The Business Ethics Practice

It is a truism that being ethical consists in doing the right thing, but truisms are of little practical value to companies facing the challenges of highly competitive markets. In the Business Ethics Practice of The Applied Ethics Group, we help companies to grow stronger by drawing on the power of ethics applied to the specific context of their business. AEG’s Business Ethics Practice is not an exercise in ethical theory and it is definitely not a public relations tactic – rather, Applied Ethics advises business with the aim of helping them to engage in a process of transformation in which their strategic objectives are reinterpreted in light of rigorous ethical standards.

Beyond the Culture of Compliance

It is also worth noting that the focus of Applied Ethics’ services is not compliance. One of the unintended outcomes of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is that it helped to create a “compliance” industry. To a large extent, American business has benefited from SOX, and yet, despite its value, businesses put themselves in jeopardy if compliance is confused for ethics.

At The Applied Ethics Group, we take compliance as a given. We are, however, apprehensive that the culture of compliance may contribute to an environment in which employees are more focused on the letter of the law than the spirit. This is a clear formula for conducting business on the edge of legality. The net result may lead to a “hacker mentality,” whereby raising the compliance bar is interpreted as a challenge to advance the sophistication of malfeasance.

It is not enough to talk the talk. An ethical company walks the walk by going beyond compliance and building an ethical culture. That takes work. It isn’t easy. It can be uncomfortable, and sometimes painful. But the development of an ethical culture is indispensable for placing businesses more firmly on a trajectory of success.

The bottom line is not simply a number. The bottom line is this: no company is strong without ethics, and strong companies are the most successful.

Program Services

To assist organizations The Applied Ethics Group draws on the skills of consultants across a range of disciplines and in a variety of geographic locations. The services to be offered will be determined by the needs of the clients and the capabilities of the consultants. Examples of some of the basic services offered include the following:

  • Climate assessment and culture formation

  • Risk analysis

  • Policies and codes of ethics development

  • Educational services

  • Coaching/training

  • Corporate Social Responsibility: analysis and program formation

  • Ethics in organizational strategy development