Creating A Culture Of Integrity

For companies, unethical business practices like bribery and corruption pose major business risks, and can result in fines, reputational damage, lost business opportunity and – increasingly – criminal or civil charges.Organizations have responded to this critical governance issue with rigorous formal integrity and compliance frameworks, to set out and enforce standards for ethical business practice. But companies also need to create an enduring culture of integrity that establishes doing the right thing as the cultural norm across the organization – and this requires more than compliance alone.Creating a Culture of Integrity identifies the key actions sustainability and compliance officers can take to foster this cultural shift within their organizations.This "one-stop" toolkit for embedding integrity also includes: inspiring best-practice case studies from companies who’ve implemented culture change, with insights on how they deal with ethical dilemmas when these arise and; powerful arguments to help you make the business case for building a strong ethical culture around your compliance system.

Silicon Valley expert Robert Chesnut shows that companies that do not think seriously about a crucial element of corporate culture—integrity—are destined to fail. “Show of hands—who in this group has integrity?” It’s with this direct and often uncomfortable question that Robert Chesnut, General Counsel of Airbnb, begins every presentation to new employees. Defining integrity is difficult. Once understood as “telling the truth and keeping your word,” it was about following not just the letter but the spirit of the law. But in a moment when workplaces are becoming more diverse, global, and connected, silence about integrity creates ambiguities about right and wrong that make everyone uncertain, opening the door for the minority of people to rationalize selfish behavior. Trust in most traditional institutions is down—government, religious organizations, and higher education—and there’s a dark cloud hovering over technology. But this is precisely where companies come in; as peoples’ faith in establishments deteriorates, they’re turning to their employer for stability. In Intentional Integrity, Chesnut offers a six-step process for leaders to foster and manage a culture of integrity at work. He explains the rationale and legal context for the ethics and practices, and presents scenarios to illuminate the nuances of thinking deeply and objectively about workplace culture. We will always need governments to manage defense, infrastructure, and basic societal functions. But, Chesnut argues, the private sector has the responsibility to use sensitivity and flexibility to make broader progress—if they act with integrity. "Rob is an insider who's combined doing good with doing business well in two iconic Silicon Valley companies. His book contains smart, practical advice for anyone looking to do good and do well.” —Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and author of Blitzscaling

"Responding to the growing epidemic of academic dishonesty, this authoritative text lays the groundwork for a positive school makeover. This guide--which culled research from six high schools in Connecticut that indicated that more than 90 percent of students participate in some form of cheating during the average school year--provides teachers, school administrators, and parents with a toolkit of resources and strategies needed to engender a culture of scholastic honesty. With reproducible handouts and instruction on establishing an Academic Integrity Committee, this unique resource provides a plan and policies that support a climate of honesty and hard work. A CD-ROM with copies of each handout and additional references is also included"-- Provided by publisher.

Thanks to global news and social media, we are the most informed and socially conscious generation in history. But what are the sources of inner inspiration that guide our daily conduct and motivations in the workplace? Far from the old Machiavellian dictum that "the ends justify the means", the reverse is often the case: the means determine the ends. This book presents the stories of business leaders who have aimed to build trust in the economy, and have delivered value through integrity, cooperation, stewardship, purpose and sustainability. It proposes the eight Cs of trust which can define the culture of organizations: contracts, covenants, competences, character, conscience, conviction, courage and change. The book makes the clear link between personal decision-making and global outcomes and demonstrates how positive decision-making can lead to change inside organizations and beyond.

WorldCom. Enron. Tyco. Shocking accusations of dishonesty and silent complicity have dominated headlines recently, and cost the American economy trillions of dollars. Clearly, dishonesty doesn’t pay. Drawing from these stories, as well as from more positive ones, Absolute Honesty shows how to establish and maintain a culture where honest communication is the norm, and employees can speak openly without fear of retribution. The book illustrates the impact that truthfulness and accountability can have on organizations, attacking the sort of passivity that allows little lies to grow into giant disasters. Structured around the Six Laws of Absolute Honesty, this insightful book goes beyond simply extolling the virtues of ethics to provide a template managers can use to maintain an environment of healthy debate. It also contains a toolbox of techniques anyone can apply to improve his or her ability to confront and resolve difficult issues. Companies can reap huge benefits from cultivating an atmosphere of trust. Absolute Honesty is an important, timely book that provides readers with the tools and strategies to establish a culture in which communication thrives and results speak for themselves.

What do corporations look like when they have integrity, and how can we move more companies in that direction? Corporate Integrity offers a timely, comprehensive framework- and practical business lessons - bringing together questions of organizational design, communication practices, working relationships, and leadership styles to answer this question. Marvin T. Brown explores the five key challenges facing modern businesses as they try to respond ethically to cultural, interpersonal, organizational, civic and environmental challenges. He demonstrates that if corporations are to meet the needs of civil society, they must facilitate inclusive communication patterns based on mutual recognition and civic cooperation. Corporate Integrity is essential reading for professionals in organizational ethics, business leaders, and graduate students looking for practical and reflective insights into doing business with integrity and purpose.

Our free-market capitalist system is the world's greatest driver of prosperity, but it has a dark side. Under intense pressure to make the numbers, executives and employees face temptation to cut corners, fudge accounts, or worse. And in today's unforgiving environment, such lapses can be catastrophic. Fines and settlements have amounted to billions of dollars. Careers and companies have imploded. In High Performance with High Integrity, Ben Heineman argues that there is only one way for companies to avoid such failures: CEOs must create a culture of integrity through exemplary leadership, transparency, incentives, and processes, not just rules and penalties. Heineman, GE's chief legal officer and a member of both Jack Welch's and Jeff Immelt's senior management teams for nearly twenty years, reveals crucial "performance with integrity" principles and practices that you can begin applying immediately, and shows how you can drive performance by integrating integrity systems and processes deep into company operations. Such principles and practices also create affirmative benefits: inside the corporation, in the marketplace and in society. Concise and insightful, this book provides a much-needed corporate blueprint for doing well while doing good in the high-pressure global economy. From our new Memo to the CEO series--solutions-focused advice from today's leading practitioners.

How good companies build a culture of integrity In the present environment of corporate governance brought on by high-profile executive scandals, this book makes a strong case for encouraging business leaders to manage beyond compliance. Achieving the bare minimum of compliance isn't enough. By making corporate responsibility and integrity a strategic priority-rather than something companies are forced to comply with-companies can realize tangible financial returns and benefits. This book provides practical advice, effective tools, and time-tested best practices for approaching corporate integrity strategically and managing an integrity program on a day-to-day basis. There is a growing realization that compliance with the rules is only a minimum standard of performance, and an increasing demand from stakeholders at every level — shareholders, employees, customers along the entire supply chain, consumers, advocacy groups, and the local community at large — for more transparency and accountability from corporations. But most businesses have little experience and few tools to deal with the urgent demand to increase corporate responsibility. Corporate Integrity provides practical tools and proven processes to manage complex integrity dilemmas and support implementation: Explains how to create a culture of integrity in your organization and how to motivate the appropriate corporate behaviors. Coverage includes: How to assess and measure integrity; how to align corporate integrity commitments and actions; how to design and implement dependable and strategic corporate accountability systems and processes; how to develop corporate integrity standards and report on them, and much more. Includes a wealth of practical business tools and best practices that readers can apply to improve the level of corporate integrity in their own company. Features three detailed case studies and numerous other examples that illustrate corporate integrity dilemmas and solutions in action. Shows how managing corporate responsibility strategically and proactively can go beyond a mere public relations exercise to foster a corporate "win" in the court of popular opinion and in the marketplace. Bridges the gaps between corporations, governments, employees, interest groups, and consumers. Offers tools and solutions that apply to both for-profit corporations and non-profit organizations.