At the recent annual Ethics and Compliance Officers Association conference in Salt Lake City, Frank Daly, Chair Emeritus of the ECOA, offered insights as to the role of the ethics function within organizations. He started with a provocative observation: how is it that some of the most ethical and highly regarded organizations do not have dedicated ethics officers? Companies with enviable cultures, such as Caterpillar or Southwest Airlines, have a low profile in the formal ethics and compliance community, and yet seem to maintain a high level of ethical business practices.

One answer may be in looking at where the ethics function sits inside the organization. Southwest Airlines sends senior leaders to communications and HR conferences, where their message is all about integrity and maintaining a positive environment among employees that encourages accountability and responsibility. Caterpillar's culture is deeply entrenched in every business practice. Successful Caterpillar managers "bleed yellow" because of their deep commitment to the company.

Another data point comes from the launch of a new organization, The CRO (Corporate Responsibility Officer), and its corresponding magazine, CRO Magazine. The CRO seeks to integrate thinking on corporate responsibility issues across several major disciplines: Audit and Accounting, Ethics and Compliance, Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Affairs, and Social Responsible Investing (SRI) and Philanthropy. In its subscriber database are over a 100 different job descriptions. The role of corporate responsibility crosses over many traditional corporate functions.

The work ahead in the ethics and compliance field is to position ethics professionals as coaches and facilitators of this process of integration so that in the end, everyone in the organization owns their piece of the ethics function.

DAVID GEBLER, J.D. is President of Working Values, Ltd., a business ethics training and consulting firm specializing in developing behavior-based change to support compliance objectives. Check out David's article, "A Culture of Compliance" in the premiere issue of CRO Magazine.

More articles by David Gebler

WORKING VALUES LTD. is a business ethics and training company. Through a variety of products and services, including Web-based compliance and ethics programs, on-site training, video and award-winning ethics games for employees, Working Values aims to align employee behavior with company values. For more information as to how Working Values can narrow your company's Behavior-Standards Gap, visit www.workingvalues.com or contact cgebler@workingvalues.com. For news on ethics in the workplace, visit SmartPros Ethics & Compliance.