Organisational Ethics and Transparency

Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin acknowledged on Tuesday that the dominant Internet company has compromised its principles by accommodating Chinese censorship demands. He said Google is wrestling to make the deal work before deciding whether to reverse course.

"We felt that perhaps we could compromise our principles, but provide ultimately more information for the Chinese and be a more effective service and perhaps make more of a difference," Brin said.

Google's China-approved Web service omits politically sensitive information that might be retrieved during Internet searches, such as details about the 1989 suppression of political unrest in Tiananmen Square. Its agreement with China has provoked considerable criticism from human rights groups.

On the other hand research from employee research and consulting firm ISR found a five-year increase in how employees view their company's ethics.

The study of more than 200,000 U.S. employees, examined issues of integrity, social responsibility and company values.

The research looked at the impact the media attention on corporate ethics scandals had had on U.S employees.

Between 2001 to 2005, it found that employee opinions on company integrity had increased by a significant 11 per cent.

Workers are demanding better ethics from their employers as the pressure on transparency and accountability becomes critical aspect in firm’s ability to attract and motivate employees.