ABSTRACT
So what have we established? First, that the new business environment means that there are unique pressures on corporations to behave ethically in order to safeguard their reputation. New legislation in the European Union (EU) and elsewhere, combined with increased levels of litigation in the United States, greater expectations from the investing public, and active vigilance from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the press, means that corporations these days must begin to rethink their strategies for knowledge and risk management (KRM). In addition to the recent emphasis on corporate governance, there are several other key areas of concern—the environment, human rights, and product safety—that every company must address strategically so that it has the capacity to sense and respond to ethical crises in these areas before they occur.
