3. Surveys and Report Findings

This section of our website contains information of research reports and surveys relevant to business ethics published in the past four years.

Surveys

 ‘Business Ethics – General Public Trends’
An annual survey of members of the public in the UK, conducted by Ipsos-MORI on behalf of the Institute of Business Ethics.
For 2008 results click here >>

Ipsos-MORI Trust in Professions (2007)
This report presents the findings of a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians. The survey seeks to: find out the level of public trust for a variety of professions; to measure the level of public trust for doctors in general; and to find out how important various aspects of a doctor’s job are to the general public.
www.ipsos-mori.com/_assets/polls/2007/pdf/trust-in-professions-2007.pdf

Edelman Trust Barometer Report (2008)
This report is Edelman’s ninth survey on trust and credibility.  Over 3,000 people in more than 18 countries, and from a range of industries, are surveyed on various issues relating to trust and the credibility of business.
www.edelman.co.uk/files/trust-barometer-2008.pdf

Ethics Resource Center – National Business Ethics Survey (2007)
Published every two years, ERC's National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) measures how employees at all levels in more than 3,000 U.S. workplaces view ethics within their own organisations. Key findings include:
- misconduct in companies is very high - more than half of employees see misconduct
- employees are fearful of retaliation and skeptical that their report will make a difference
- ethics and compliance programs yield positive results if they are well-implemented
- coupling a strong ethical culture with a strong ethics and compliance program is the path to the greatest reduction in ethics risk
www.ethics.org/research/nbes.asp

Less stress, More value – Henderson Survey (2005)
This report offers an insight into the state of stress management among some of Britain’s largest companies.  It concludes with recommendations on how further improvements can be made.
www3.henderson.com/content/presscentre/public/documents/mediareleases/en/hendersonemphasisesvalueofreducingworkplacestress.pdf

Reports

CORPORATE CULTURE

Ethics Resource Centre: Critical Elements of an Organizational Ethical Culture (2006)
The ERC measures eighteen dimensions of ethical culture by asking employees if their top and middle management, supervisors, and coworkers demonstrate various "Ethics Related Actions" (ERAs) in the workplace. ERC found that employees who perceive their managers, supervisors, and coworkers displaying ERAs are more likely to observe outcomes expected of an effective ethics and compliance program than those whose colleagues and managers exhibit fewer ERAs. This paper builds upon the the ERC’s National Business Ethics Survey findings on ethical culture and explores which ERAs have a greater impact on program outcomes. In addition, this paper presents new analysis on whether ethics training is more useful for junior employees than for senior employees.
www.workingvalues.com/Dec06WorkingValuesWhtPpr.pdf

CORPORATE VALUES

The Aspen Institute & Booz, Allen, Hamilton: Deriving Value from Corporate Values (2005)
This report summarises the findings from a major global study of corporate values.  It aims to establish greater clarity around how companies define corporate values, to expand on research about the relationship of values to business performance, and to identify best practices for managing corporate values.
www.aspeninstitute.org/atf/cf/%7BDEB6F227-659B-4EC8-8F84-8DF23CA704F5%7D/VALUE%20SURVEY%20FINAL.PDF

CR / CSR

Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics:  A New Approach to CSR (2006)
This paper shows how the dominant model of CRS has outlived its usefulness. The paper argues that it is time to replace "corporate social responsibility" with an idea of "company stakeholder responsibility."
www.corporate-ethics.org/pdf/csr.pdf

Doughty Centre: Unpicking the Corporate Social Responsibility debate (2007)
This paper encapsulates the continuing debate over the role of business in society, as debated by Cranfield Emeritus Professor David Myddelton and David Grayson.  The paper is designed to inform and provoke further debate and inquiry.
https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/1826/2312/1/Business%20of%20Business%20Is-SOM.pdf

CUSTOMERS

Ipsos (MORI): Understanding Customer Relationships (2008)
This paper attempts to offer some observations on the extent to which customer relationships are seen through the lens of personal relationships.  The issues of customer expectations and behaviour, and how these are changing, are addressed.
http://www.ipsos-mori.com/_assets/reports/understanding-customer-relationships.pdf

CROSS-CULTURAL ETHICS

Markkula Center for Applied Ethics: Corporate Ethics, Governance and Social Responsibility - Comparing European Business Practices to those in the United States (2004)
This study looks at the similarities and differences between the U.S. and European business environments. Though Europe may lead in many social and environmental performance measures, business operations in the United States and Europe are not as different as many assume.
www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/submitted/hurst/comparitive_study.pdf

FRAUD

Ernst & Young: Corruption or Compliance – Weighing the Costs, 10th Global Fraud Survey (2008)
Ernst and Young surveyed approximately 1,200 senior financial and risk managers, as well as heads of legal, compliance and internal audit teams in international organizations based in 33 countries worldwide.  The report reveals weaknesses in the fight against corruption and fraud and shows that, despite the vast amount of new anti-corruption legislation and increased enforcement efforts around the world, corruption is still prevalent.
www2.eycom.ch/publications/items/fraud_report_10/ey_global_fraud_survey_10.pdf

Kroll: Annual Global Fraud Report (2008)
Kroll commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit to conduct a worldwide survey on fraud and its effect on business during 2008.  A total of 890 senior executives from global companies, across ten industries took part in the survey.  This report brings together the survey results and analyses the findings.
www.kroll.com/library/fraud/FraudReport_English-UK_Sept08.pdf

BUSINESS AND CLIMATE CHANGE

KPMG Climate Changes your Business (2008)
In this report KPMG bring together and analyse the most important research into the effects of climate change on the corporate world, and identify the specific risks and economic impacts at sector level that businesses must address.
www.kpmg.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Climatechang_riskreport.pdf

Pew Center: Adapting to Climate Change – A Business Approach (2008)
This paper outlines a practical business approach to analyzing and adapting to the physical risks of climate change.  It summarises the case for business action, offers a qualitative screening process to assess whether a business is likely to be vulnerable to the physical risks associated with climate change, and presents thee case studies examining companies that have begun to look at climate risks.
www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/Business-Adaptation.pdf