Birth of the Ethics Industry

Excerpt:
David Gebler, president of Working Values Ltd., a decade-old Boston-based business ethics consulting firm, says in the new climate [of ethics], "it's often hard for organizations to make the leap to an ethical culture because they are unsure of where to start."

He adds: "It is not enough to merely ask whether controls are in place or if everyone has attended a class or signed a code. The organization has to understand what the drivers of behavior are, and how those align with integrity goals."

Brian Gontarski, director of business development at Working Values, says an organization's code of conduct, its values, and its business goals may be created by separate units. "We strive to find the point where they all intersect, so ethics is seen as a way of doing business, not just following the company line."

Read the full story from the Summer 2005 issue of Business Ethics.