Businesses too casual about ethics
Kiwi companies are behind the times formalising policies to safeguard business ethics, according to a British institute which is seeking to gain influence and corporate supporters here.
The NZX will introduce new rules in October that will encourage listed businesses to document policies for ethical issues, such as the giving and receiving of gifts and the protection of corporate ‘‘whistleblowers’’.
Philippa Foster Back, director of the London-based Institute of Business Ethics, said businesses were ‘‘on the verge of not doing business the right way’’ if they were at the ‘‘aggressive end’’ of tax
Our whole culture is to 'go with the flow'. Jane Arnott, NZ representative, Institute of Business Ethics
avoidance, delaying payments to suppliers or being ‘‘economical with the truth’’ to customers.
The institute plans to publish a report on New Zealand company practices in November. Its local representative Jane Arnott, said research and interviews with 24 NZX-listed firms had identified gaps and ‘‘an indication that things may not be being taken as seriously as they could be’’.
One large NZX firm stated on its website that its code of ethics would be updated in 2015. ‘‘That would suggest someone has taken their eye off the ball.’’
Most did not have adequate policies around whistleblowing, she said. ‘‘Our whole culture is to ‘go with the flow’.’’
The Institute lists on its website more than 150 corporate sponsors from Britain and New Zealand, some of which may raise eyebrows, for example because of the business they are in.
They include British American Tobacco, private prison operator Serco, and several prominent weapons companies.
Foster Back said its sponsors were subscribers rather than members and did not get ‘‘a badge of approval’’ from the Institute, whose goal was to help companies, not police them. What products companies produced was ‘‘not our debate’’.
She agreed many companies regarded establishing a code of ethics as a matter of compliance that was about ‘‘ticking a box’’.
Where there were tensions between what was ethical and what was profitable in the long run, ‘‘the character of the people leading the business’’ would often determine how that was resolved, she said.
The resources the institute provides includes advice, information on best practice, discussion events and a smartphone app.