Ethics Management

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

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2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Muel Kaptein

      Pages 1-9

3. Defining the Ethical Content

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11

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   2. The Corporate Mission

      • Muel Kaptein

      Pages 13-30

   3. Ethics Management

      • Muel Kaptein

      Pages 31-45

   4. The Ethical Company

      • Muel Kaptein

      Pages 47-63

4. Auditing the Ethical Content

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 65-65

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   2. The Ethical Qualities Model

      • Muel Kaptein

      Pages 67-117

   3. The Ethics Audit in Practice

      • Muel Kaptein

      Pages 119-141

5. Developing the Ethical Content

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 143-143

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   2. The Ethics Process

      • Muel Kaptein

      Pages 145-162

   3. The Ethics Mix

      • Muel Kaptein

      Pages 163-194

   4. Summary and conclusions

      • Muel Kaptein

      Pages 195-199

6. Back Matter

   Pages 201-229

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• Why is ethics important to organizations?
• What are the characteristics of an ethical organization?
• How can we audit the ethics of an organization?
• What measures and activities stimulate the ethical development of organizations?

This book addresses these questions.
It is easier to say that ethics is necessary than to tell how to organize ethics. This book provides a fundamental and coherent vision on how ethics can be organized in a focused way. This study examines the assumptions for organizing ethics, the pitfalls and phases of such a process, the parts of an ethics audit and the great variety of measures.
The methods and insights illustrated in this book are based partially on practical research. One of these methods, the Ethics Thermometer, was based on more than 150 interviews at various organizations. The Ethics Thermometer has been applied in a great variety of profit and not-for-profit organizations in order to measure an organization's perceived context, conduct and consequences.
This book will be important to scholars in the field of business ethics, as well as to managers and practitioners. For scholars, this study provides general knowledge about auditing and developing the ethics of an organization. A summary is given of the criteria by which the ethical content of an organization can be measured. For managers and practitioners, this study provides concrete suggestions for safeguarding and improving ethics within their organizations.

• Audit
• Auditing
• business
• development
• ethics
• management
• organization

• KPMG Integrity Consulting, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  Muel Kaptein

• Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

  Muel Kaptein

Muel Kaptein lectures in business ethics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands. He also works as a management consultant at KPMG Ethics and Integrity Services.

Policies and ethics