical organisational culture – beyond a code
of ethics and ‘speak up’ mechanisms
Appropriate reward and incentive systems
(Trevino et al 1999)
reward for ethical behaviour
punishment for unethical behaviour
performance targets and ethical behaviour
incentives vs motivations
Commitment to organisational learning
e.g. after incidents
26. Readings
Crane & Matten (2010). Business Ethics. Chapter 5
Griseri & Seppala (2010). Business and Corporate
Social Responsibility. Chapter 11
Fisher, C., Lovell, A. (2009) Business Ethics and Values.
Harlow: Pearson Education, Prentice Hall. Chapters 7
and 10.
Boatright, J. (2009) Ethics and the Conduct of Business.
Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Prentice Hall.
4th edition. Chapter 4
Schwartz, M. (2004) ‘Effective corporate codes of ethics:
perception of code users’, Journal of Business Ethics
55(4), 323–343.
Trevino, L., Weaver, G., Gibson, D. and Toffler, B.
(1999) ‘Managing ethics and legal compliance: what
works and what hurts’, California Management Review 26
41(2), 131–151.
27. Coursework
Choose company
Choose issue
Suggested structure:
Company background
Explanation of issue
Application of CSR/business ethics theories to explain
why company should care about the issue
Analysis of existing business ethics management
tools/policies
Recommendations to improve practice
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Notas del editor
Why?
CSR reports
Link to which theory Social values
Link to Enron?
Professional codes, industry codes important in your work?
Arguments for: enables organisation to clarify standards increase awareness of ethical issues that can arise at work a tool to resist pressure to perform unethical or illegal action provide a formal basis and language for the discussion of ethical issues minimise unethical/illegal conduct help to manage relations with external constituencies contribute to decision-making in the company increase employee commitment to organisation
Arguments against: just PR and window dressing, can generate cynicism marginality presumes ethical immaturity on the part of the employees may suppress individual moral instincts, emotions and empathy in order to ensure bureaucratic conformity and consistency inflexibility ethical culture is more important than presence of code
Groups of 2-3 Range and wording of issues Reference to values What does code imply about organisation’s view of its staff? Specifics of organisation, Is there any reference to external codes (professional, international)?
But is it possible to ‘manage values’? (Griseri and Seppala 2010:pp.297)
Enron, Worldcom: and Cynthia Cooper (chief auditor – investigated financial irregularities in company, was told to stop, kept investigating informed the board, led to conviction of CFO) – internal whistleblowing Maxwell – Harry Templeton, printer, pension fund trustee discovered that pension fund money was diverted (turned out to be £400 million), raised it with Maxwell, was fired by Maxwell, gave later evidence in court Adam Dillon: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/16/bp-whistleblower-oil-cleanup-disarray
Strict view: outside normal channels of communication Must be done out of moral protest not personal gain / revenge Formal / informal Anonymous / identified
FOLLOW UP BBC VIDEO http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article5701380.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/7944807.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7882635.stm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpktR7UyeZk&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBP5YAcP8Bk&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GsyJ9V136E&feature=related
Reputation Risk Management Demonstration of good governance Minimisation of costs and compensation from accidents, investigations, litigation, regulatory inspections organization where the value of open whistleblowing is recognized will be better able to: • deter wrongdoing; • pick up potential problems early; • enable critical information to get to the people who need to know and can address the issue; • demonstrate to stakeholders, regulators and the courts that they are accountable and well managed; • reduce the risk of anonymous and malicious leaks; • minimize costs and compensation from accidents, investigations, litigation and regulatory inspections; and • maintain and enhance its reputation.
Critique of ‘compulsory reporting’ requirement in corporate whistleblowing policies (Tsahuridu and Vandekerckhove 2008) Shifting responsibility from organisation to individual Holding employees accountable for NOT blowing the whistle CNIL: anonymous whistleblowing systems only encouraged not compulsory, fear of ‘snitching’ – On May 26, 2005, the French National Commission for Data Protection and Liberties (CNIL) decided that the anonymous whistleblower hotlines McDonald’s and CEAC/Exide Technologies wanted to implement as part of their new codes of conduct, were in violation of the Data Protection Law. Anonymous reporting through such mechanisms was regarded unfair collection of data, since the subject of the data is not informed. These hotlines were judged as disproportionate in relation to their objectives, and going too far in addition to the present French labour law providing the means to detect and punish violations of company rules (Dechert, 2005).
Paul Moore
Enron certainly had a strong culture. But our stated values of respect, integrity, communication and excellence (RICE) did not describe that culture… At Enron, we had a firm culture in place that emphasised making earnings targets no matter what, and I don’t think any one person could have changed that culture.” (Sherron Watkins, Enron whistleblower, cited in Beenen & Pinto 2009) BP: “culture of complacency”
Schein: artefacts: most visible level of culture: signs (company logo), symbols, written codes, forms of address, rituals, architecture, décor of company’s premises espoused values: beliefs that are articulated, audibly expressed, ‘the way things are done around here’, ‘take the moment, ‘go for it’, could be influence by code? basic assumptions: what is really going on, unspoken assumptions (do what your boss says if you want to survive), difficult to unearth, can you change a culture? Johnson and Johnson vs Enron – RESPONSE IN CRISES appropriate reward and incentive systems: interested in HOW they get their results, reward of ethical behaviour, non-retaliation and reward for reporting violations of ethical standards also: behaviour does not always depend on external incentive Enron ‘rank or yank’ performance pressured culture led to unethical (fraudulent) behaviour) Tate and Lyle, for example, state in their code: . . . neither Operating Units nor their management or employees will be criticized for loss of business resulting from complying with the Company’s policies.
senior managers: set the tone, commitment crucial, personal example – not living up to stated values can create credibility gap dialogue and debate: a speak up culture? no retaliation for critical stance appropriate reward and incentive systems: interested in HOW they get their results, reward of ethical behaviour, non-retaliation and reward for reporting violations of ethical standards also: performance does not always depend on external incentive Enron ‘rank or yank’ performance pressured culture led to unethical (fraudulent) behaviour) Tate and Lyle, for example, state in their code: . . . neither Operating Units nor their management or employees will be criticized for loss of business resulting from complying with the Company’s policies. Organisational learning: BP aftermath, Siemens aftermath