Ethics Matters: How to Implement Values-Driven Management

Ethics Matters, by Dawn-Marie Driscoll and W. Michael Hoffman, offers a recipe for integrating values into an organization's culture, explaining the factors which have led to the current emphasis on values-based decision-making instead of mere compliance. The authors develop the elements of a ten-point program, the blueprint for establishing a lasting ethical infrastructure. They share stories of companies and organizations that are leaders in the field, including Texas Instruments' process of reducing its code of business conduct to three simple words; Olin's extraordinary communications initiatives; and Guardsmark's annual revision and renewal process. They also dissect the sad tales of organizations that have stumbled, including the International Olympic Committee, Hawaii's Bishop Estate and The Boston Globe.

Here, in one concise volume, is what every manager needs to know about building a system that encourages ethical conduct, with practical advice from some of the country's leading ethics officers.

DAWN-MARIE DRISCOLL is an executive fellow and advisory board member at the Center for Business Ethics and president of Driscoll Associates, a consulting firm. Formerly vice president of corporate affairs and general counsel of Filenes, the department store chain, and a corporate law partner at Palmer & Dodge, she is an independent trustee of several Scudder mutual funds and a director of several private companies. She is a member of the board of governors of the Investment Company Institute, the national association of mutual funds, and chairs its directors committee to advise the institute regarding issues for independent directors. She is a member of the Ethics Officer Association faculty and an advisory board member of the Business and Society Review. Ms. Driscoll has been appointed a visitor-in-residence at The Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College, a visiting scholar at the University of Montana School of Business and the visiting Aram Professor of Business Ethics at Gonzaga University.

W. MICHAEL HOFFMAN, Ph.D, is the founder and executive director of the Center for Business Ethics and professor of philosophy at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. His work in business ethics includes the publishing of 15 books and over 50 articles, consulting for numerous organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, and serving as an expert witness in litigation. Dr. Hoffman was the first executive director of the Ethics Officer Association and currently is the advisor to its board of directors. He was a founder and president of the Society for Business Ethics, served on the advisory board of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and is frequently sought out globally for professional lectures and media interviews.

Driscoll and Hoffman have published many written works together, including The Ethical Edge: Tales of Organizations That Have Faced Moral Crises (with Edward S. Petry, NY: MasterMedia, 1995).