Washington, DC -- A new method for incorporating ethics into organizational culture is now available thanks to the work of leaders in academia and the corporate sector.  Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. President William J. Pesce, co-chairs of the Business Higher Education Forum (BHEF) ethics initiative, today introduced this new approach and results of their study on ethical business practices in the wake of recent corporate scandals. 

“This effort provides an important and practical tool to businesses and non-profit leaders who want to improve their organization's  ethical performance,” said John J. DeGioia, President of Georgetown University.  “This framework can be a valuable resource for those looking for ways to embed ethics into their organization’s culture.”

The new BHEF report, “Embedding Ethics in Business and Higher Education: From Leadership to Management Imperative,” diagnoses the problem of corporate corruption, explains available management options to address organizational ethics, provides new strategies for weaving ethics into the culture of an organization, and offers a practical application of that strategy for businesses and non-profit institutions.

"We hope that the Business Higher Eduction Forum study will help to develop a new generation of leaders who realize that you can't legislate ethics and integrity, but you can create and sustain a performance-driven culture that rejects unethical behavior," said Mr. Pesce. 

The report, authored by Georgetown University Assistant Professor of Business Edward Soule, states that “ethics is an area in which today’s best management practices may not be good enough” and offers a new framework for measuring and embedding ethical performance.

This new methodology builds on the success of initiatives to embed quality in business performance and calls for “explicit accountability for the ethical performance of an organization” as well as “increased transparency or the ability for those with a stake in an organization to assess its ethical condition.”  The report suggests that ethics can be embedded into an organization's culture by motivating individual managers and leveraging their ingenuity by incorporating “explicit objectives, proper incentives, periodic evaluations, and the necessary support and resources” within an organization.

The report urges institutional leaders to apply a systematic approach to the management of ethics within their organizations.  Implementing such a strategy “requires exemplary ethical performance, and while no strategy can guarantee that outcome, the proactive management of ethical culture adds a strong layer of protection to the standard defense of leadership, compliance, and training.”  Such work will establish baselines to measure improvement over time.

The full report is available at www.bhef.com.

About Wiley & Sons

Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., provides must-have content and services to customers worldwide. Its core businesses include scientific, technical, and medical journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional and consumer books and subscription services; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley has publishing, marketing, and distribution centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey. Wiley's European operations are based in Chichester, England. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb. Wiley's Internet site can be accessed at http://www.wiley.com.

About BHEF

The Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) is a non-profit membership organization of leaders from American businesses, colleges and universities, museums, and foundations.  The purpose of the group is to join together to examine issues of national importance and, when appropriate, to speak with one voice by issuing reports, white papers, and policy positions, and by sponsoring roundtable discussions with elected public officials, representatives from both the corporate and the academic communities, and with the general public.  Founded in 1978, the Forum was hosted by the American Council on Education until it became an independent organization in September 2004.  Visit the BHEF at http://www.bhef.com.

About Georgetown University

Georgetown University is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs on its three campuses. For more information about Georgetown University, visit www.georgetown.edu.