Week That Was in Ethical Systems, 2/3-2/9

Survey: Workplace Misconduct at Historic Low, from the Ethics Resource Center

In case you missed our previous blog post, the 2013 National Business Ethics Survey came out last week, with fairly encouraging results. Sampling over 6,400 workers across the country, the report found that 41% of those surveyed said they have observed misconduct on the job, down from 55% in 2007. Pressure to compromise standards also fell to 9% from 13% in 2011.

Business Ethics a ‘Selling Point’ for Young Jobseekers, in The Telegraph

“Ethics are becoming as important in the recruitment of the young as salary or other benefits,” reports Waitrose managing director Mark Price. This is a trend that we at EthicalSystems.org are also watching with growing interest. As information on corporate culture and social responsibility becomes more widely available, young people are increasingly capable of distinguishing which employers they feel would be a good fit for them. Companies that wish to draw in fresh talent from the ranks of recent graduates would do well to foster a strongly aligned ethical culture and values that comport with the concerns voiced by the youth of today.

Wall Street Scrambles to Hire Electronic Trading Compliance Staff, in The Wall Street Journal

The rise of electronic trading networks had been accompanied by a host of new regulations to govern their responsible use, and firms that cannot keep up with the rules can face serious fines and penalties. With additional layers of complexity in the trading environment comes the need for additional compliance officers who understand the intricate systems and large volumes of data in play. We are encouraged to see companies such as Barclays and J.P. Morgan Chase taking steps to strengthen their compliance programs to address the challenges of the electronic trading age.

Are Private Companies More Ethical Than Public Ones? in the Conflict of Interest Blog

Ethical Systems contributor Jeff Kaplan writes about the different C&E challenges facing private and public companies. Although it is easy to say that private companies are better positioned to focus on integrity and ethics, the situation is a little more nuanced than that. Private and public entities have different ownership and management structures, and they must interface with different sets of stakeholders. Understanding and integrating the full range of interests and concerns faced by each type of company is crucial to ensuring ethically upstanding conduct.