Cummins, Dell, Honeywell, TATA Steel, Bayer AG, JLL, and More Come Together to Share Executive Insights, Data, and Practices in Annual South Asia Compendium

The Special Edition of Ethisphere Magazine Emphasizes the Reliance Upon Ethical Cultures to Lead Through Era of Disruption

NEW YORK, NY – July 27, 2020 – Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing standards of ethical business practices, today announced the launch of the third-annual Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) South Asia magazine, which features insights and experiences from a diverse selection of companies across India—some of which have been in business for hundreds of years and remain committed to improving business ethics, governance, and compliance during times of crisis. The full 2020 BELA South Asia magazine is available here: https://magazine.ethisphere.com/bela-south-asia-2020

Established in 2017, the BELA South Asia Chapter—together with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the largest industry association in India—includes a community of select multinational companies who serve as Founding Members of this initiative. This September marks the three-year anniversary since the BELA South Asia Chapter was established, and each year, Founding Members set the strategic and tactical direction of the group while taking on a leadership role in inspiring best practices in ethics, integrity, and anti-corruption efforts across India and South Asia.

To date, the Founding Members of the BELA South Asia Chapter have developed a series of resources, toolkits, and topically targeted working groups, which cover areas such as Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH), Cybersecurity and Data Protection, Supply Chain Risk Management, and more. Earlier this year, a BELA South Asia working group guided efforts to launch a customizable Supplier Toolkit, which includes sample policies, data, case studies, and thought leadership to equip leaders with the information they need to help rebuild the supply chain. Previously, under the guidance of leaders from Hindustan Coca Cola, GE, Johnson Controls, Cummins, Infosys, and Accenture, members came together to launch the first-of-its-kind PoSH Best Practices research report, which takes a closer look at communications, training, and retaliation around PoSH compliance. The community also launched the India Business Case Deck that highlights the importance of embracing ethics and good governance as a competitive business advantage.

“There is value associated with good behavior, as multiple studies have illustrated that companies who prioritize transparency not only contribute to societal improvements, but often outperform the market,” said Erica Salmon Byrne, Executive Vice President and Chair, BELA. “As we see in India, the consumer demand for ethical business practices is increasing, and leaders—more than ever—are embracing a strong focus on integrity.”

Byrne added that proprietary research conducted by Ethisphere called the “Ethics Premium” shows how consumers and stakeholders are partial toward businesses that maintain a deep concern not only for immediate profits, but also for a sustainable future. This growing universal trend makes the BELA South Asia Chapter’s mission to improve transparency and integrity in India even more vital.

“The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering industry, government, and civil society through advisory and consultative processes. It is good to see that the CII – Ethisphere BELA South Asia Chapter is taking up notable initiatives to take forward the intended objectives of enhancing corporate ethical standards,” said Vikkas Mohan, Senior Director, CII. “During the current times of crisis, ethics, integrity, and responsible conduct being of prime importance will be the key differentiators for successful corporations. The CII Guidelines on Integrity and Transparency in Governance and Responsible Code of Conduct 2020, as mentioned in the magazine, will be a useful reference in this direction.”

The 2020 BELA South Asia magazine, appropriately themed India’s Unified Force During an Era of Disruption, explores how leaders across the country tackle issues such as employee health and safety, data protection, Prevention of Sexual Harassment compliance, policy management, culture, and the transition to a remote work setting, while dealing with one of the world’s largest lockdowns. In this publication, members of the BELA South Asia Chapter provide exclusive insights into how they intend to return to the new normal and navigate compliance and ethics during this time.

“These are times that require action, and in India’s business landscape, BELA South Asia member companies are serving as the tip of the leadership spear. These organizations are shining examples of why ethics matter,” said Aarti Maharaj, Managing Director of BELA South Asia and Asia Pacific Chapters. “The shared perspectives of more than 34 companies in this year’s magazine will inspire others to institute ethics-driven policies, even under the most trying circumstances, which will secure India’s place on the world stage as an attractive environment to conduct business.”

Articles in the 2020 BELA South Asia Magazine showcase expert commentary from a diverse class of company leaders, each of whom focus on the latest practices and in some cases, explore the next phase in the maturation of India as a business ecosystem. They include:

• Uber Regional General Manager Pradeep Parameswaran shares how purpose-driven companies operate as a unified force
• Diageo India Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Anand Kripalu explains his views on ethical leadership
• Dun & Bradstreet Chief Operating Officer and Country Leader, India, Julian Prower highlights how companies should manage and assess risks in times of uncertainty
• Dell Group Director of Government Affairs Tabrez Ahmad and Senior Advisor, Government Relations, Diana Philip provide insights into how to maintain an ethically sound culture in light of a crisis
• Cummins Group Vice President Anubhav Kapoor explores data protection from a global perspective
• JLL General Counsel, India, Sinha Sheel focuses on how ethics is embedded across the company’s operations
• Polaris Senior Assistant General Counsel Ash Mishra provides a look into how the company prioritized the safety of all employees, including the migrant population in India
• Zee Entertainment Vice President, Legal, Sucheta Burman shares her perspectives on the work and legal side of content production
• Bayer AG offers a peek into the “Privacy Diaries” that touches upon the practices adopted to ensure protection and appropriate handling of personal data and their 7 Key Principles for cybersecurity, communicating with caution, protecting identity, reporting suspicious incidents, loss of equipment, and more

“As a Founding Member of the BELA South Asia Chapter since 2017, we believe that it is through these resources that we can collectively reach our goal of advancing transparency and integrity across the ecosystem. With most of our colleagues working from home, we remain focused on mitigating risks arising due to the lack of privacy and cybersecurity measures and awareness,” said Nikunj Savaliya, LPC India Lead – Compliance & Corporate Governance at Bayer. “We strongly believe in targeting our efforts towards ensuring behavior where compliance is not just another requirement but is rather practiced in day-to-day actions. It is through this type of knowledge-sharing that we can help make a difference and set the gold standard for ethics and principled business practices.”

“The current global situation, particularly in the light of new operating models such as remote working, poses similar risks to organizations in India and abroad, and companies should consider retooling and re-evaluating their compliance policies, especially their anti-bribery and corruption compliance programs,” said Piya Haldar, Director of Integrity and Compliance, Honeywell India. “These are the types of messages we share in the latest edition of the BELA South Asia magazine. It is vital for international businesses to understand that the eyes of the world will be upon us as the ‘new normal’ evolves, including regulators who will be monitoring who did the right things and who didn’t measure up.”

“The world today is witnessing unprecedented circumstances making safety and survival of paramount importance,” said Soni, Chief Ethics Counsellor, TATA Steel. “We were pleased to share our expertise and our values with the BELA community through this informative magazine. At Tata Steel, we firmly believe that an organization must demonstrate values and purpose as a corporation by standing firm on its guiding principles during the most challenging times. It deeply defines the character of an organization.”

All Ethisphere research, special reports, data findings, and company interviews can be found on a dedicated BELA South Asia Member Hub—a repository of resources featuring examples of work, presentations, and research from select BELA member companies intended to cultivate more idea exchange and provide inspiration for companies to continuously improve in the area of ethics and compliance. To request guest access to the BELA South Asia Member Hub, click here.

 About BELA

Founded by the Ethisphere Institute, the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) is a globally recognized organization of over 300 leading companies worldwide from 60+ industries collaborating together to share best practices in governance, risk management, compliance and ethics. Since its launch, BELA’s membership has grown to a large community of companies in pivotal markets like South Asia, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe who recognize the inherent value of promoting ethical leadership and world-class compliance culture. Learn more about BELA by visiting http://bela.ethisphere.com. To nominate a company to join BELA, contact the Director of Member Engagement, Sarah Neumann, at [email protected].

About Ethisphere 

The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere also helps to advance business performance through data-driven assessments, benchmarking and guidance. More information about Ethisphere can be found at https://ethisphere.com.

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