In the face of an ever-growing array of ethical dilemmas, many organizations may benefit from establishing an Ethics Advisory Board, or EAB. While EABs are still a new concept (and they don’t always work out), they can provide very real value, offering crucial perspectives from diverse, external stakeholders on ethically fraught decisions pertaining to anything from a new product launch to a pandemic response plan.
How to Set Up an Ethics Advisory Board
An external group of advisors can guide your decision-making on the thorniest issues.
January 21, 2021
Summary.
An Ethics Advisory Board (EAB) can bring great value to an organization — but effective implementation is fraught with challenges. In this piece, the author shares eight strategies to help leaders successfully set up and run an EAB: Ensure a unified mission, recruit diverse board members, clearly specify the EAB’s scope of responsibilities, develop targeted meeting agendas, consider a wide array of stakeholders, avoid prescriptive directives, invite honest input from the EAB, and bring the EAB into key decisions as early as possible. While there are no sure-fire answers, these strategies can help organizations avoid common pitfalls and establish a strong ethical foundation for their operations.
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Avoid integrity traps in the workplace.
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New!
HBR Learning
Ethics at Work Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Ethics at Work. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Avoid integrity traps in the workplace.