The ethical organisation, culture and outcomes are in the news. Not only have our headlines continued to be dogged by one organisational scandal after the other, but increasingly there are conferences and regulatory forums discussing what to do about it. This has inspired a special issue of the Journal this December. Politicians and regulators, driven by consumers who are distrustful of enterprise, are forcing the topic of ethics onto boardroom agendas. A subject that has been taken as a given by many industrial and financial leaders has been shown to have been underestimated in repeated scandals and headlines in the past, all too many, years. In our article “Compliance? Si por favor” we have a perfect example of how these pressures are materialising in Spain, and how the proactive company can use these to positive effect, rather than merely view them as unwelcome burdens.
Over the past year, I have been confronted many times with the question as to what ethics in business actually means, and how one can create and manage an ethical culture in an organisation. In my article, “Ethical Culture: Much ado about nothing?” I provide my reply, as I try to explain what constitutes a corporate, as opposed to a personal, development and application of ethical choice. In it, I explain how an organisation can identify values that do justice to, and support the essential purpose of the organisation – and the importance of developing a social framework within the firm that encourages and generates a continuous ethical dialogue around the application of these values, and the outcomes of actions and decisions at all levels of the firm.
However, these ideas only go so far. We are more than delighted therefore to have a number of great contributions, starting with our Opinion column, where we explore the need to develop performance indicators that allow firms to recognise, and reward, behaviours that promote ethical decision taking in everyday business.
It is natural that organisational leaders, located at the head office of global organisations, tend to see the world from a single vantage point. We develop our Statements of Values, Codes of Conduct and Compliance Programmes that we imagine will be applied to equal effect throughout the organisation, irrespective of local culture, or even diversity amongst our individuals – be this born of variations in background, or demography. These common pitfalls to pursuing uniform, global standards are explored and explained in our articles entitled “The Global Compliance Management System: A practical approach to compliance across cultures” and “Business ethics across generations: Bridging the gap.” It is commonly thought that in the area of corporate culture, one size fits all. We show that that this is far from the truth and that real success will only be found by those who truly consider the individuals whose behaviours drive that culture. Finally, no compliance or culture programme will be listened to if those who carry the message of change, the piano players and ambassadors, have the presence and influence necessary to command respect. In a highly practical explanation of what it takes to develop “gravitas”, the article “Gravitas: The new weapon of Compliance” reveals what it requires to get the respect the function and the message deserves.
This rather unique combination of articles really do provide a plethora of ideas and inspiration for the executive and board member who seeks to meet the challenge laid down at their door to take corporate culture in hand as a strategic matter, rather than one taken for granted. Something to think about over the holidays?