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Ethical auditing
A business's ethics are the behavioural expression of its values.
These values always exist, whether or not the business consciously
recognises them. Public statements of corporate values are gaining
popularity, but such documents are not always reflected in behaviour.
Publishing an organisation's values is just the first stage of a
process. This ensures that values are promoted, embedded and integrated
into everyday activities and behaviour. Yet rarely is an organisation's
ethical performance monitored to provide feedback on progress.
It is a business's actual values in use that determine its ethical
performance. Exploring the gap between rhetoric and reality can
highlight ethical dilemmas and unethical conduct. An organisation
benefits from understanding this gap.
An ethical audit helps an organisation to be better informed about
where its operations may contain ethical vulnerabilities. The audit
is part of an assurance process based on an organisation's assessment
of risk. This provides feedback to the board on how well the organisation
is performing.
An ethical audit:
- highlights potential ethical problems staff may have to face
where unethical conduct might occur (e.g. opportunities for fraudulent
behaviour, conflicts of interest, cost-cutting pressures, conflicting
cultural norms, supply-chain practices)
- highlights gaps between the officially stated values and those
actually practised under the pressure of daily realities
- comments on ways in which structure and processes work for or
against staff making a sound decision and acting ethically
- suggests ways of improving the working environment and increasing
its transparency
- reports on the ethical performance of the organisation, including
the impact on stakeholders and implications for its reputation
- provides assurance to the board on how an organisation is performing
against its published values
- helps work towards establishing a baseline from which progress
may be measured and accounted for in future years.
To learn more about the ethical auditing services we offer please
email us
or telephone 01252 792322.
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