The business of ethics

In its 2012 Global Trust Barometer ¹ Edelman found that trust in all four institutions it surveyed (government, business, NGOs and media) had fallen between 2011 and 2012. In fact, the number of sceptics had almost doubled, with the credibility of chief executive officers (CEOs) seeing the biggest decline of all in business. The same survey showed a 29 per cent negative gap between the importance business places on ethical business practices and how survey respondents believed they were performing. In recommending a way forward, the survey proposes that business needed to move to a position where they earned a licence to lead. At the top of the list for gaining that is through exercising principles-based leadership, not rules-based performance. In other words, values and ethical leadership is at the heart of gaining trust.