Code Enforcement and Evaluation

Many corporations opt to establish a special committee within the board of directors to deal specifically with ethics. This committee is responsible for the establishment, evaluation, and enforcement of the code of ethics.

It is the role of the ethics committee not only to establish the code, but also to reevaluate and revise it at regular intervals. This exercise is important because as the circumstances of the company and society evolve, the ethical dilemmas faced by employees will change. For example, consider a code of ethics that was written in the early 1980s. Although many principles within the code will still apply, it will likely make no mention of the Internet or any ethical situations that arise as a result.