ECI’s Blue-Ribbon Commission on Corporate Purpose and Impact Releases Definitive Report on Business Integrity

Corporate Leaders and Key Thought Leaders Challenge Business to Drive Success by Meeting Stakeholder Needs

VIENNA, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, February 28, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — ECI (Ethics & Compliance Initiative) and a Blue-Ribbon Commission (“the Commission”) on Corporate Impact and ESG have released a call-to-action report urging companies to move beyond mere compliance and aspire to create a culture of integrity. The report release presents a holistic view of business integrity and serves as a foundation for purpose-driven organizations in scaling their integrity practices. ECI’s administration of the Commission is funded by a grant from KPMG LLP.

Work by the Commission was grounded in two key ideas: that society’s license to operate comes with ethical obligations, and that fulfilling those obligations can fuel long-term success. Increasingly, internal, and external stakeholders expect businesses to evaluate their impact and capabilities, think critically about the positive and negative consequences, and then to act based on their core purpose. The Commission posits that doing so will enhance value (both financial and reputational), drive innovation, and fuel long-term success while mitigating actual and potential risks over time.

The Commission is comprised of prominent global business executives, institutional investors, academics, former enforcement officials and other luminaries that lead some of the most recognized companies in the world. Together, they focused their efforts on guidelines to empower business leaders to implement and scale the operational changes needed to meet multi-stakeholder demands, while creating value for their business and society.

“Business leaders have been focused on corporate impact for decades; however, with the advent of new technology, rise in stakeholder engagement, and emergence of global threats such as climate change, these issues have taken on greater urgency and present a unique opportunity for business to focus on committing to purpose and embedding integrity,” said Commission member Paul Knopp, KPMG U.S Chair and CEO.

The Commission’s report features provide practical, actionable strategies and parameters to help businesses define their purpose; identify emerging practices for constructive corporate engagement; address the challenges of business operation in a world where external expectations often conflict; and emphasize the mandate to use organizational expertise to benefit stakeholders. The recommendations complement and enhance business’ existing corporate impact strategies, rather than adding another framework with which to align.

“Leaders must examine the purpose and values that guide their organization, and how those factors are embedded throughout the business and in the roles of every employee. Operational excellence requires vision and values,” said ECI’s CEO and Commission Chair Pat Harned.” Adds Harned “ECI is grateful to the Commission for its work over the past year to craft a roadmap committed to integrity, weaving purpose and values into strategy, goals, and operations.”

Click here to see a full list of the Blue-Ribbon Commission members, which also follows below.

About Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI)

ECI is the leading organization in defining business integrity to make the world a better, more ethical place. We provide ethics and compliance professionals with the tools they need to become great leaders, build exceptional teams, and create ethical workplaces that set the highest standard. We equip companies and organizations for success by giving them the confidence that they are doing the right thing, and the intelligence to anticipate what is coming around the corner. For more information about ECI and become a member visit www.ethics.org.

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For media inquiries and interviews contact Carol Levey, ECI Vice President, Marketing.

Patricia Harned (Chair)

Chief Executive Officer

Ethics & Compliance Initiative

Helle Bank Jorgensen

Chief Executive Officer & Founder

Competent Boards

Michelle Breslauer

Senior Manager, Governance and Peace Portfolio

UN Global Compact

Aron Cramer

President & Chief Executive Officer

BSR

David Curran

Co-Chair, Sustainability & ESG Advisory Practice Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP Executive Director

ESG and Law Institute

Abe Eshkenazi

Chief Executive Officer

Association for Supply Chain Management

Eitan Hersh

Professor of Political Science

Tufts University

Paul Knopp

Chair and CEO

KPMG U.S.

Bridget Kustin

Senior Research Fellow

Saïd Business School, University of Oxford

Director

The Ownership Project 2.0

Rick Lacaille

Former Executive Vice President & Global Head of ESG

State Street Corporation

Sy Lorne

Vice Chairman and Chief Legal Officer

Millennium Management

Former General Counsel

US Securities & Exchange Commission

Adjunct Professor

University of Texas at Austin Law School

Hon. Leo S. Mackay, Jr., Ph.D. LLD LHD

Former U.S. Deputy Secretary

Veterans Affairs

Senior Vice President, Ethics & Enterprise Assurance

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Roberto Marques

Senior Advisor, Carlyle / Board Member, We Mean Business Coalition

Former Executive Chairman and Group CEO, Natura & Co.

Dennis McGowan

Vice President, Professional Practice and Anti-Fraud Initiatives

Center for Audit Quality

Alison Omens

Chief Strategy Officer

JUST Capital

Alexandra Palt

Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer

L’Oréal

Chief Executive Officer

Foundation L’Oréal

Kosmas Papadopoulos

Executive Director, Head of Americas Sustainability Advisory Team

ISS Corporate Solutions

Steve Scarpino

Ethics & Compliance Association (ECA), past Board Chair

Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer

CITGO Petroleum

Brad Smith

Vice Chair and President

Microsoft

Lex Suvanto

Global CEO

Edelman Smithfield

Larry Thompson

Former Deputy Attorney General

U.S. Department of Justice

Ethics Research Center (ERC) Board Chair

John A. Sibley Professor in Corporate and Business Law

University of Georgia

Andrew Weissmann Former Fraud Section Chief US Department of Justice Professor of Practice

New York University School of Law

Former General Counsel,FBI

Tensie Whelan

Clinical Professor of Business and Society and Director, Center for Sustainable Business

New York University Stern School of Business

Kim Yapchai

Former Senior Vice President, Chief Environmental, Social & Governance Officer

Tenneco

Paul Zikmund

Ethics & Compliance Association (ECA) Board Chair

Senior Vice President, Chief Enterprise Risk, Compliance & Information Security Officer

Berkadia

Carol Levey
ECI (Ethics & Compliance Initiative
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