The IBE’s first Annual Debate was held in 2008 in memory of Christopher Beresford, our Chairman from 2000-2006 who sadly died suddenly four years ago. Following the success of that first discussion it was decided to make this an annual event. In previous years we have had lively discussions on the subjects of “Does increased regulation reduce corporate responsibility?” (2009) and “What can business teach politics about ethics?”(2008)

In 2010 the Discussion was held on Thursday 8th July at the Princess Alexandra Hall, Royal Overseas League, SW1

We were delighted Ian Powell of PricewaterhouseCoopers acted and Panel Chair. He was joined by

Martin Le Jeune, IBE Trustee
Robert Phillips, Chief Executive, Edelman UK
Sir Kevin Tebbit, Chairman, Finmeccanica UK
Sion Whellens, Director Co-operatives UK Ltd

In today’s environment recruiting the right workforce is crucial to success. There are many pressures in business and home life that might cause people to ‘do the wrong thing’ under pressure. How does an organisation try to mitigate such a risk. What is it reasonable to do?

For a summary of the event please click here >>

To support the IBE’s current project on this topic, participant were invited to share their experiences and learn from the research of Dr Dietz.

This confidential workshop discussion for corporate subscribers was conducted under the ‘Chatham House Rule’.

During the economic crisis there has been much made about governance, were there failures? Ethics is another area talked of, were there failures in behaviour? Shareholder engagement, or lack of it as perceived by some is a third area that has been questioned in the market, by the media and through the various reports from the FSA, FRC and Sir David Walker. So where are we today? What is the role of the shareholder and institutional investor?

Paul Lee, Director at Hermes Equity Ownership Services (HEOS) is an expert on governance and shareholder engagement. HEOS is a pioneering advisory service which enables its clients to be responsible investors and owners of companies, using its global weight and gravitas it empowers pension fund trustees and institutional investors to engage with the boards of the companies they invest in, to create sustainable value for members and end investors.

This confidential workshop discussion for corporate subscribers will be conducted under the ‘Chatham House Rule’.

For a summary of the discussion please click here >>

The past is an increasingly unreliable guide to the future. Changes in technology, markets, regulation, global politics, the environment, demographics, markets and the expectations of employees place adaptability and innovation at a premium. Previously sound models of management and organisation may no longer be able to deliver sustainable competitiveness.
 
How do companies achieve the versatility required in an increasingly volatile global environment? What are the implications for their employees?

Professor Peter Totterdill is Joint Chief Executive of the UK Work Organisation Network (UKWON) which brings together employers' organisations, trade unions, universities, professional bodies, policymakers and other interest groups to research, develop and disseminate ways of organising work that lead to improved performance and an enhanced quality of working life. At UKWON Peter runs a portfolio of projects embracing research on leading-edge practice in work organisation, future-oriented thinking about work, public policy development, inter-organisational learning and workplace dialogue and innovation.

Overview:

• There is a significant gap between leading-edge practice and common practice; a recent EU survey showed that only 15% of organisations are doing what works; the Nordic countries scored best, with the UK around the middle of the EU 27.
• -Most of the predictions made about the future of the workplace at the beginning of the 2000s (e.g: the ‘end of work’ through technology, the paperless office, the death of hierarchy and the end of the office as a physical space) have not come to fruition.
• -The impact of the global recession means that some organisations will have reacted to it better than others and will come out of it faster and stronger; recent years have shown that survival is not guaranteed for any organisation, with many established names disappearing. This suggests that perhaps organisations are becoming gradually obsolete.
• -Changing relationship between work and capital: work and employees used to be more anonymous and replaceable, although employees often had a strong identity with their employer. The identity has weakened somewhat now, and work has become more unique and personal, there is greater value in the individuals that form a company. It is estimated that the departure of an average employee costs a company in the Silicon Valley $125,000 because of the knowledge and contacts they take with them. The loss of strong identity with an employer is demonstrated by the fact that the average 32-year old American has worked for 9 firms in the course of his career.
• -With the growth of technology, work is becoming more intense and communications devices such as email and the Blackberry increasingly encroach on time outside of the workplace. This has led to increased workplace stress and related absenteeism.
• -Development of work as a community; increasingly the workplace is where many people find their friends and partners, rather than in weakening neighbourhood communities. Employers are increasingly recognising that good quality of work and workplace is a competitive asset.
• The session was then opened to questions, and a discussion ensued.

You are invited to end the year on a high note at the Institute of Business Ethics!

A time to chat to friends, meet new ones and enjoy sampling business ethics dilemmas for yourself, there will be exciting Christmas cameos and a fun and unique dilemma quiz for your entertainment.

The event will take place at 24 Greencoat Place, London SW1P 1BE starting at 3pm with mince pies and tea served throughout the afternoon. The event will close at 5.00pm.

Andy Wales, Head of Sustainable Development at SABMiller, will lead the discussion:

'Developing and embedding a global sustainable development governance and benchmarking system'

Product claims, airbrushing photos, ‘pester power’ marketing, stealth marketing, cross cultural issues are just some of the topics highlighted as ethical lapses in the media over recent years.

Trust is necessary for marketing to succeed. As case studies in the report show irresponsible marketing destroys it. What should those in marketing consider when thinking about these issues? Do company codes of ethics address them?

This new report explains why a discipline of ethics and responsibility is essential for the marketing function of any company. Emmanuel Lulin, Group Director of Ethics at L’Oreal, who sponsored the report, will introduced the topic. He will explain why the topic is so important to a global fast moving consumer goods company (FMCG) such as L’Oreal. Mallen Baker, the author of the report, described the main findings of the report and its principal conclusions. There was an opportunity to ask questions and participate in an open discussion.

In 2007 IMI plc, a UK headquartered global engineering company, announced an internal investigation into irregular payments in one of its business divisions. Employees were suspended as the company proactively approached the relevant authorities. In August this year a settlement was reached with the US Department of Justice and a fine of $18.2 million agreed.

The company is committed to undertaking its business to the highest ethical standards so has recently reviewed its ethics and compliance programme. During the course of 2009 IMI has launched its first ever global code of conduct and face-to-face ethics training for all employees worldwide. It has been an interesting year and is perhaps best summed up by an employee who commented “I thought all this code of conduct and ethics training would be dead boring but it was actually a lot of fun!”

At this lunch Jo Morgan shared with us the experience of the company being under investigation and the steps it has taken to ensure it will not happen again.

The financial crisis has affected everyone, but might it have been avoided if business ethics had been higher up the agenda?  The origins of the problems are rooted in the demands of the market for short term results. So, will the recent suggestions published by the FSA on bonuses, the Walker report and the FRC review make a difference?

Each has referred to the need to reflect on behaviour and corporate culture. So how can we learn from what has happened so that it does not get repeated?  How can the short term culture be replaced by a longer perspective? Hugh Pym, is Chief Economics Correspondent at the BBC and has been interpreting and commenting on the financial crisis on a daily basis.  He will discuss the origins of the crisis, what lessons could be learned and how culture and behaviours may adapt for the new era of scrutiny. Hugh will examine these issues which will then be followed by an open discussion under the Chatham House Rule. 

‘Because there is no Plan B’ has become a famous strap line, coined by M&S when it launched Plan A, the company’s integrated ’eco-plan’ launched in January 2007. Plan A is based around M&S values of quality, value, service, innovation and trust. Its targets were stretching and devised in stronger economic times. So how does a company keep its commitments and the momentum going on its sustainability programmes in a downturn? How does it demonstrate that it continues to do business ethically? 

Mike Barry is Head of Sustainable Business for M&S and will share with us the M&S case study of how to maintain momentum. Mike has been with M&S for nearly 10 years and has been at the heart of its journey to shift from philanthropy to CSR and now to its long term journey to build a more sustainable business model for the future.

Overview:

• Mike opened the lunch with an overview of M&S’s sustainability agenda known as ‘Plan A’.  Plan A is different from CSR, it goes to the heart of M&S business strategy, covers every issue faced by a retailer, and affects the whole value chain.  It is a change management brand that is not consumer facing, but is used internally.
• Customers’ attitude to Plan A are divided into four ‘camps’, support for which has been shifting. 19% (a static proportion during recession) adopt the view of ‘It’s not my problem’, 36% (falling number) cannot see how they can make a difference in tackling global challenges, 35% (increasing) support Plan A if it is easy, while 10% (falling slightly) are classed as ‘crusaders’ strongly in favour.
• In 2006 a new peer group developed for M&S. Previously the company was allied with European based competitors such as the Body Shop.  Leadership in the sustainability agenda has now shifted largely from European to US companies with the likes of Walmart and Nike leading the way.  New companies will emerge without any ‘20th Century baggage’ - UK and European business cannot afford to be complacent.
• Why have we not ‘packed it in’ Plan A given the recession?  Because customers want it, it motivates employees, because the short term financial payback from eco-efficiency is proving significant and new longer term revenue opportunities are emerging.
• How will we know when we’ve achieved a sustainable business model? We won’t know for many years.  We’re only 10% of the way along the journey that is Plan A.  We’re learning as we go and our concept of what a sustainable retail business model looks like is constantly evolving. 

The global economy is not just simply in recession, but may well be going into a more profound, and protracted, downturn: this may threaten companies and even societies.  The current malaise has shaken confidence in old priorities, mindsets and incentives which in turn, has helped to create growing public and political appetite for an alternative paradigm, driven by more sustainable values, priorities and targets.  A new report called The Phoenix Economy by Volans (an innovation consultancy and think tank) surveys businesses, investors  and social entrepreneurs to find out what they are thinking as they develop and scale market solutions to a broad array of social, environmental and economic challenges (the triple-bottom line) and well as governance needs.

John Elkington is co-founder of Volans and SustainAbility. He is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. In 2004, BusinessWeek described him as “a dean of the corporate responsibility movement for three decades.”  In 2008, The Evening Standard named John among the '1000 Most Influential People' in London, describing him as "a true green business guru," and as "an evangelist for corporate social and environmental responsibility long before it was fashionable." His latest book is ‘The Power of Unreasonable People’, co-authored with Pamela Hartigan (Harvard Business School Press, 2008). John will look at where business ethics fits in with The Phoenix Economy at our offices at 24 Greencoat Place, London SW1P 1BE

According to the recent IBE National Ethics at Work Survey, 55% of employees surveyed are offered training on standards of ethical conduct by their employer. The use of scenarios and dilemmas in ethics training is an effective way to bring the subject of ethics alive.

• What makes a good dilemma for training?
• How do you ensure they are effective?
• How do you develop them?
• How do you facilitate their discussion?

Jane Mitchell has worked with companies such as Unilever, Legal & General, Network Rail and LastMinute.com as an internal communications specialist and was responsible for developing the internal communications of the Rolls-Royce ethics programme.   She is currently working with BAE Systems, training facilitators for the company’s offline ethics training programme.  She introduced a practical workshop in using dilemmas in ethics training which will be helpful to those devising or revising how ethics is embedded within their organisation.

Those attending are asked to be ready to say a few words on how they see the credit crisis/economic down turn impacting the corporate ethics function and any ethical issues that they feel are likely to emerge.How will it change your way of working, if at all? What steps are you taking to minimise any potential ethical risks derived from the downturn?

David Harris, Director, Ethics & Business Conduct, Lockheed Martin led a discussion on how the ethics function works together with other corporate functions

Much blame for the current economic malaise has been laid at the feet of the bankers. The accumulation of what turns out to be toxic assets has been attributed to overindulgence and greed. The subsequent erosion of trust in the integrity of individuals and between the financial service companies themselves has resulted in a credit crunch adversely effecting the whole economy. How can the financial services industry and business in general, rebuild trust? Simon Culhane is Chief Executive of the Securities & Investment Institute where he has been for the last five years; prior to that he worked at Deutsche Bank and in the Cabinet Office in Whitehall. Using real life scandals, ethical dilemmas and electronic voting, Simon will take a close look at integrity at work and discuss how trust can be rebuilt in our financial system.

How do you know your ethics programme is working? How can you measure, manage and develop good business practices? What issues do companies find difficult, and how are these issues being addressed?

At this corporate subscriber workshop, Michael Littlechild and Leo Martin from GoodCorporation will present on approaches to ethical assurance and how these are changing. GoodCorporation provides organisations with a standard against which management practices in all stakeholder groups could be assessed. Michael and Leo will also present some of their findings from over 250 assessments in over 40 countries.

As part of the workshop, we would like each of the participants to take part in a survey about their own organisation using a simple 'self-assessment' tool developed by GoodCorporation. The survey will only take under 5 minutes to complete and GoodCorporation will email your results before the workshop. Please answer the questions in the survey as honestly as possible, your answers will be only seen by yourself and will not be disclosed to any other participant in the workshop or any other third party. A link to the survey is on GoodCorporation's homepage www.goodcorporation.com

For a hands-on interactive example of ethical assurance, GoodCorporation will then present the results of the questionnaires, showing how they compare to the average of other participants in the workshop. GoodCorporation will then comment on issues arising from the responses by contrasting the responses given by the participants against the experience of GoodCorporation's assessments.

The speaker opened the discussion with an overview of Severn Trent’s experience of recovering from an ethical lapse. 

The lapse had been uncovered in May 2004 when a whistleblower alleged senior management had defrauded customers by providing the regulator Ofwat, with false regulatory returns.  The speaker described some of the remedial actions that the Severn Trent Group has taken, such as: significant organisational and structural changes; change at senior management level; updating and re-issuing of Severn Trent’s financial control policies; re-emphasis and reinforcement of compliance as a core value in Severn Trent; leadership training; and re-introduction of a whistle blowing policy. 

Attention was drawn to the difficulty of managing not only the recovery process, but also the day-to-day business of the Severn Trent Group and its associated companies.  Reflecting this, Severn Trent made the decision to divest itself of several of the companies within the Group, thus enabling them to focus their resources on their core business and on recovering from the ethical lapse.

In the ensuing discussion, the following topics were addressed:

• Role of the company’s internal auditors
• Treatment of the whistle blower – existing whistleblower policy
• Involvement/engagement of the Board
• Elements of a ‘good’ compliance culture
• Role of external auditors in the crisis
• Importance of keeping some ‘corporate memory’ from retention of staff
• Severn Trent’s current relationship with their regulator
• Reactions of the staff

Annual conference for those responsible for ethics within organisations of more than 500 employees.

A summary of the event can be found on the conference website www.ebef.eu

The speaker opened the discussion with an overview of what business ethics is and what a corporate ethical strategy entails. He posed the argument that employees are a company's most expensive asset and yet very little preventative measures are taken to ensure their wellbeing. He posited that preventative health management is the most effective tool for establishing and maintaining high levels of staff wellbeing and reducing ill-health absence, all of which can lead to lower productivity and high costs. After identifying six key stress factors, the speaker went on to elaborate on the human and financial cases for wellbeing. He suggested three ways in which employers can support the employee wellness: (i) Audit (understanding the current organisational culture and the key health issues effecting the workforce); (ii) Physical (encouraging employees to adopt a healthy lifestyle); and (iii) Mental (ensuring that stress is tackled throughout the organisation and employees are supported by management). He pointed to the importance of involving staff in creating an organisational 'culture' of wellbeing and went on to discuss several examples of companies that have benefited from implementing a wellbeing strategy and concluded with a summary of the intrinsic link between 'employee wellbeing' and 'organisational wellness'.

A discussion ensued in which the following topics were addressed:

• Lack of recognition and promotion of wellbeing in U.K. legislation.
• Difference in stress levels between temporary and permanent employees
• Importance of recognizing that you can't change individual's habits of a lifetime but you can create an organisational culture which facilitates wellbeing and encourages behavioural change.
• Regulation regarding spouses and family and the importance of maintaining a balance between home and work life.
• Impact of inaccurate absence management systems in organisations.
• Effect that self reporting mechanisms such as annual staff surveys have on staff morale.
• Achieving a culture of wellbeing in SMEs who have limited resources.
• Importance of language when communicating wellbeing.
• Inability of many line managers to manage people properly.
• Recognition that organisations cannot take a 'one size fits all' approach to wellbeing as different generations have different attitudes to work.
• Effect of the economic downturn on promotion of wellbeing in organisations.