Five Common Mistakes in Designing and Implementing a Business Ethics Program

This paper examines the 5 most common mistakes relative to the design and implementation of corporate ethics and compliance programs and provides recommendations on effectively addressing these issues. The mistakes are: 1. failing to set realistic, reasonable and measurable program objectives, 2. failing of senior management to take ownership of the program, 3. developing program materials which do not meet the needs of the average employee, 4. designing education programs which are little more than lectures, and 5. exporting largely "US-centric" ethics programs to international operations.