This report examines data from the Ethics & Compliance Initiative's Global Business Ethics Survey® (GBES®). Data from over 5,000 employees in the U.S. are analyzed by the size of the enterprise in which they work (i.e., organizational staff size). For the purposes of this report, small, medium and large-staff-sized organizations were defined by the following categories:
- Small organizations: Fewer than 500 employees.
- Medium organizations: 500 to 999 employees. Large organizations: 1,000 or more employees.
The results are discussed by the ethical culture strength and four major ethics outcomes that are connected to ethics & compliance (E&C) program implementation: pressure, observed misconduct, reporting and retaliation (for more information see the "Background" section of this report).
Additional comparisons are made to show the impact of a strong versus a weak ethical culture on ethics outcomes. The GBES U.S. data discussed in this report were collected in 2020 and are based on responses from individuals employed in the for-profit, nonprofit and governmental sectors. For a more detailed explanation of the methodology, please see the "Methodology" section of this report.
