Thinking Ethics

Blogging at work

While waiting for general weblog policies in the workplace, it might be worth checking out this interesting article by Jeremy Blachman in today's New York Times entitled "Job posting".  He writes about people being fired for blogging about their jobs, and looks into the pros and cons.

Need for courage in the workplace

Emily has found this interesting article by Monica C Worline, assistant professor of Organization and Management at Emory University's Goizueta Business School, entitled "Exploring the Value of Courage in the Workplace". Courage to speak out and offer constructive criticism of the organization is a desirable trait - no need to wait for the whistleblowing stage.

Moral liability

SustainAbility has just published a study on "The Changing Landscape of Liability: A Director's Guide to Trends in Corporate Environmental, Social and Economic Liability". This study looks at the link between CR/SD and strategic social/environmental risk management. One of the significant recommendations is for companies to shift from passive to active CSR as a best way to mitigate risk to shareholder's value from society's increasing expectations of social, environmental and economic responsibility.

Who says ethics does not pay ?

A survey commissioned by the Ethics Officers Association questionned 100 US companies about their ethics and compliance executives. Two thirds of the companies in the survey had reported revenues above US$ 10 billion. The results showed that 79% of Top Global Ethics and Compliance Executives hold a Juris Doctor or a Masters Degree; 70% have more than 10 years experience. Apparently, compensation for Top Global Ethics and Compliance Officers is approaching US$ 750'000...

Citizen-reporters or citizen-informants ?

Emily Turrettini has been blogging on agoravox (in french) and on her own blog www.textually.org under the category "citizens as informants" that several countries have been requesting their citizens to send SMS or MMS informations on other citizens. Malta and Indonesia are doing it on car pollution, and the UK on anti-social behaviour. Although this trend towards citizen-reporters can be positive, in the event of witnesses sending pictures to news organisations, their is a risk of abuse - the line between whistleblowing (a civic duty) and being a stool pidgeon (déjà vu) can be very thin.

The booming business of ethics

In the wake of corporate scandals (not to mention Sarbanes-Oxley) companies are scrambling to get a handle on ethics. Consultants and suppliers are seeing an increasing demand. A very good article entitled "Birth of the Ethics Industry" in the current issue of Business Ethics  gives information about consultants and suppliers, as well as sources on tracking the number of positions open in the ethics field.