ethics in business · ethics in business research report | executive summary 4 executive summary in...

ETHICS IN BUSINESS: PERSPECTIVES OF ACCOUNTANTS AND HR PRACTITIONERS

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Foreword 3

Executive summary 4

Key findings at a glance 5

Demographics 6

Detailed findings 7

Ethics: organisations in general 7

Ethics: your organisation 9

Ethics: your professional role 11

Causes of ethical issues 13

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Project Patron: Peter Wilson AM

Project Director: Lyn Goodear

Report Authors: Paul Begley and Karen Passey

Design: Kelly McKillop

© Australian HR Institute, July 2017

AHRI would like to thank CPA Australia for its cooperation in surveying Australian accountants, and for the substantial contribution by its research staff to the collection and analysis of member data.

AHRI would also like to thank its Advisory Research Panel members for their input into this survey.

ETHICS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH REPORT 2

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FOREWORD

ETHICS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH REPORT | FORWARD

Since the global financial crisis triggered ten years ago by the subprime era, ratings agencies such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have admitted they are broadening the structure of their ratings on merger and acquisition deals. The firms’ defence is that their analysts now take into account not just the financial metrics of

companies but also the critical element of human judgement. This is good news as spectacular failings of ethics and judgement helped fuel the debt crunch that sparked the 2008 global crisis, causing misery to millions of workers and their families.*

Accountants look after the financial resources of organisations and HR practitioners perform a similar function with respect to people. A central element for both professional groups is that sound human judgement went missing during the heady days leading into the subprime crisis. In particular, post-mortem assessments have had little trouble agreeing that there were widespread failings with respect to the appreciation of and adherence to ethical standards.

Ethical leadership works most effectively when it includes the shared responsibility of chief financial officers and chief human resource officers in modelling ethical values and practices. The joint leadership of both these professions can contribute materially to the establishment of a corporate infrastructure that not only encourages and affirms ethical standards, but also enables key mechanisms for the ‘calling out’ of unethical behaviour.

As technological changes start to impact more widely on work, workplaces and workforces, collaboration between CFOs and CHROs will become even more critical in the emerging ‘gig’ economy.

With the imminent outsourcing of the many transactional aspects of both CFO and CHRO roles to forms of artificial intelligence and automation, the opportunity is emerging for both professional groups to provide strategic direction on business ethics. Such a focus of leadership beyond the transactional tasks, will become a hallmark of practitioners in both professions. Furthermore sound ethical leadership will become a central factor in distinguishing those who are professionally certified, from those who are not.

Against this backdrop of community expectations for a move to stronger ethical leadership, the views of 902 accounting and human resource practitioners were sought on this subject, during December 2016 and January 2017. The main findings are set out in this report and I commend them to you.

Peter Wilson AM Chairman and National President Australian HR Institute

* ‘In M&A, high ratings agency grades are back: and fuelling a debt binge’, Michelle F Davis, Australian Financial Review, 26 October 2016

4ETHICS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH REPORT | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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In close association with the research staff at CPA Australia, AHRI crafted a survey questionnaire in late 2016 which was designed to ask accounting and human resource practitioners their views on corporate ethical policy and practice from their different professional vantage points. A total of 902 responses were received.

The findings of the survey are set out in this document under three headings: on ethical policy and practice in organisations in general, in the organisation of the respondent, and from the perspective of the professional role of the respondent. The survey also asked respondents to think back over their professional lives with ethical practice front of mind.

An interesting outcome of the findings was that the perspectives of the respondents in the two professional groups were markedly similar on a number of fronts. One was that responsibility for an ethical culture was seen as coming from the top, especially from the chief executive and the executive group. Another was a general agreement that what most influences the standing of ethical behaviour in organisations was evidence of leaders who walk the talk and demonstrate fairness.

On the issue of what impacts on ethical conduct in their own organisation, the issue of reputation stood out among responses. On related issues, respondents thought leadership was vital in improving ethical behaviour and that the greatest ethical motivator was the expectation set by leaders. Reflecting on their own professional role, respondents cited unfair treatment of employees and bullying as the two most common forms of ethical misconduct they had observed.

In terms of the future, respondents were asked whether they thought ethical behaviour would improve over the next five years. While around a third agreed it would, most of the remainder expect it will deteriorate or remain the same. For the answer to that question, we will have to wait and see.

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KEY FINDINGS AT A GLANCE

• Around a third of respondents to the survey (36%) expect workplace ethical behaviour to improve over the next five years.

• Respondents say the main influences on an organisation’s ethics are ensuring consistency between what is said and what is done, and treating others fairly.

• Respondents believe the CEO has the greatest impact on ethical conduct.

• Respondents believe the most important reason for having an ethical culture is because of its impact on the reputation of the organisation.

• The single most powerful motivator for employees to meet ethical standards is expectations, according to respondents.

• Faced with an ethical issue, almost half the sample said they would turn to their manager or supervisor for advice.

• The most common forms of misconduct experienced by respondents were unfair treatment of employees, and bullying and harassment.

ETHICS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH REPORT | FINDINGS AT A GLANCE

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DEMOGRAPHICS

As indicated in table 1 below, the survey was distributed to the member databases of the Australian HR Institute and CPA Australia during December 2016 and January 2017. It attracted a total of 902 respondents: 65 per cent identified as HR practitioners, 28 per cent as accountants, and 7 per cent as other.

Table 3 shows that a little more than half of the respondent sample were from the private sector (55 per cent), around a quarter were from the public sector (28 per cent), and around a fifth were from not-for-profit organisations (17 per cent).

Table 4 shows that around a third of the respondent sample was aged between 41-50 years of age (32 per cent), another third between 51-60 years (30 per cent), and around a fifth between 31-40 years (18 per cent). Around one in ten were older than 60 years of age (13 per cent) and 6 per cent were younger than 30.

Table 5 shows that around seven out of ten HR respondents were female (69 per cent), and 28 per cent identified as male (28 per cent). The accountant sample was not asked a gender question and 2 per cent of the HR respondents preferred not to say.

TABLE 1: PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATION OF RESPONDENTS

TABLE 2: POSITION IN ORGANISATION

TABLE 3: SECTOR OF ORGANISATION

TABLE 4: AGE OF RESPONDENTS

TABLE 5: GENDER OF HR RESPONDENTS

ETHICS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH REPORT | DEMOGRAPHICS

Table 2 indicates that approximately 38 per cent of respondents identified as chief executives, partners or presidents (4 per cent), directors of sections such as finance, people or operations (17 per cent), and senior level executives such as general manager or head of department (17 per cent).

Another 41 per cent identified as operating at a middle management level such as managers or supervisors (24 per cent) and senior employees or assistant managers (17 per cent).

Approximately 8 per cent of respondents identified as sole proprietors or self-employed.

ANSWER COUNT PERCENT

HR practitioners 587 65.08%

Accountants 257 28.49%

Other 58 6.43%


Manager/supervisor 214 23.73%

Senior employee/assistant manager 156 17.29%

Director level (e.g. Finance Director, People Director, Managing Director, Operations Director)

154 17.07%

Other senior level (General manager, Head of department) 153 16.96%

Other 81 8.98%

Sole proprietor/self employed 70 7.76%

Junior employee 38 4.21%

President/partner/CEO 36 3.99%


Private 497 55.1%

Public sector 254 28.16%

Not for profit 151 16.74%


30 or below 53 5.88%

31-40 166 18.4%

41-50 290 32.15%

51-60 273 30.27%

Over 60 120 13.3%


Female 448 69.46%

Male 181 28.06%

Prefer not to say 16 2.48%

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DETAILED FINDINGS

ETHICS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH REPORT | DETAILED FINDINGS

ETHICS: ORGANISATIONS IN GENERAL

The sample group was asked how they thought workplace ethical behaviour would change over the next five years. Table 6 indicates that more than a third thought it would improve (36 per cent), less than a quarter thought it would deteriorate (22 per cent), and a third thought it would remain the same (33 per cent). Around one in ten were unsure (9 per cent).

Note: For ease of reading, the tables have been ordered to show the numbers from highest to lowest.

Respondents were asked to indicate on a scale of 1-10 what they regarded as the main influences on an organisation’s ethics. The two top preferences with scores of 9 or more, as set out in table 7, were ensuring consistency between what is said and what is done, and treating others in a way that is right and fair. Scores in the high 8s were promoting ethical conduct, making principled and fair choices, and keeping promises.

TABLE 6: HOW WOULD WORKPLACE ETHICS CHANGE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?

TABLE 7: INFLUENCE OF LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS ON WORKPLACE ETHICS


Improve 325 36.03%

Remain the same 295 32.71%

Deteriorate 200 22.17%

Unsure 82 9.09%

ANSWER COUNT SCORE

Ensure there is consistency between words and acts 901 9.18

Treat others in a way that is right and fiar 901 9

Promote ethical conduct 901 8.81

Make principled and fair choices 901 8.81

Keep promises 901 8.76

Care about, respect and support others 901 8.77

Be transparent in the decision making process 901 8.67

Communicate clear expectations and performance goals 901 8.62

Ensure others are clear about their responsibilities 901 8.56

Listen to others ideas and concerns 901 8.29

Ensure people have adequate resources, including time 901 8.14

Explain ethical rules 901 8.18

Talk about ethics 901 8.01

Allow others to participate in decisions 901 7.9

Reward ethical conduct 901 7.7

Measure ethical conduct 901 7.54

8ETHICS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH REPORT | DETAILED FINDINGS

On a scale of 1-10, respondents were asked to rate the degree of responsibility for ethical culture borne by different parties in an organisation. Of scores in the 9s, table 8 shows that the CEO was rated with the highest degree of responsibility with a score of 9.46, followed by the chief HR or people officer (9.2), the executive team (9.19), the CFO or most senior finance employee (9.18) and the board of directors or those charged with governance (9.08).

Of organisations in general, the respondents were asked what they believe makes organisations ethical and to rank them on a scale of 1-9. Table 9 shows that the highest rank was penalties and fines on a score of 7.19. The next highest scores were controls (5.77) compliance (5.55), oversight and enforcement (5.6), and laws and regulations (5.48). There were no scores in the 6 range.

TABLE 8: WHO BEARS RESPONSIBILITY FOR ETHICAL WORKPLACE CULTURE

TABLE 9: FACTORS THAT ARE IMPORTANT IN MAKING ORGANISATIONS IN GENERAL ETHICAL

ANSWER COUNT SCORE

CEO 902 9.46

Chief People Officer/most senior human resource emplyee 902 9.2

The executive team 902 9.19

Chief Financial Officer/most senior finance employee 902 9.18

The Board of Directors/those charged with governance 902 9.08

HR professionals 902 8.78

Professional accountants 902 8.55

Employees 902 8.18

ANSWER AVERAGE RANK

Penalties and fines 7.19

Controls 5.77

Compliance 5.55

Oversight and enforcement 5.6

Laws and regulations 5.48

Ethics training 4.83

Policies and rules 4.61

Ethical culture 3.43

Ethical leadership 2.54


ETHICS: YOUR ORGANISATION

Of their own organisation, the respondents were asked what they believe has the greatest impact on ethical conduct, and to rank them on a scale of 1-10. Table 10 shows that the highest score was the leaders of your organisation, the only score in the 9 range at 9.2. The next highest scores were the culture of your organisation (8.84), the practices and behaviours in your organisation (8.68), other role models in your organisation (8.33) and the values of your organisation (8.11). There were no scores in the 7 range.

Of their own organisation, the respondents were asked what they believe are the most important reasons for having an ethical culture, and to rank them on a scale of 1-10. Table 11 shows that the highest score was the reputation of the organisation, the only score in the 9 range at 9.08. The next highest scores were sustainability of the organisation (8.28), effectiveness of the organisation (8.24), current employee expectations (8.06), meeting professional stardards (8.05), and providing transparency for stakeholders (8). Scores in the 7 range were future employee expectations (7.82), external stakeholder expectations (7.75) and law and regulation (7.57).

TABLE 10: FACTORS THAT HAVE THE MOST IMPACT ON ETHICAL CONDUCT IN YOUR ORGANISATION

TABLE 11: THE MOST IMPORTANT REASONS IN YOUR ORGANISATION FOR HAVING AN ETHICAL CULTURE

ANSWER COUNT SCORE

The leaders of your organisation 902 9.2

The culture of your organisation 902 8.84

The practices and behaviours in your organisation 902 8.68

Other role models within your organisation 902 8.33

The values of your organisation 902 8.11

The goals of your organisation 902 6.97

The control measures your organisation has in place 902 6.93

The mission of your organisation 902 6.9

The stated policies and rules of your organisation 902 6.72

Influences from the external enviornment 902 6.49

ANSWER COUNT SCORE

Reputation of the organisation 902 9.08

Sustainability of the organisation 902 8.28

Effectiveness of the organisation 902 8.24

Current employees' expectations 902 8.06

Meeting professional standards 902 8.05

Providing transparency for stakeholders 902 8

Future employees' expectations 902 7.82

External stakeholder expectations 902 7.75

Law/regulation 902 7.57

Profitability of the organisation 902 6.96


Of their own organisation, the respondents were asked what they believe could improve the ethical behaviour of its people, and to rank them on a scale of 1-10. Table 12 shows that the highest scores were leadership, with a score of 9.59, and culture (9.22). Scores in the 8 range were awareness of ethical issues (8.72) and values (8.61).

Of their own organisation, the respondents were asked what they believe were the most powerful motivators for employees to meet ethical standards, and to select one motivator only. Table 13 shows that expectations was selected by 41 per cent of respondents. The next most powerful motivators were aspiration (selected by 16 per cent), vision (14 per cent), regulation (8 per cent), and monitoring (5 per cent).TABLE 12: FACTORS THAT COULD HELP IMPROVE THE

ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR OF PEOPLE IN YOUR ORGANISATION

TABLE 13: THE MOST POWERFUL MOTIVATOR FOR EMPLOYEES TO MEET ETHICAL STANDARDS IN YOUR ORGANISATION

ANSWER COUNT SCORE

Leadership 902 9.59

Culture 902 9.22

Awareness of ethical issues 902 8.72

Values 902 8.61

Moral language 902 7.41

Performance management 902 7.41

Strategies 902 7.28

Policies 902 7.25

Compliance 902 7.25

Personal/team KPIs 902 6.9

Targets 902 6.38

Reward systems 902 5.94

Budgets 902 5.51


Expectations 366 40.58%

Aspiration 145 16.08%

Vision 123 13.64%

Regulation 71 7.87%

Monitoring 47 5.21%


ETHICS: YOUR PROFESSIONAL ROLE

Respondents were asked to think about their profession and their role as a professional practitioner, and to rank on a scale of 1-10 what factors they regarded as most important. As set out in table 14, a total of 10 factors scored in the 9 range: acting with integrity (9.7), behaving honestly (9.51), being trustworthy (9.5), respecting confidentiality (9.48), being respectful of others (9.34), complying with the law (9.34), acting fairly (9.29), telling the truth (9.26), having competence to perform the role (9.09) and respecting human rights (9.08).

TABLE 14: AS A PROFESSIONAL, HOW IMPORTANT ARE FOLLOWING FACTORS?

ANSWER COUNT SCORE

Acting with integrity 901 9.7

Behaving honestly 901 9.51

Being trustworthy 901 9.5

Respecting confidentiality 901 9.48

Being respectful of others 901 9.34

Complying with the law 901 9.34

Acting fairly 901 9.29

Telling the truth 901 9.26

Having competence to perform the role 901 9.09

Respecting human rights 901 9.08

Being objective 901 8.89

Creating value for the organisation 901 8.71

Creating value for stakeholders 901 8.34

Acting in the public interest 901 8.25

Meeting organisational targets 901 8

Respondents were asked to think about facing an ethical issue, and to indicate where they would turn for advice. As set out in table 15, nearly four in ten said they would turn to their manager or supervisor (38 per cent), and one in ten to a colleague (13 per cent) or a mentor (12 per cent). Single figures indicated respondents' professional association (8 per cent), family or friends (7 per cent), and HR professional (6 per cent), an independent advisor (5 per cent), the board (5 per cent) or a law firm (2 per cent).

TABLE 15: WHERE WOULD YOU GO TO SEEK ADVICE ON AN ETHICAL ISSUE?


Superior/manager 342 37.92%

Colleague 117 12.97%

Mentor 105 11.64%

My professional association 70 7.76%

Family/friends 61 6.76%

Human resources professional 57 6.32%

Independent advisor 48 5.32%

The Board/oversight body of my organisation 41 4.55%

Law firm 22 2.44%

Other 19 2.11%

Employee assistance program 7 0.78%

Government body 7 0.78%

Internal auditor 4 0.44%

Counselling service 2 0.22%

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Respondents were asked to think about their professional code of ethics, and to indicate on a scale of 1-10 its importance in influencing ethical behaviour. As shown in table 16, around 25 per cent of respondents in total rated at 5 or lower as an influencer of ethical behaviour. At the other end of the scale around 32 per cent of the respondents rated the importance of their professional code at a 9 or a 10.

Respondents were asked to think about their professional life, and to select from a list the single most common form of misconduct they have experienced. As shown in table 17, unfair treatment of employees (32 per cent) and bullying and harassment (29 per cent) stand out, with dishonesty a clear third (18 per cent).

In written comments, theft, cronyism, tax evasion, fraud, confidentiality breaches, poor work ethic, alcohol and drug abuse, sleeping with clients and falsifying documents, are among the offences that get a mention by respondents.

TABLE 16: IMPORTANCE OF PROFESSIONAL CODE OF ETHICS IN INFLUENCING ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR

TABLE 17: MOST COMMON MISCONDUCT OVER A PROFESSIONAL LIFE



1 Low 31 3.44%

2 25 2.77%

3 41 4.55%

4 48 5.32%

5 86 9.53%

6 91 10.09%

7 139 15.41%

8 156 17.29%

9 123 13.64%

10 High 162 17.96%


Unfair treatment of employees 288 31.93%

Bullying and harassment 259 28.71%

Dishonesty 161 17.85%

Fraud 49 5.43

I have not experienced misconduct in my professional life 37 4.1%

Theft 36 3.99%

Other 33 3.66%

Corruption 23 2.55%

Unfair treatment of clients/customers 12 1.33%

Unfair treatment of suppliers 4 0.44%

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LEADERSHIP

Around 200 responses touched on matters to do with management behaviour and culture as well as tone at the top. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“Dodgy leadership”

“Incompetent and uninvolved executive leadership pre-assured of performance bonuses”

“Lack of direction from the leadership team, setting unacceptable standards, not living the company Values – Double standards”

“Lack of leadership and behaviour of senior leadership team – did not set an example for the rest of the employees”

“Lack of senior leadership on ethical behaviour. Accepting low standards of conduct and behaviour from more senior managers”

MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOUR

Around 120 responses touched on behaviours such as saying one thing and doing another, behaviour and culture, as well as tone at the top. Sample respondent comments include the following:

"Behaviour of others, especially leaders, not being fair and equitable, the 'if it’s ok for them' mentality”

“Executive team behaving poorly”

“Managers not walking the talk; lack of understanding”

“Senior management leading with the wrong behaviour”

“Poor behaviour from the management team”

PRESSURE FOR RESULTS

Around 110 responses touched on matters connected to short-term thinking, and results that are exclusively focused on targets, profits and budgets. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“Budget first regardless of ethics”

“Competing interest delivering on target vs what is right”

“Drive to achieve targets and profits at all costs”

“Extreme, unachievable targets”

“People striving to meet targets and using unethical means to do so”

“Pressure to gain hard profits/more revenue regardless of what you do to achieve this – valuing profit margins over ethics”

CULTURE

Around 90 responses touched on matters connected to organisation culture but also to different national cultures bringing different ethical assumptions to the organisation. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“Cultural norms and expectations that were not supportive of basic ethical tenets”

“Culture, where doing 'the wrong thing' was either accepted or a blind eye was turned”

“Embedded organisational culture”

“Poor culture that reinforced poor ethics in decision making”

“The organisational culture/ethical environment is the true reflection of the leadership or the management team of the organisation. The values and ethics always cascades down from the top to the bottom layer in the organisation. Bringing ethically strong employees into the business not only brings good culture into the organisation but also brings high reputation and success to the company in the market. Ethically poor culture is the biggest issue”

CAUSES OF ETHICAL ISSUES

Respondents were asked to think about the organisations in which they have worked as professionals, and to state in writing what they believe to be the most common causes of ethical issues that have arisen in their experience. A total of 376 respondents wrote answers to this question, a sample of which follows under summary headings.


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KNOWLEDGE/AWARENESS

Around 80 responses touched on matters related to people behaving poorly who, through inadequate training, were unaware of how they should be behaving. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“Employees being unaware of what might constitute an ethical dilemma”

“I've only worked for highly ethical organisations, as such, any challenges or potential areas of risk have come from a lack of education as opposed to anything more sinister (such as unfair pressure to reach targets etc.)”

“Lack of education on the importance of ethical behaviour”

“Poor understanding of how to behave appropriately”

“Ethical issues are not clearly explained. The majority of ethical issues I have dealt with are because people were unaware that they were not acting ethically”

SELF-INTEREST

Around 70 responses touched on matters related to conflicts of interest. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“People acting dishonestly or purely for self-interest. Conflicts between ethics and achieving corporate & individual goals”

“People justifying their unethical actions e.g. ‘I deserve it, it's not a big deal’ etc.”

“Promoting self-interest ahead of other interests; greed, psychological problems”

“Self-interest and balancing the interests of the organisations / stakeholders / employees when these can be in conflict or not aligned”

“Self-interest was the cause in every instance for the person’s unethical behaviour – and self-interest and preservation of the status quo for those aware of the behaviour who did nothing. I have seen this on a number of occasions in different businesses e.g. at a listed company and a not-for-profit”

INDIVIDUAL BELIEFS AND VALUES

Around 50 responses touched on matters related to morality, integrity and unwarranted entitlement. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“Individual moral standing”

“Lack of integrity of individuals”

“Leaders or staff with indifference and a sense of entitlement as well as not seeing or not thinking about the impact of actions and decisions in a broader context. Not seeing that what they were doing was actually unethical and even when brought to their attention, still don't get it. I think some people just don't see it, no matter how much training or procedures are in place”

"Bad people who would act unethically no matter where they worked"

“Individuals' own set of moral guidelines. Laws do not make for ethical behaviour but make for compliance to the letter of the law, not the principle behind it. I'm seeing a lot of unethical behaviour in the profession particularly from people of different cultural backgrounds that see ethics as laws not individual responsibility and principles. I'm actually struggling with the different cultural interpretations of what deceit means, which I hadn't for the previous 25 years”

GREED

Around 50 responses touched on this issue, often naming it in one single word. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“Greed and more greed. Greed creates chaos. Chaos creates suffering for all of us, including the perpetrator”

“Greed by senior executives improving their personal net worth"

“People being greedy wanting power at all costs. They do not care about others or the impact that they have”

"Greed. Putting profits above doing what is right or just"

“Greed, ambition”


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LACK OF CONTROLS

Around 40 responses touched on inadequate policies and frameworks, and lack of consequences for poor behaviour. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“Lack of formal policy and guidelines”

“Poor ethical frameworks, compliance systems and a lack of understanding about fundamental governance policies and procedures"

“I would say the cause of the majority of ethical issues was no compliance and control”

"Opportunity combined with poor control mechanisms"

“Opportunities for those disposed to transgress to be able to do so without significant penalty”

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Around 30 responses touched on issues primarily related to poor behaviour connected to self-interest compared to what is in the company’s interest. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“Conflict between what is best for the organisation and what is best for its customers”

“Conflict of interest. When people's personal goals get in the way, or the incentive system is not well thought through"

“Poorly managed or undisclosed conflicts of interests, combined with cronyism and nepotism”

"Balancing the needs of the individual against the requirements of the organisation"

“Not understanding the ethics of the organisation, conflicts of interest and internal politics”

AMBIGUITY

Around 20 responses touched on issues related to grey areas and unclear expectations. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“Having grey areas and not setting and communicating what the codes are”

“Unclear expectations, guidance and support"

“Lack of guidance as to expectations”

“Giving conflicting messages about what is expected of employees and the organisation; a disconnect between the stated mission and values, and what leadership actually did when they had to respond to situations"

ACCOUNTABILITY

Around 20 responses touched on issues related to lack of consequences for poor behaviour. Sample respondent comments include the following:

“Lack of discipline for those who were unethical, rewarding and promoting those who were unethical and punishing those who dared speak up about unethical conduct. Power abuse is prolific”

“Lack of enforcement for non-compliance”

“Management ignoring unethical behaviour”

“No consequences for acting unethically, and managers turning a blind eye to their own unethical behaviour”

“Employees not being held to account for their actions and being poorly managed by their leader”


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AUSTRALIAN HR INSTITUTET 61 (3) 9918 9200E [email protected] ahri.com.au/research

This publication represents a sample of the views and perspectives of the member respondents who contributed to the survey on which it was based. Although AHRI has exercised due care and skill in its preparation, it does not warrant its accuracy, completeness, currency or suitability for any purpose.

ethics in business · ethics in business research report | executive summary 4 executive summary in...

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