Developing Ethics Programs: An Industry Primer

This primer describes the generally accepted elements of an ethics program. It can be used as a checklist for reviewing an existing ethics programs or as a primer for initiating one. It focuses on developing and communicating company creeds and employee standards of conduct, establishing hotlines and designating ombudsmen, instituting training, establishing internal controls, and disclosing violations voluntarily. It is separated into three chapters. In Chapter 2 we present information on developing a company creed and employee standard of conduct, communicating and reinforcing the code and internally reporting violations, developing training programs, and developing an internal monitoring program. In our treatment of voluntary disclosure Chapter 3, we define voluntary discuss where, what, and when to disclose and describe such relevant issues as employee and company rights. Five appendices present detailed information. Appendix A presents prototype standards of conducts Appendix B is an annotated reading list Appendix C is a checklist of questions whose answers will help you assess your ethics program Appendix D is a list of fraud offenses and Appendix E is a listing of video material sources for ethics program training.