Quality matters: when Codes of Ethics can make a real difference
08 September 2025
What is the ethical issue?
Understanding how employees make decisions is important for organisations of all sizes in order to ensure the measures they have in place to promote ethical behaviour are appropriate. As a result, companies are increasingly investing resources in the development of an ethics programme that brings their ethical values to life and provides guidance to their staff on how to tackle ethical dilemmas.
Naturally, all companies run the risk of facing ethical issues or running into reputational problems due to the behaviour of employees. Even companies with a mature ethics programme are not immune from lapses or even major ethical scandals that pose clear questions about the effectiveness of these programmes. If codes of ethics are not effectively embedded into workplace culture or decision-making, be it through performance management, incentives or other methods, then companies increase the chances of unethical behaviour permeating through the company.
Research has highlighted how the culture of a workplace, particularly if that culture is considered to contribute to the way decisions are made, can impact the ethical behaviours of employees. Individuals believe that the expectations placed on them in their professional role, combined with a culture which is possibly not values-led, can result in setting aside ethical principles. If these behaviours are prevalent in an organisation, it greatly increases the risk of scandals and reputational issues arising.
IBE Guidance
A summary of good practice
- There are ways in which organisations can induce positive and ethical behaviour. Organisational expectations are key, and doing the right thing as an instinctive reaction and ensuring high personal moral standards should be outlined early as an expectation from employers. Following this, ethics needs to become part of the reward, recognition and promotion system.
- In day-to-day work, where decisions are made and tasks are completed, organisations need to be aware of how time pressures can negatively impact ethics in decision-making and how internal communications and language can influence workplace culture.
Further resources
A little help
IBE’s Associate Director, Prof. Chris Cowton, reflects on the role of ethical decision-making models, the subject of our latest research report.
22 March 2023
FTSE 100 Ethical Decision-Making Models: good questions, good answers?
This report analyses the ethical decision-making models contained in the codes of ethics of the UK’s leading companies, the FTSE 100.
20 March 2023
Attitudes of the British Public to Business Ethics 2022
Businesses and UK politicians must do better at demonstrating their ethical credentials if they are to win back the confidence of the British public - the 2022 results of the IBE's annual survey of the attitudes of the British public to business ethics.
29 June 2022
Employees’ voices: a glass half full
The results of our latest Ethics at Work survey bring us some good news, but also some red flags that cannot be ignored as organisations shape their ethical agenda for the future.
08 December 2021
Ethics at Work: 2021 International Survey of Employees
This survey is the only one of its kind, covering 13 countries over four continents, that provides real insight into employees’ views on ethics across all sectors and job roles.
04 November 2021
FTSE 100 Codes of Ethics: room for improvement
An assessment of the Codes of Ethics of the UK’s leading companies.
09 August 2021
We All Make Mistakes – But Can We Learn from Them?
In our latest guest blog, Corinne Fenech, discusses why unethical decision making is not above any of us, why this matters, and what each of us can do about it.
26 May 2021
Ethics challenges for new employees and those changing jobs
Read our latest guest blog by By Kirk O. Hanson, Coauthor of Rotten: Why Corporate Misconduct Continues And What To Do About It.
12 May 2021
Attitudes of the British Public to Business Ethics 2020
The 2020 results of the IBE's annual survey of the attitudes of the British public to business ethics.
30 December 2020
Hugh Kay Lecture: Standards in Public Life - Are we in a Post-Nolan age?
View the recording of our webinar.
12 November 2020
Ethics Goes Viral: pandemic dilemmas
Review the webinar recording, dilemmas and voting results of our previous series.
15 October 2020
Ethics at Work 2018: Germany
This survey report describes the German findings of our 2018 Ethics at Work research and provides comparison with the European average from the eight countries surveyed.
10 December 2019