The issue of Ethisphere, Qtr. 2, 2008 highlights the 93 companies that the Ethisphere Institute honors in 2008 as “the world’s most ethical companies.” Of them, 29 are not US companies (and for six of them I have done consulting projects) and 33 industries are represented
What I wish we could know is whether total legal spending by these companies, as a percentage of their revenue, is lower than the spending of their less-ethical peers. It seems plausible that if employees consistently choose to act with integrity and ethical sensitivity, their company will suffer fewer lawsuits, acrimonious negotiations, contract disputes, joint ventures riven with legal tangles, and other malefactions.