Business Ethics Leadership Alliance

Philosophy | Who are BELA Members | Membership | BELA Leadership | Join BELA | FAQs | BELA News

The Challenge

It’s Time to Make Your Business Ethics Count.

“One of the fundamental building blocks of a sustainable enterprise is an unshakable commitment to responsibility and accountability. BELA will play a vital role in establishing clear ethical standards that promote those principles across the business community.”

— Larry D. Thompson
Senior Vice President and General Counsel, PepsiCo
Former Deputy Attorney General, United States and issuer of 2003 Thompson Memorandum

The unethical actions of a few businesses are creating a negative global impact. The public’s rush to assign blame will negatively affect businesses worldwide. A higher standard for business ethics is expected.

The Ethisphere Institute, in cooperation with leading corporations and global institutes, is designing that higher standard, the business ethics leadership alliance, so the public and investors can more easily identify which companies operate ethically.

Is your company part of the solution?

BELA Framework

Ethical companies are banding together to repair business ethics, restore confidence in ethical businesses, recover a once healthy economy, and work with regulators to ensure that business regulations are reasonable, equitable, and make sense for businesses, investors, and consumers alike.

BELA is not a governing agency. Rather, it is a voluntary, proactive initiative, validated by an internationally respected third party — the Ethisphere Institute, to empower businesses to be de facto leaders in self-regulating against corporate fraud, corruption, and greed.

How Are We Accomplishing This?

The Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) is leading the charge by bringing leading corporations together to

• Make a highly visible, public pronouncement of institutional commitment to ethical principles and priorities;
• Increase commitment to BELA principles, including legitimacy, accountability, and transparency of corporations;
• Provide invaluable visibility to ethical business leaders;
• Reinforce a positive view by regulators, law enforcement, key opinion leaders, and the investor community;
• Work with regulators to ensure reasonable and workable business regulations;
• Increase employee morale, customer satisfaction, and stakeholder approval;
• Work with a distinguished Advisory Board to help guide BELA’s efforts;
• Make concerted and significant efforts to increase awareness of BELA and its members to designate members as ethical leaders in BELA press releases and media such as the Wall Street Journal and Forbes; at worldwide conferences and events; year-round on the highly-trafficked Ethisphere website; and quarterly in Ethisphere Magazine;
• Contribute to a redesign of business ethics for the future with the Global Ethics Pact.

And this is just the beginning…

“Compliance programs and procedures are certainly necessary, but even more critical is the need for corporate leaders committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. The formation of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance is the right move at a historic time in the business world, and I commend Ethisphere and BELA’s charter members for once again exhibiting extraordinary leadership.”

— Paul McNulty, Partner, Baker & McKenzie
Former Deputy Attorney General, United States and issuer of 2006 McNulty Memorandum

Philosophy & Call to Action

“A few bad apples” has been the accepted excuse for isolated incidences of corporate fraud and corruption, think Enron, WorldCom, and the list goes on. However, this creative spinning of misdeeds to explain away the bad decisions of certain business leaders is no longer acceptable.
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Through the cacophony of media stories, political finger pointing, infuriating reports of greed, and compelling stories of hardship, the business community as a whole has been characterized as a barrel full of bad apples that has the ability to spoil the global economy. The resulting damage to the business community is lost confidence in – and suspected corruption by – corporations worldwide. This is bad for business, consumers, and investors alike.

With the establishment of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), the Ethisphere Institute is taking the lead with passion and purpose to reestablish ethics as the foundation of everyday business practices. We believe that waning confidence and lost trust in business leadership is not irreparable. With the collective effort of leading ethical companies, we will plan and implement the recovery of confidence, trust, and visible accountability in the business community.

Join us, spread the word, and help fortify confidence in business worldwide.

Stand up. Be counted. Lead.

Who are BELA Members

Business Ethics Leadership Alliance Members are leading American and global businesses that are teaming up with the Ethisphere Institute to stand behind a declaration of ethical business principles and to prepare the groundwork for improved business ethics across the global economy.
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BELA Leadership

The executive director of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance is Suzanne Hawkins. In addition to consulting for several blue chip companies on an independent basis, Ms. Hawkins draws on her experience as Senior Counsel, Legal Operations at General Electric Company and as a Director on the Board of the Association of Corporate Counsel to guide BELA and its members.
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