Baxter International

The cover page to the Code tells the reader that Baxter believes in Ethics. The following pages leave no doubt that Baxter truly means it. Go check it out for yourself!

Download the Baxter Code Here!

Overall Grade: A-

Public Availability: A+

Tone from the Top: A-

Readability & Tone: B

Non-Retaliation & Reporting: A

Values & Commitments: A+

Risk Topics: A

Comprehension Aids: B+

Presentation & Style: B+

Does your organization’s code make the grade? Find out here.

Codes featured in Ethisphere Magazine!

A code of conduct should contain and explain the behavioral expectations that an organization holds for its employees and agents. Such codes are now commonplace for most organizations, benefiting not only employees, but also the customers, vendors and general public with whom the code is commonly shared. The widespread use and appreciation for the potential effectiveness of a quality code has set the bar high throughout all organizations.

To be successful, a code must be credible to all stakeholders. Certainly the organization’s demonstrated commitment has significant impact. However, how the code itself is written (what it contains and what it lacks, for that matter) and how it is communicated both play instrumental roles in determining whether the code has the ability to influence not only employee perceptions, but more importantly, actions.

Unfortunately, many codes of conduct are written in such overly complex and legal language that they scare employees away. More a legal treatise than corporate roadmap, the document can be incomprehensible, daunting and meaningless to the average reader. If a code cannot speak to or engage its intended audience, it’s no more effective than having no code at all.

Corpedia’s high-level code assessment process has provided over 1,000 organizations a concise critique of their existing code. Corpedia’s high-level code of conduct assessment process looks at 37 individual inspection points organized into eight categories, assigning a letter grade to each area contingent upon the assessments findings. The illustration below shows each of the eight categories, as well as the corresponding weights applied to each of the eight assessment areas in calculating the overall Code score.