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Objectives of the ECS2000 |
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The Ethics Compliance Management System Standard (ECS2000) presented here is freely made available as a guideline for corporations
and other organisations which are endeavouring to conduct business in an equitable and responsible manner. The ECS2000 standard has been made publicly available by the Business Ethics Research Project at the
Reitaku Centre for Economic Research for the following two reasons:
- To aid and support the establishment of ethical compliance management systems in corporations and other organisations in order to promote equitable and responsible business.
- To pursue, by the establishment and promotion of the ECS2000, the development of a fair and equitable business environment in which ethical behaviour is the key to added value and competitivity.
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Background to the ECS2000 and the Business Ethics Research Project |
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Although the need for effective systems of business ethics and compliance is widespread at present, corporations are plagued by the problem of not knowing
what sort of system they should employ and develop.Many corporations have developed a code of ethics upon being told that they are necessary, while yet others have introduced external directors
to their boards, again at the insistence of third parties. However such unrelated (disintegrated) and often unilateral actions such as these, taken in the absence of a unifying, overall plan have largely
proved ineffective. Corporations which, in the absence of an overall plan for the realisation of a system of ethical compliance, introduce and enforce ethical plans and legal compliance manuals
unilaterally upon their employees, are unlikely to realise a change in their organisational cultures, and may even promote opposition from the organisation' members. It is because of this that it is
essential to clarify the appropriate direction and form of the ethical-legal compliance management system. It was in response to this need, that in October of 1998 the Business Ethics Research
Project was initiated at Reitaku University' Faculty of Economics in order to develop a document that has come to be known as the ECS2000. This international standard has been developed by using both the
vast ethics research resources which have been accumulated to date at Reitaku University and by extensive consultations with experts at various universities, corporations, public accountants, lawyers,
auditors, consultants, and accreditation bodies. In May of 1999 this international standard was named the ECS2000 after the capital letters of the name Ethics Compliance Standard and the hope
that this standard become a core for business in the new millennium. |
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The Nature of the ECS2000 |
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The ECS2000 is based upon the following two features that:
- Organisations should act proactively to prevent unfair business practices and illegal behaviour before they can occur, rather than by relying upon whistle-blowing and the subsequent regulatory
actions of external authorities.
- Internal feedback and input structures should be developed so that the opinions and ideas of the organisation' members can be collected and reflected back into the ongoing process of formulating and
realising ever more progressive ethical goals.
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It is hoped, therefore, that organisations will utilise this international standard for any or all of the following three purposes:
As a guide in the creation and establishment of an ethical-legal compliance management system. - As a check-list in order to test the validity of the organisation' ethical-legal compliance management system where one is already in place.
- As a means for the organisation's self-assessment of the quality of its ethical-legal compliance management standards and as a means for making public these measures and achievements.
The ECS2000 is not intended to ignore the individual organisation' traditions, culture, and principles, neither is it designed to regulate every minute detail of an organisation' ethical-legal compliance
management system. Instead, the ECS2000 is designed to postulate a general formula which may be adapted to suit the individual organisation' needs. It is therefore desirable for all
organisations adopting the ECS2000 to use it as a base upon which to develop their own ethical-legal compliance management system which best suits their individual principles, history, industry, and scale of
business. It is essential that the organisation thus develop its own system of ethical-legal compliance management as an integral part of its own management system and practices so that it can become an
ongoing and vital part of the organisations everyday activities. It is not sufficient that the ECS2000 be simply adopted in order to be effective –it must be absorbed into the organisation. The
ECS2000 is presented here as one method among many for achieving an effective and progressive ethical-legal compliance management system. As a system it naturally has its limitations. It is the hope of its
authors, however, that the efficacy of this international standard not be sought in its integrity as a document, but as a means by which organisations can achieve concrete results in the ongoing realisation
of integrity and parity in their day-to-day activity. |
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Public Domain 1999 Design by Arafuka Daisuke |
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