Connecting the Dots Between Intentions, Action and Results: A Multi-Pronged Approach to Ethical Decision Making
Ivey Business Journal Online › Vol. 68 Nbr. 4, March 2004
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Summary
As employees increasingly face complex business demands, companies must specifically address the key factors that impact each individual's decisions and actions. Premier is developing its ethics and compliance activities to address the factors that are most likely to have an affirmative impact on employees' conduct and, therefore, lead to positive outcomes. Its education efforts focus both improving ethical reasoning and helping employees appreciate the external influences that may impact their decisions. Its communication strategy reinforces key messages via multiple mediums by addressing many different situations and activities. A central part of its communication and education initiative is a workshop focused on managing business ethics issues. Its plan is to move beyond the workshop setting and incorporate Ajzen and Fishbein's principles that link intention and action into all of its ethics and compliance processes.
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Connecting the Dots Between Intentions, Action and Results: A Multi-Pronged Approach to Ethical Decision Making
Current corporate initiatives
For more than a decade now, companies have been working to institutionalize business ethics and compliance programs so as to improve corporate conduct-or, more precisely, to improve employee conduct. Typically, companies author codes of conduct, put employees through training programs, set up hotlines and the like in their efforts to protect a company's reputation. Still, industry watchers continue to ask whether these activities are making any difference. After all, both Enron and WorldCom had codes of conduct and undertook education and communication initiatives to support employees' ethical decision making. Should we, then, assume that education and communication aren't enough? Or, what other efforts are needed to ensure that employees engage in ethical decision making?Most companies would agree that codes of conduct, training and hotlines are necessary. But by the...See the full content of this document
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