 New Complimentary White Paper Available:
Corporate Codes of Conduct for the Global Enterprise
By: Joel Rogers, Director, Ethics & Corporate Compliance, Kaplan EduNeering
(Also published in the Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics' "Compliance and Ethics Magazine," August 2008)
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| How do you ensure that your new next-generation code is really appropriate for your entire world-wide workforce? Is your code highly US-centric, full of references to US law, with examples from US-based operations? This white paper explores both the benefits and challenges of a "one code" model versus multiple codes for global locations... Download the full white paper here >> |
Ethics in the News:
The Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility
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Companies may be exposed to a variety of legal and reputational risks if they do not have adequate social compliance or corporate social responsibility/sustainability programs in place.
What exactly is CSR? The term refers to the practices and measures taken by companies that wish to protect the health and rights of their workers, their suppliers' workers and their stakeholders, and in so doing, to protect their own companies' reputations, brand names and goodwill.
Why implement a CSR program? In short, to manage risks, and to ensure legal compliance. Corporations have faced economic damage when their corporate reputations and brands were assailed, and possible lost sales through consumer boycotts. Leading-edge companies have gained market share, key personnel, and investment by seriously addressing labor and "green" issues.
The benefits of CSR include:
- Protecting tangible and intangibles. A company's brands, intellectual property and goodwill may represent a significant amount of its present and future economic value.
- Attracting and retaining key employees. Talented personnel weigh a company's CSR policies among other factors when deciding where to work and how long to stay there.
- Building market share. Companies are deriving revenue from "ethically sourced" and "fair trade" products.
Ultimately, key components of effective CSR programs include having sufficient capacity (the right personnel analyzing CSR legal and operational issues, and acting upon the CSR program data that is obtained) to provide support, and legally protected advice and counsel in order to implement and effectively sustain CSR programs and the companies and stakeholders they seek to protect.
Source: New York Law Journal (August 13th) |
Ethical Q&A Scenario:
Ethical Decisions in the Global Community
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My US based company recently assigned me to our sales office in Italy. In this office, there is a lot of hugging and other touching that seems way out of line to me. Should I report this to the US Ethics Office?
It might be valuable to discuss this with the office manager. You may find that the touching is "out of line" for US standards but may be customary and certainly not illegal in Italy. Speak with your colleagues so that they may understand your feelings but remember to respect their customs in your actions and words. Speak also to the Ethics Officer in the US to understand how our company policies and US law might apply to your situation.
Source: Kaplan EduNeering's Ethics Communication Coach
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