Essentials of Business Ethics
By Denis Collins
“The failure of ethical leadership in an organization is very destructive – it demoralizes the workforce, breeds public distrust,. And ultimately results in organizational decay.” Given this statement how can one explain the daily media coverage of ethical breaches within our corporations and government? Management needs a guide for creating an organization of high integrity and superior performance. Denis Collins has developed a practical guide with examples and best practices for developing a comprehensive organizational ethics program. The book begins with a discussion of human nature and unethical organizational behavior. In order to recognize this type of behavior managers need to learn how to recognize it. This is followed by more background on the ethical foundation and the optimal ethics systems model. An organization can be corrupted by just one individual. Therefore hiring the right people is critical and the author details a five step process for evaluating the ethics of job candidates. Managers must understand how to distinguish between a code of ethics and a code of conduct. The author explains the differences so that management can prepare appropriate policies and develop an ethics decision making framework. Training is another important component of a successful ethics program. There are ten different types of ethics training workshops shared that have received high praise from both management and employees. Diversity plays a big role in ethics programs so there is a chapter devoted to the subject. Included are best practices as well as a 10 step process for implementing a diversity initiative. The remainder of the book covers ethics reporting systems, leadership, empowerment, environmental management and community outreach. This is most definitely a how to book that can be put to use from the moment you begin reading the first chapter. The author encourages readers to contact him with questions. A companion Web site with a best practices survey makes this a value added book for your professional internal audit library.
JK2010