Ethics Can

WRFY Ethics Can By Cynthia Schoeman

February 2015

1

“I promise you I know what ethics is. But what do I do in my organisation?"

Why I wrote this book

The need to move ethics beyond a focus on corruption

Ethics can …………………………………………..

build trust create productive workplace with high levels of fairness, respect, accountability … foster sound relationships with stakeholders position the company as an employer of choice boost reputation and brand equity create a high degree of customer and investor confidence

Ethics can

Ethics can be a key differentiator that accords organisations a unique source of competitive advantage

The structure of the book

1. Understanding workplace ethics 2. Does ethics make good business

sense? 3. Whose role is ethics? 4. Managing workplace ethics 5. Measuring, monitoring and

reporting on ethical performance 6. Ethical decisions and dilemmas

Practical approach to understanding and implementing ethics and ethical practices in organisations

The contents

Case studies Practical exercises Practical guidelines Topics for workplace discussion

• Workplace ethics 101: the basics • Practical exercise: Assessing the

effectiveness of the organisation’s rules and regulations

• Ethical but illegal and unethical but legal • Business ethics: an oxymoron? • Personal values versus company values • Part-time ethics: ethics and e-tolls • Ethics in context

Chapter 1 Understanding workplace ethics

Understanding ethics

“I know … ‘ethical business practices’ … I had to google it too.”

Tax avoidance legal but unethical

• Workplace ethics: illusion, luxury or necessity?

• Counting the cost of corruption in South Africa

• Valuing ethical capital and the new ROI • Ethics should be a priority in trust-based

businesses

Chapter 2 Does ethics make good business sense?

Does ethics make good business sense?

What’s the value of an ethical culture?

Can you motivate an ethical approach in your organisation?

Does your organisation recognise ethical capital?

The new ROI

Ethics can, and should be, a unique source of competitive advantage

WIIFM?

• Can a company be ethical if its leaders are not?

• Women, leadership and ethics • Ethical leadership in the public sector • Be the ethical leader you want

Chapter 3 Whose role is ethics? Part I Leadership

Leaders should be the custodians of ethics. They have the primary responsibility to enhance and uplift the ethics of their organisations.

Be the ethical leader you want

• Social and ethics committee: a value or a cost? • Clarifying the ethics roles and responsibilities of the social and ethics committee

Chapter 3 Whose role is ethics? Part II The social & ethics committee

The social social & ethics committee will need to deliver meaningful results as regards ethics

• HR fulfils a crucial role in advancing ethics • Ethical selection and recruitment • Ethics and remuneration • A code of ethics: getting the basics right • Practical guideline: a code of conduct • Practical guideline: gift policy • Practical guideline: conflict of interest policy • Can you teach ethics?

Chapter 3 Whose role is ethics? Part III The role of HR

Codes of ethics and conduct

• Ethics management system • Practical exercise: How ethical is your

company’s culture? • Tackling misconduct • Beware the ethical divide • Ethics without borders • Recovering from ethical failure

Chapter 4 Managing workplace ethics Part I: the big issues

A sound ethics management system

Goals & strategy

Ethical standards

Leadership

Assessment & reporting

Ethical culture

© Cynthia Schoeman, Ethics Monitoring & Management Services (Pty) Ltd, 2015

• Focus on care: the neglected value • Focus on collusion • Focus on counterfeiting • Focus on cybercrime: what is the cost of

security? • Focus on social media: a new ethical terrain • Focus on supply chain ethics

Chapter 4 Managing workplace ethics Part II: a detailed focus

Supply chain ethics

Is it moral? Is it legitimate?

Do you have a size 8?

Cocoa production

Widespread use of child labour: exploitation, trafficking and slavery

More than 12 000 of 20 000 child labourers in Cote d’Ivoire have been trafficked

International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). 2005. Combating child labour in cocoa growing. International Labour Organisation (ILO), February.

• Six reasons why businesses should actively manage, measure and report on their ethics

• The Ethics Monitor • Practical exercise: ethics checklists • Does your company have a AAA ethics rating? • The case for an ethics due diligence • Ethics hotline reporting: who will tell? • Business ethics reporting: what should you tell? • Sample Ethics Report

Chapter 5 Measuring, monitoring and reporting on ethical performance

Assessing, monitoring and reporting on ethics

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

Peter Drucker

• Ethical decision making • Why it is sometimes hard to do what is right • Decision making methodologies

Chapter 6 Ethical decisions and dilemmas

Your people already know what’s right and wrong

“Mr Bosley and I will be busy all afternoon investigating offshore opportunities.”

Moral temptations versus ethical dilemmas

Ethics = right versus wrong Right vs wrong = moral temptation Ethics = right versus right

The Institute for Global Ethics

Sources of ethical dilemmas

Short term vs long term Individual vs community Honesty vs loyalty Justice vs mercy Triple bottom line

Chapter 7 Can you make a difference? Chapter

• Responsibility beyond rules • Do something: stand together • All that is needed is a tipping point • Ethics can

Thank you