The Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics was formed as part of the Roundtable’s overall efforts to build and sustain public confidence in the marketplace after the deep breaches of public trust by errant companies over the past several years. The actions of those companies represent a fundamental breakdown in the norms of ethical behavior, corporate governance and corporate responsibility.

The CEOs of the Business Roundtable were outraged by the wrongdoing. The success of the American free enterprise system is built on public confidence and a merger of corporate responsibility with individual responsibility – and the Business Roundtable believes that responsibility starts at the top.

The Business Roundtable has a 30-year history of deep concern and activism in corporate governance and ethical business practices aimed at fostering the confidence of shareholders, employers, policy makers and other interested constituencies.

Over the past two years it became clear to the CEOs that the business community had an obligation to go beyond regulation and legislation if it was to strike at the core of questionable business ethics. No law or regulation alone can guarantee the adherence to sound principles and ethical behavior.

Specifically, the Business Roundtable reached the following conclusions:

1. The business community has a responsibility to address the issue of ethics in corporate America that legislation and regulation alone cannot do.
2. Business schools in America and around the world are essential institutional building blocks for developing leaders that in turn help build a strong, vibrant, growing economy. The link between the teaching of business and the practical, hands-on training and leadership required to run a modern corporate enterprise must be strengthened if we are to accomplish lasting, meaningful change in corporate ethics.
3. Ethics must be inherent in everyday business practices, at every level of corporate leadership, and must be taught consistently in every major business school to current and future business leaders alike. This will require a concerted effort by the educational establishment and business leaders working hand-in-hand to insure that best practices, cutting-edge research and direct training is made widely available.

The Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics arose in response to these needs. It is a reflection of our commitment to the role of business and ethics in the American economy.

This multi-year, multi-million dollar initiative is in partnership with dozens of faculty from leading business schools across the nation. The Institute will be an independent entity hosted and managed by the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia, and will be staffed by leading academic advisors from the fields of business and ethics from institutions such as Harvard University, Northwestern University, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, University of Texas, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Minnesota.

An Executive Director will work closely with a distinguished Advisory Council to promote the development of a cutting-edge program that includes state-of-the-art research, an executive level ethics curriculum, executive business ethics training and a compilation of best practices. All research, programs and practices will be made widely available to all educational institutions, businesses and the general public.