95 What practices help ethical behavior at the company level?

On the company side, commitment to creating an ethical code and then following it may help shape ethical behavior. Enron famously had an ethical code that stated the company was “moral” and “honest”, and operated with “respect, integrity, communication, and excellence”. This did not stop the collapse of the company in accounting scandals. Implementing a culture of ethics and CSR principles deep into a company’s operations requires making others aware of the ethical expectations, embedding them at every level of the company, from the Board to employees and suppliers, and then consistently evaluating how well ethical principles are being followed. Having an ethics or CSR office specifically charged with ensuring these principles are followed may help, as well as periodically conducting an ethics or CSR audit of the firm.

Perhaps the most effective way ethical behavior is learned in a company is through the modeling of that behavior by senior executives and others in leadership positions. This modeling sets what is known as “tone at the top.” Employees may already have a personal moral code when they join an organization, but when they see key figures in the workplace actually living out the ethical values of the company, they are more likely to follow suit and take ethics seriously. Leaders’ ethical behavior is especially important in emerging fields like artificial intelligence, where questions of safety, bias, misuse of technology, and privacy are raised daily.^[2] It is not enough to offer codes of conduct, training, reporting, and review programs, no matter how thorough or sophisticated, if management does not adhere to or promote them. These are tools rather than solutions. The solutions come from leaders using the tools and showing others how to do the same. This takes practice, reinforcement, and collaboration at all levels of an organization. The result will be a culture of ethics that permeates the company from top to bottom.