What does it mean to behave ethically?

In Big brands acting ethically, I mentioned companies like Volkswagen, Wells Fargo and United Airlines who should have behaved better. They didn’t and suffered the consequences.

​But what does it actually mean to act ethically?

The ISO 26000 societal responsibility standard includes ethical behaviour as one of its 8 principles. ISO 26000 provides guidance and helps clarify what social responsibility is. The standard was launched in 2010 following five years of negotiations between representatives from government, NGOs, industry, consumer groups and labour organisations around the world. It is the best representation of what social responsibility is and what ‘behaving ethically’ means.

It defines ethical behaviour as “behaviour that is in accordance with accepted principles of right or good conduct in the context of a particular situation…” 

An organisation should only claim that it is acting ethically when it has addressed all of the following:

1. Identify and state its core values and principles
2. Develop and use governance structures to promote ethical behaviour
3. Identify, adopt and apply standards of behaviour appropriate to its purpose and activities consistent with ISO 26000 principles
4. Encourage and promote the observance of standards of ethical behaviour
5. Define and communicate the standards of behaviour expected
6. Prevent or resolve conflicts of interest throughout that could lead to unethical behaviour
7. Establish and maintain oversight controls to monitor, support and enforce behaviour
8. Establish and maintain mechanisms to report unethical behaviour without reprisal
9. Recognise and address situations where local laws either do not exist or are in conflict with ethical behaviour
10. Adopt and apply internationally recognised standards when conducting research with human subjects
11. Respect the welfare of animals

 
How well does your organisation do against these 11 areas?

It is a pity that the company officers at Volkswagen, Wells Fargo and United Airlines didn’t ask themselves this question before taking the action they did.