A company’s overall performance is closely tied to its commitment to developing an ethical corporate culture. That’s one of the findings of a new report from the Conference Board of Canada.

“Organizations that make a public ethical commitment which is supported by senior management regularly outperform those that don’t,” says Mary Choquette, a project manager with the Board. “Similarly, publicity about unethical corporate behaviour lowers stock prices for a minimum of six months.”

The report is the result of the January, 2001 Round Table on Private and Public Sector Ethics, held by the Conference Board and the federal Public Works department. A group of private-sector and public-sector representatives were brought together to share common issues and challenges in the area of business ethics. The meeting was designed to allow representatives from the public and private sector to engage in dialogue about the importance, prevalence and practice of business ethics.

The report explores why business ethics is growing in importance in the private and public sectors, the prevalence of business ethics codes in the private and public sectors, and the types of ethical issues that are common to both sectors.

“As more organizations engage in dialogue about the application of business ethics, this concept will become a practical tool that helps organizations improve their stakeholder relations and business operations,” says Choquette.