Ethics Assessments

To what extent do ethical standards influence decision-making by both the agency and individuals within the agency?   An assessment can help an agency answer this question. There are three kinds:¹

1. Compliance-Analyzes the degree to which one’s ethics program meets the standards required by law and the degree to which both the organization’s and individuals’ behavior satisfies legal requirements.
2. Cultural-Explores how employees and other stakeholders feel about the organization’s standards and behavior, including the perceived priorities and ethical effectiveness of individuals and sub-units of the organization, as well as the organization as a whole.
3. Systems-Assesses the degree to which the ethical principles, guidelines and processes are integrated within the organizational system.