A survey conducted by the Ethics Resource Center, a Washington-based non-profit organization, revealed less pressure to compromise on ethical standards and less misconduct witnessed by staff than in 2000, which is when the last poll on the topic was conducted. Ethics training, written codes, and hotlines were among the tools that have led to an improvement in reporting of workplace misconduct. The findings were somewhat surprising to the researchers, considering the sluggish economy and large number of corporate scandals.
See "Company ethics 'need backing from top'", Andrew Hill, Financial Times, May 21, 2003