Is it possible to ethically quantify behavior

It also is partly attributable to the influence of total quality management, which taught companies that it is more cost-effective to avoid product and service defects than to correct them after the fact. Extended to corporate ethics, this lesson underscores the need for firms to prevent ethical lapses. A culture that reinforces ethical conduct safeguards against morally problematic decisions and deeds. First, leaders must orient their companies toward important moral values, such as respect for others, trustworthiness, transparency and fairness.

These tasks comprise the moral agenda of leadership. The SAIP assists with the second task, that of institutionalizing moral aspirations within processes and practices.

The SAIP assesses these processes using multiple criteria, including evidence of effectiveness, consistent application and continuous, systematic improvement. A set of performance benchmarks enables the organization to assign a numeric value to these processes. Higher scores on this scale reflect a greater degree of maturity. And the more mature a process is, the more likely it is to repeatedly produce desired outcomes. Virtues are those habits which incline us to behave in morally commendable ways, and our moral character is simply the unique constellation of virtues and vices we have developed during our lifetime.

The total score from a SAIP application can be understood as a measure of organizational moral character. Thomas Aquinas, after whom our university is named, is a major figure within this tradition. We can hope that he is pleased to see such work undertaken at auniversity under his patronage. Next in B Magazine. For example, some companies measure the percentage of total sales accounted for by products or services less than one or two years old, as an indicator of the extent to which they are innovating in their business.

So how might companies assess ethical behavior to increase its likelihood? First, by figuring out what are the components of ethical behavior and then developing measures of each component. Fortunately, many companies have attempted the first task and we can bootstrap off these efforts.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers are as ethically challenged as any industry. Pfizer has been one of the worst offenders, but there is much to be learned from its page "Blue Book" of business conduct. Pfizer and its competitors have thought deeply about the components of ethical conduct, even if they have not bothered to implement their insights.

First, no one can practice ethical conduct if they do not know the company's standards and applicable regulations. One way a company can measure that knowledge is by giving its employees tests to determine if they have the necessary information. Better yet, make learning fun by creating teams of employees to compete with each other in a game-show format to see which best knows the ethical values and standards.

Next, people need to feel empowered to ask questions and raise concerns if they observe problems. One of Deming's first principles was to drive fear out of the organization. Many employee surveys routinely include a "safe to say" question that asks to what extent people feel free to raise concerns and objections without fear of retaliation.

So measure how safe people feel by a question of this sort, and maybe also include one that assesses how fearful they are. And it is not particularly expensive to appoint someone to be as part of their other job roles an ethics compliance ombudsman, someone that any employee can feel free to raise concerns with in a confidential manner. Most importantly, assess what happens, and what your employees believe happens, when people violate ethical standards. One of the most troubling aspects of the ongoing financial shenanigans is that many of the worst offenders still have their jobs, or, at worst, left with barely a slap on the wrist and most of their money.

You can readily measure your ethical culture by asking people questions such as what they believe it takes to get ahead in your company, how important they think ethical standards are, and what they believe about the ethical culture of your company. Surveys are not that difficult.