- Adopting formal codes as a tactic rather than as a strategy, assuming rules will catch mistakes rather than addressing the underlying beliefs, motivations and culture.
- Managing ethics as a legal or PR variable rather than creating an operational culture that invites the hard questions and uncertainties of moral dialogue.
- Instituting systems of accountability to more clearly assign blame rather than to give more depth to the fiduciary duties for care, answerability and due-diligence.
- Defining ethics principles as a top-down or internal exercise rather than by means of a dialogue with stakeholders, critics and those impacted by corporate activities.
- Assuming that generic terms are enough to inspire employee adherence rather than interacting with them to discover the precise implications for values, attitudes and behaviours.
- Downloading ethical responsibility on employees as a parallel deliverable to business results without providing the tools, skills or leadership for effectively managing the conflicting objectives or ambiguities.
- Introducing whistle-blowing structures without creating the culture that supports dissent and rewards those who take stands based on ethical principles.
- Making ethical commitments without introducing the hard measures for evaluating and tracking the specific dimensions of trust and integrity.
- Embracing ethics programs during crisis or scrutiny without unlearning the habits and values that contributed to impropriety in the first place.
- Regarding ethics as a binary option without realizing that it is actually a process of constructive and iterative transformation that actually extends and enhances strategy.
Source: Centre for Ethical Orientation
