Research Report Archives - Page 4 of 5 - Ethics & Compliance Initiative

The Link Between Supervisor Leadership and Workplace Behaviors

In 2019, ECI expanded upon its existing Global Business Ethics Survey (GBES) research in organizational culture through several new lines of inquiry. Supervisor Behavior Around the Globe ECI examined and measured supervisor behavior across two dimensions: 1. Supervisor Values Employees: The extent to which employees feel valued by their supervisor. 2. Supervisor Feedback and Professional Development: The extent to which employees feel that supervisors provide valuable feedback and encourage professional development. Workplace Behaviors Around the Globe ECI explored employee expectations related to behaviors they may see or experience in the workplace specifically with regard to the reporting of misconduct and accountability. Employees were also asked whether or not two behaviors: "publicly reprimanding" and "gender discrimination" would be acceptable within their organizations. The findings in this report reinforce the critical role that supervisors play in influencing the ethics cultures within organizations. In almost all cases, strong supervisor leadership was associated with better ethics outcomes. Employees who worked with supervisors who exhibited strong leadership qualities across the two dimensions explored in this report were: 1. More likely to trust their organization with regard to the reporting of misconduct and accountability. 2. Less likely to say that publicly reprimanding and gender discrimination were acceptable behaviors within their organization. The findings in this report are based on employee responses from 18 countries. Global percentages consist of the median from all 18 countries. The results are provided by five global regions, composed of the following countries: Africa & Middle East: South Africa, United Arab Emirates Asia Pacific: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea Europe: France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom North America: United States, Mexico South America: Argentina, Brazil

2024-03-22T16:19:03-04:00Thursday, April 22, 2021|

Workplace Misconduct and Reporting

Each year ECI conducts the Global Business Ethics Survey® (GBES®) to better understand the state of ethics in the workplace from the perspective of employees. In the 2019 GBES, ECI built upon its existing research by further exploring select areas of workplace misconduct observed by employees. The 2019 GBES asked about six types of misconduct: 1) Abusive behavior – behavior that is abusive, intimidating or creates a hostile work environment 2) Conflicts of interest – decisions or actions to benefit the employee/friends/family over the interests of one’s organization 3) Corruption – the abuse of entrusted power for private gain 4) Discrimination – actions against employees based on race, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, or similar categories 5) Sexual harassment – unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature and/or offensive remarks about a person’s sex 6) Violations of health and/or safety regulations The rates of observed misconduct for each of these misconduct areas are discussed. In addition, the report examines whether the observed misconduct was reported and if so, to whom it was reported and if the employee who reported the behavior experienced retaliation. The 2019 GBES findings included in this report are based on employee responses from 18 countries. Global percentages consist of the median from all 18 countries. The results are provided by five global regions, composed of the following countries: --Africa & Middle East: South Africa, United Arab Emirates --Asia Pacific: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea --Europe: France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom --North America: United States, Mexico --South America: Argentina, Brazil

2024-03-22T16:21:57-04:00Sunday, July 7, 2019|

Global Differences in Employees Views of E&C Program Maturity

As part of our 2018 Global Business Ethics Survey (GBES) research, ECI explored the impact of ethics & compliance program quality on employee perceptions and behavior. Specifically, we asked U.S. employees about the presence of E&C program practices in their workplace. We also inquired about the level of quality of those efforts, based on a framework developed by an independent Blue Ribbon Panel. Finally, we examined the impact of E&C programs, based on their level of maturity, on employees' perceptions and behavior. Two primary findings emerged. In 2019, ECI sought to build upon these ground-breaking insights by further exploring the presence and impact of E&C programs around the world. Specifically, for this latest update to the GBES, ECI surveyed employees who self-identified as senior managers or above and who worked in organizations with 5,000 or more employees. Approximately 200 senior managers were surveyed from each of the 10 countries examined for this report. This population was sought because senior level leaders are most likely to be aware of the presence of resources and activities that are indicative of E&C programs. Employees with these qualifications were asked a series of four questions that assessed their organization's E&C program maturity level. The questions were derived from ECI?s HQP Assessment. It is important to note that these results cannot be generalized to the wider populations within each country. The findings in this survey only represent the perspectives of approximately 200 senior employees from each country. Additionally, this report is based on each senior manager's self-assessment of E&C program maturity within their respective organizations. Research by ECI has shown that employees in leadership positions often have more positive views of their organizations than employees in non-leadership positions. As such, ECI recommends interpreting the results with this information in mind.

2024-03-21T00:49:43-04:00Monday, April 22, 2019|

Interpersonal Misconduct in the Workplace

A decade ago, companies made headlines for problems such as bribery, financial manipulation, and fraud. The attention has shifted, though. For the past year, mistreatment of employees, especially abusive behavior, sexual harassment and discrimination, has joined data privacy as a critical issue of our time. #MeToo and #TimesUp have given a name to the larger effort to unearth problems that have festered and to find a path towards safer more respectful workplaces. Efforts to expose the issues have uncovered repetitive patterns of interpersonal misconduct in organizations around the world. Our heightened awareness of interpersonal misconduct and the toll it takes on individual employees and organizations is a positive development. But more needs to be known about the nature of the issues, the scope of problems, the factors that exacerbate problems and strategies for fostering respectful workplaces. As part of its Global Business Ethics Survey (GBES), the Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI) gathered data to inform the conversations taking place in workplaces and to suggest a constructive path forward. As a result, this report provides answers to the following questions: 1. What does interpersonal misconduct (abusive behavior, sexual harassment, and/or discrimination) look like in the modern workplace? What is the frequency of these behaviors? 2. How does interpersonal misconduct occur in the workplace? What are the greatest risk factors?

2024-03-21T00:53:12-04:00Sunday, April 22, 2018|

Measuring the Impact of Ethics and Compliance Programs

Corporations have historically organized their ethics and compliance (E&C) programs around a priority to align with legal and regulatory expectations. Yet increasingly, organizations are going above and beyond historic regulatory risk mitigation. With more and more organizations committing to higher quality programs, it begs the question: does it make a

2024-03-21T00:54:55-04:00Sunday, April 22, 2018|

The State of Ethics and Compliance in the Workplace

Historically, ECI reported findings from the research under two titles: the National Business Ethics Survey, which provided measures of US workplaces; and the Global Business Ethics Survey, which expanded the study to include workplaces around the world. In 2017, ECI updated both the US and global measures, now under a single banner of the Global Business Ethics Survey. This report, The State of Ethics & Compliance in the Workplace, summarizes our latest findings, focusing only on responses from employees across the United States. This impactful report follows the format that ECI has been delivering for more than a decade related to US workplace behavior. For more global information visit our interactive website of 2018 Global studies. This is the first report of a four-part series in 2018. This report focuses on the four major outcomes that ECI has found to be critical measures of organizational conduct. When organizations prioritize integrity, employees are: --Less likely to feel pressure to violate ethics standards; --Less likely to observe misconduct; --More likely to report misconduct they observe; and, --Less likely to experience retaliation for reporting. Additionally, this report provides an overview of the current strength of companies? ethical cultures, which significantly influence workplace conduct. Lastly, the report concludes with recommendations for business leaders who are committed to a high standard of integrity in their organizations.

2024-04-09T17:18:27-04:00Sunday, April 22, 2018|

Ethical Leadership Around the World

Ethical leadership has long been a topic of interest in the ethics and compliance community and a pointed research focus at the Ethics & Compliance Initiative. Past research conducted in the United States and at multinational organizations has consistently shown that: 1) Ethical leadership is a critical factor in driving down ethics and compliance risk; 2) Leaders have a rosier view of the state of workplace integrity, and often have more positive beliefs than employees further down the chain of command; and 3) The quality of the relationship between supervisors and reports goes a long way in determining whether employees report workplace integrity issues to management. The Global Business Ethics Survey allowed us to test these ideas in a more global sphere, to see if these trends held on different continents and in vastly different cultures. We learned that when it comes to ethical leadership and its impact on workplace integrity, our 13 GBES countries were far more similar than different. Key trends were (nearly) universal, which gives us renewed confidence about their applicability in numerous regions and cultures.

2024-03-22T14:07:54-04:00Saturday, April 22, 2017|

Summary: Ethics and Compliance Training: What Gets Results

Employee training is a subject that has been examined at length. This ECI research report offers an exclusive ethics and compliance perspective on training. The report acknowledges a certain amount of overlap with studies that more broadly examine training methods. However, because of the specificity and design of ECI?s research, the report provides important insights related to ethics and compliance (E&C) training. Two complementary surveys were conducted. The first survey explored the experiences of employees who had taken company E&C training. The second gathered information about training from the perspective of E&C practitioners. The results of these two surveys contrast the intended goals of E&C training and the employee beliefs about the usefulness of the training they received. The results outline which activities are associated with the best results. Important E&C training components emerged. Employees see the need for and have positive views of ethics and compliance training, but stress the need for the training to be applicable and informative. The survey indicates, and the results advocate, the use of in-person or monitored training when organizations are influencing their culture or critical policies. The survey also identified the critical importance of senior leadership?s visible participation during the training process. Whether in person, or by video, the impact and desired results of training are significantly better when senior leaders are a visible part of the training. This aligns with previous research by ECI indicating that employees? perceptions of the tone at the top come from their perceptions of their personal interactions with leadership. Even if by communicated video, employees indicate that they are positively impacted by senior leadership?s endorsement of training.

2024-03-21T00:59:54-04:00Saturday, April 22, 2017|

Ethics and Compliance Training: What Gets Results

Employee training is a subject that has been examined at length. This ECI research report offers an exclusive ethics and compliance perspective on training. The report acknowledges a certain amount of overlap with studies that more broadly examine training methods. However, because of the specificity and design of ECI?s research, the report provides important insights related to ethics and compliance (E&C) training. Two complementary surveys were conducted. The first survey explored the experiences of employees who had taken company E&C training. The second gathered information about training from the perspective of E&C practitioners. The results of these two surveys contrast the intended goals of E&C training and the employee beliefs about the usefulness of the training they received. The results outline which activities are associated with the best results. Important E&C training components emerged. Employees see the need for and have positive views of ethics and compliance training, but stress the need for the training to be applicable and informative. The survey indicates, and the results advocate, the use of in-person or monitored training when organizations are influencing their culture or critical policies. The survey also identified the critical importance of senior leadership?s visible participation during the training process. Whether in person, or by video, the impact and desired results of training are significantly better when senior leaders are a visible part of the training. This aligns with previous research by ECI indicating that employees? perceptions of the tone at the top come from their perceptions of their personal interactions with leadership. Even if by communicated video, employees indicate that they are positively impacted by senior leadership?s endorsement of training.

2024-03-22T14:07:21-04:00Saturday, April 22, 2017|

Ethics & Compliance Risk In The Supply Chain

Reliance on supplier organizations can raise the risks related to corruption and employee misconduct. ECI?s 2016 Global Business Ethics Survey? (GBES?): Measuring Risk and Promoting Workplace Integrity

2024-03-21T01:04:41-04:00Friday, April 22, 2016|