Johnson & Johnson published their own form of an “ethics oath” entitled ”Our Credo“, as a way to communicate the mission, vision and accountability that Johnson & Johnson holds itself to for a variety of groups- doctors, nurses, patients, mothers, fathers, employees, those in the communities they operate in, as well as the global community and company stockholders.

Previously in our post, “Crisis Management and Ethics Best Practices: Johnson & Johnson“, we discussed the elements of the corporate culture at J&J and other practices they have adopted that have made the company a leader in corporate social responsibility.

Our Credo was created in 1943 by Robert Wood Johnson, a member of the founding family of the Johnson and Johnson Company. It was created just before the company became a publicly traded entity and long before the term “corporate social responsibility” was used for accountability in the workplace. On the Johnson and Johnson corporate website, they state that:

“Our Credo challenges us to put the needs and well-being of the people we serve first. Our Credo is more than just a moral compass- we believe it’s a recipe for business success. As a key player in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, Johnson & Johnson understands the responsibility they have when it comes to providing safe products to their consumers, as the risks tied to faulty products within this industry are particularly sensitive.”

The Ethics Oath

In an earlier post of ours, “Corporate Ethics Oath: A Tool For Understanding and Developing Workplace Ethics“, we discussed how creating and reciting a corporate ethics oath could be used as a tool to help strengthen the ethical culture within your company. As a refresher, here are some of the benefits of having your employees publicly recite an ethics oath:

• Positive Brand Value - According to this article about brand value on Ethisphere, making your commitment to ethics public means that you are showing an investment in your brand value. When businesses are perceived as committed to ethics, safety or another area of consumer importance, many consumers will disregard the cost of your service or product based on the fact that they feel they are buying the best.
• Increase in Commitment From Employees - When employees work for a company with a strong brand value, they are more likely to want to remain in as a part of your workplace and will usually end up promoting and endorsing the brand they work for because they truly believe in what their company offers.
• Perception + Expectation= Reality - Mistakes are sometimes unavoidable and when a company addresses an error head on, the perception and expectations set for that particular company now become a reality. When all both external and internal stakeholders in your company actually follow through on their commitments, the public develops even more respect for your brand image.
• EVERYONE is Accountable - Reinforcing the “tone from the top” concept- when lower level employees are with their bosses and managers standing in the same area and making the same commitment to ethics, employees at all levels are more likely to adopt and commit to making an ethical change because speaking the words of the pledge with everyone in their workplace has a much greater impact than a sign posted on the wall.

Many companies use storytelling and the mission of previous company leaders as a way to inspire employees and get them on board when working towards company goals. In the case of Johnson and Johnson, the importance of “Our Credo” has been evident since conception, and continues to play a signifiacnt role in the company today. When looking at the above benefits that an ethics oath can provide a company, Johnson and Johnson has been able to experience the rewards associated with each of these benefits.

The story of  Johnson and Johnson’s “Our Credo” is a great example of the positive impact a corporate ethics oath can have on a company. Here is the video version of “Our Credo”:

Brand value and company reputation can really take a beating when a company is faced with accusations of ethical misconduct in the workplace. Information is faster and more accessible now than ever before, which makes “laying low” virtually impossible – just ask Tiger Woods. In the article “Ethics Branding” by Steve Brock, he focuses in on why workplace ethics are heavily connected to the power of your brand:

“Your brand is more than just a logo or tagline. It involves everything you do. Every touch point with customers affects their perspective of you, and thus your brand. Ethics matter because they are at the heart of your values. Values matter because they are at the heart of your brand.”

BrandZ Top 100 Valuable Global Brands for 2009 and Ethisphere’s 2009 World’s Most Ethical Brands- Overlapping Brands

I took some time to compare the BrandZ Top 100 Valuable Global Brands for 2009 released by Millward Brown Optimor and the 2009 World’s Most Ethical Brands by Ethisphere. Below, we have put together a list of overlapping companies that have secured a spot on each of the lists:

*2009 Brand Value reported in $M, all values come from BrandZ Top 100 Valuable Global Brands for 2009

The BrandZ list contains 100 companies, and the Ethisphere list for 2009 contains 99.  This means that roughly 25% of the businesses on each of the lists happen to be found on both lists for 2009. The companies in the chart have proven that acting ethically pays off. Continuously being recognized for their CSR and ethical business practices, all of these companies have managed to remain industry leaders and are recognized for their high value brands.

Listen, Act and Communicate

Millward Brown Optimor created a list of “take outs” at the end of their report. Take out number eight is below- it discusses the importance of turning problems into opportunities to better your brand:

“Among the ascendant brands today are Wal-Mart and McDonald’s. Yes, both brands are in the right place (low price) at the right time (recession). But their positioning is only part of the story. Several years ago, consumers objected loudly about Wal-Mart’s labor practices and the company’s negative impact on the environment. They criticized McDonald’s menu as unhealthy. Both brands listened, made changes, communicated effectively, and turned problems into opportunities.”

The same methods apply when looking at response times for ethical violations in the workplace. Companies must act quickly, respond to the needs of their stakeholders through their policies and communicate their mistakes and commitment to ethics to the public. Companies that react quickly to these allegations, have a reporting system in place and conduct thorough investigations into the claims are the ones that manage to uphold their brand value during tough times.

The Effects of Ethical Spending

Consumers are applying greater thought to the purchases they are making. The Co-operative Bank in the UK releases an annual report called the Ethical Consumerism Report, “which acts as a barometer of ethical spending in the UK. The overall ethical market in the UK was worth £35.5 billion in 2007, up 15% from £31 billion in the previous year.” Even though this is still only a portion of consumer spending, the amount spent each year has been significantly increasing. If your brand is communicated and understood as being an “ethical brand”, your brand value will continue to increase as the focus on ethics continues to grab attention.

Think of the level of transparency companies need to demonstrate today to meet consumer demands.  Consumers have easy access to company information and breaking news that can persuade their purchase habits in a matter of seconds. Consumers want to know where your suppliers and manufacturers are, contractor policies, workplace conditions for overseas employees and other important information, in order to make sure that the ethics of the company they plan to purchase from match their personal interests. If your company is constantly being recognized for commitment to ethics and prompt reaction to company mistakes, you can assume that your brand value will remain strong, as you will avoid consumer backlash and purchase boycotts.

What Does This All Mean?

Companies are faced with growing numbers of laws and legislation surrounding ethical workplace practices. In terms of companies that manufacture and sell consumer goods and services, “in the past decade, the concept of shoppers exercising an ethical choice has become part of the mainstream. Supermarket aisles are devoted to organic products, energy companies promise greener power, banks advertise their ethical investment policies.” The Ethical Consumerism Report also points out that “consumers’ emotional attachment to many ethical products is now well embedded, and we would argue that these areas will have an advantage over other markets in a downturn.”

Companies are experiencing record numbers of ethics and compliance violations being reported and making the headlines. Compliance and ethics officers are being recognized daily as “hot job positions” to hold during the coming years as companies continue to work to comply to laws and ethics policies. Yes, being ethical in the workplace does require a lot of work- but not as much work as lengthy court cases and gaining back public trust. There are products available to help you manage human resource and ethics complaints.

For example, i-Sight Investigation Software sends you a notification when a complaint is made, allows you to establish timelines for case investigations and makes reporting and team communication easier during the investigation- you can forget having to ask for someone to e-mail you a document, with i-Sight, all documents are attached to the case and are readily available for all team members to use. These systems exist to help save you time and money, ensure that no case falls through the cracks and give you the investigation tools necessary to react immediately to incidents in order to avoid negative press, a decrease in your brand value and a date at the court room.

I came across an article that was published in the New York Times back in May called “A Promise to Be Ethical in an Era of Immortality”. I wanted to share the article and some thoughts about it with you, because it could lead to an interesting activity to make a more concrete commitment to ethics in the workplace.

Article Overview:

In brief, the article talks about the 2009 MBA graduates from the Harvard Business School and a new voluntary oath that has been introduced to students from any school.  It’s called the “MBA Oath” and those taking it are pledging to “serve the greater good as a business manager, promising that graduates will act responsibly, ethically and refrain from advancing their “own narrow ambitions” at the expense of others.”

One of the graduates in the article, Dalia Rahman, was quoted as saying “when you have to make a public vow, it’s a way to commit to uphold principles.” This made me think… what if companies and their employees made public oaths committing to serve the greater good? Many companies are joining or establishing groups designed to make these kinds of pledges, so why shouldn’t you? As Rahman said, when you say something and make it public, it becomes more concrete and you feel far more responsible to uphold that promise.

How Does This Apply to Me?

Your pledge doesn’t necessarily need to be a high profile public statement, it could be something as simple as having to pledge an oath out loud to your peers in the workplace as a group. With more reports of employees holding their peers accountable in the workplace, this could be an opportunity for employees at all levels to work together to maintain the integrity of their company.  Recently, many companies have been dedicating their advertising time on television and other sources to report to the public about how they are remaining committed to safety, ethics, quality and a variety of other issues.

These efforts could be seen as their forms of “pledging” to the public, attempting to strengthen the positive image tied to their brand. Once again, going public with these commitments means that stronger efforts will need to be made in order to uphold these commitments, because the public and your employees are now aware of where you stand, and if the actions do not coincide with your statements, they will want answers.

Workplace Application and Benefits:

For those of you who are involved in compliance and human resource departments, adding an element such as an “ethics oath” into ethics training for your staff could be part of a great team building exercise. Oaths could be created so that there’s a unique one for each level of management in the company, or all staff could take the same oath. How you carry out the pledging process and what is included in your oath will be unique to your business and its goals, but the general concept can be applied to businesses across all industries.

Here are a few ways that an “ethics oath” could help bring your workplace together and have a more profound effect on the workplace quest for ethics:

• Positive Brand Value - According to this article about brand value on Ethisphere, making your commitment to ethics public means that you are showing an investment in your brand value. When businesses are perceived as committed to ethics, safety or another area of consumer importance, many consumers will disregard the cost of your service or product based on the fact that they feel they are buying the best.
• Increase in Commitment From Employees - When employees work for a company with a strong brand value, they are more likely to want to remain in as a part of your workplace and will usually end up promoting and endorsing the brand they work for because they truly believe in what their company offers.
• Perception + Expectation= Reality - Mistakes are sometimes unavoidable and when a company addresses an error head on, the perception and expectations set for that particular company now become a reality. When all both external and internal stakeholders in your company actually follow through on their commitments, the public develops even more respect for your brand image.
• EVERYONE is Accountable - Reinforcing the “tone from the top” concept- when lower level employees are with their bosses and managers standing in the same area and making the same commitment to ethics, employees at all levels are more likely to adopt and commit to making an ethical change because speaking the words of the pledge with everyone in their workplace has a much greater impact than a sign posted on the wall.

Here’s the MBA Oath:

We thought you might be able to use this as a starting point for your own Ethics Oath.

MBA OATH – SHORT VERSION
As a manager, my purpose is to serve the greater good by bringing people and resources together to create value that no single individual can build alone. Therefore I will seek a course that enhances the value my enterprise can create for society over the long term. I recognize my decisions can have far-reaching consequences that affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside my enterprise, today and in the future. As I reconcile the interests of different constituencies, I will face difficult choices.

Therefore, I promise:

• I will act with utmost integrity and pursue my work in an ethical manner.
• I will safeguard the interests of my shareholders, co-workers, customers, and the society in which we operate.
• I will manage my enterprise in good faith, guarding against decisions and behavior that advance my own narrow ambitions but harm the enterprise and the societies it serves.
• I will understand and uphold, both in letter and in spirit, the laws and contracts governing my own conduct and that of my enterprise.
• I will take responsibility for my actions, and I will represent the performance and risks of my enterprise accurately and honestly.
• I will develop both myself and other managers under my supervision so that the profession continues to grow and contribute to the well-being of society.
• I will strive to create sustainable economic, social, and environmental prosperity worldwide.
• I will be accountable to my peers and they will be accountable to me for living by this oath.

This oath I make freely, and upon my honor.