Ethics Commitee An ethics committee is a committee dedicated to the rights and wellbeing of research subjects, also known as an Institutional

Review Board.

The primary purpose of this committee is to: a. Ensure protection of the rights, safety and well-being of human subjects involved in a research project on drugs, devices, procedures, and etc. b. Provide public assurance of that protection. In 1978,The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biological and Behavioral Research submitted a report entitled "The Belmont Report". The report sets forth the ethical principles underlying the acceptable conduct of research involving human subjects. These principles are now accepted as the three quintessential requirements for ethical conduct of research involving human subjects, these are: Respect for persons involves recognition of the personal dignity and autonomy of individuals and special protection of those persons with diminished autonomy Beneficence entails an obligation to protect persons from harm by maximizing anticipated benefit and minimizing possible risks of harm. Justice requires that the benefits and burdens of research be distributed fairly.

Examples:

Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) Parliamentary Committee: On 4 March 1997, the Ethics Committee of the Rajya Sabha was constituted. The Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha was constituted on 16 May 2000. Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) -Revised ICMR Ethics Guidelines Released in 2000 Seven Possible Roles for an Ethics Committee: 1. Contribute to the continuing definition of the organization's ethics and compliance standards and procedures. 2. Assume responsibility for overall compliance with those standards and procedures. 3. Oversee the use of due care in delegating discretionary responsibility.

4. Communicate the organization's ethics and compliance standards and procedures, ensuring the effectiveness of that communication. 5. Monitor and audit compliance. 6. Oversee enforcement, including the assurance that discipline is uniformly applied. 7. Take the steps necessary to ensure that the organization learns from its experiences. But an ethics committee can do much more. The committee can be charged to meet all seven requirements for an effective ethics management process. For each of the above arenas of responsibility there may be several specific roles. Ethics officers Ethics officers (sometimes called "compliance" or "business conduct officers") have been appointed formally by organizations since the mid1980s. One of the catalysts for the creation of this new role was a series of fraud, corruption and abuse scandals that afflicted the U.S. defence industry at that time. This led to the creation of the Defence Industry Initiative (DII), a pan-industry initiative to promote and ensure ethical business practices. Most Ethics Officers have some combination of the following duties: Determine corporate values. Create Code of ethics & compliance training programs. Guide employees in making the right decision. Create reporting systems. Investigate reports of unethical activity. Review case disposition or management decisions. Report to executive management and the Board of Directors. Create and deliver presentations. Communicating Ethics

As an employer, it is not enough to have good intentions to follow an ethical path. If you do not take steps to create a work environment where your employees have a clear, common understanding of what is right and wrong, and feel free to discuss and ask questions about ethical issues and report violations, you risk significant problems, including:

Increased risk of employees making unethical decisions Increased tendency of employees to report violations to outside regulatory authorities because they lack an adequate internal forum Inability to recruit and retain top people Diminished reputation in the industry and the community

Establish Open Communication Do not expect a piece of paper to do all your work for you. Instead of just creating and distributing an ethics policy, take the time to explain the reasons for the policy and review the guidelines. Conduct formal or informal training to further sensitize employees to potential ethical issues. Teach new hires about your company values from the outset by orienting them to the ethics code during new-employee orientation. Strive to create a work environment where employees understand that it is acceptable to have an ethical dilemma, and give workers the resources to help resolve the situation. Establish a point of contact where employees can go to ask questions in confidence about the work situations they confront. Creating an atmosphere of trust is also critical in encouraging employees to report ethical violations they observe. Executives and managers must stress to employees that dishonest or unethical conduct will not be tolerated, and that they are expected to report any wrongdoing they encounter. Show through actions as well as words that the company relies on, rather than discriminates against, those who come forward concerning ethical breaches. Ethical Audit Ethical audit is a new technology which is being developed at the European Institute for Business Ethics (EIBE), Nijenrode University, the Netherlands Business School. Ethical auditing is a process which measures the internal and external consistency of an organisation's values base. The key points are that it is value-linked, and that it incorporates a stakeholder approach. Its objectives are two-fold: It is intended for stakeholders and accountability and transparency towards

it is intended for internal control, to meet the ethical objectives of the organisation.

An ethical audit:

1. highlights potential ethical problems staff may have to face where unethical conduct might occur (e.g. opportunities for fraudulent behaviour, conflicts of interest, cost-cutting pressures, conflicting cultural norms, supply-chain practices) 2. highlights gaps between the officially stated values and those actually practised under the pressure of daily realities 3. comments on ways in which structure and processes work for or against staff making a sound decision and acting ethically 4. suggests ways of improving the working environment and increasing its transparency 5. reports on the ethical performance of the organisation, including the impact on stakeholders and implications for its reputation 6. provides assurance to the board on how an organisation is performing against its published values 7. helps work towards establishing a baseline from which progress may be measured and accounted for in future years. Transparency International Transparency International, the global civil society organization leading the fight against corruption, brings people together in a powerful worldwide coalition to end the devastating impact of corruption on men, women and children around the world. TIs mission is to create change towards a world free of corruption. Transparency International is a global network including more than 90 locally established national chapters and chapters-in-formation. TIs global network of chapters and contacts also use advocacy campaigns to lobby governments to implement anti-corruption reforms. TI does not undertake investigations of alleged corruption or expose individual cases, but at times will work in coalition with organisations that do. Transparency International India TII is part of the Asia Pacific forum comprising 20 nations that include China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives and others.

TII is a non-government, non-party and not-for-profit organisation of Indian citizens with professional, social, industrial or academic experience seeking to promote transparent and ethical governance and to eradicate corruption State Chapters: Orissa Chapter Rajasthan Chapter Tamilnadu Chapter Uttranchal Chapter West Bengal Chapter UP. Central Eastern Chapter UP. West Chapter Karnataka Chapter Gujarat Chapter Corporate Governance & Ethics Corporate Governance is the system by which companies are directed and managed. It influences how the objectives of the company are set and achieved, how risk is monitored and assessed and how performance is optimized. Sound Corporate Governance is therefore critical to enhance and retain investors trust. Corporate governance is about ethical conduct in business. Ethics is concerned with the code of values and principles that enables a person to choose between right and wrong, and therefore, select from alternative courses of action. Further, ethical dilemmas arise from conflicting interests of the parties involved. In this regard, managers make decisions based on a set of principles influenced by the values, context and culture of the organization.

Ethical leadership is good for business as the organization is seen to conduct its business in line with the expectations of all stakeholders. What constitutes good Corporate Governance will evolve with the changing circumstances of a company and must be tailored to meet these circumstances. Why Corporate Governance?

a) The liberalization and de-regulation world over gave greater freedom in management. This would imply greater responsibilities. b) The players in the field are many. Competition brings in its wake weakness in standards of reporting and accountability. c) Market conditions are increasingly becoming complex in the light of global developments like WTO, removal of barriers/reduction in duties. d) The failure of corporates due to lack of transparency and disclosures and instances of falsification of accounts/embezzlement and the effect of such undesirable practices in other companies. SEBI Securities and Exchange Board of India constituted a Committee on Corporate Governance under the Chairmanship of Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla. The committee observed that there are companies, which have set high standards of governance while there are many more whose practices are matters of concern.

The Kumar Mangalam Committee made mandatory and non-mandatory recommendations. Based on the recommendations of this Committee, a new clause 49 was incorporated in the Stock Exchange Listing Agreements (Listing Agreements). The important aspects, in brief, are: (i) Board of Directors are accountable to shareholders. (ii) Board controls are laid down code of conduct and accountable to shareholders for creating, protecting and enhancing wealth and resources of the Company reporting promptly in transparent manner while not involving in day to day management. (iii) Classification of non-executive directors into those who are independent and those who are not. (iv) Independent directors not to have material or pecuniary relations with the Company/subsidiaries and if had, to disclose in Annual Report. (v) Laying emphasis on caliber of non-executive directors especially independent directors. (vi) Sufficient compensation package to attract talented nonexecutive directors. (vii) Optimum combination of not less than 50% of non-executive directors and of which companies with non-executive Chairman to have atleast one third of independent directors and under executive Chairman atleast one half of independent directors.

(viii) Nominee directors to be treated on par with any other director, (ix) Qualified independent Audit committee to be setup with minimum of three all being non-executive directors with one having financial and accounting knowledge. (x) Corporate governance report to be part of Annual Report and disclosure on directors remuneration etc., to be included

11 Essential Governance Principles

A company should: 1. Lay solid foundations for management and oversight- Recognise and publish the respective roles and responsibilities of board and management. 2. Structure the board to add value - Have a board of an effective composition, size and commitment to adequately discharge its responsibilities and duties. 3. Promote ethical and responsible decision-making - Actively promote ethical and responsible decision-making. 4. Safeguard integrity in financial reporting - Have a structure to independently verify and safeguard the integrity of the companys financial reporting. 5. Make timely and balanced disclosure - Promote timely and balanced disclosure of all material matters concerning the company. 6. Respect the rights of shareholders - Respect the rights of shareholders and facilitate the effective exercise of those rights. 7. Recognise and manage risk - Establish a sound system of risk oversight and management and internal control. 8. Encourage enhanced performance - Fairly review and actively encourage enhanced board and management effectiveness. 9. Remunerate fairly and responsibly - Ensure that the level and composition of remuneration is sufficient and reasonable and that its relationship to corporate and individual performance is defined. 10. Recognise the legitimate interests of stakeholders - Recognise legal and other obligations to all legitimate stakeholders. 11. Corporate companies. Governance Rating be made mandatory for listed

Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR)

The primary goal of companies is to maximise share holder value through earning profits, appreciation of share price and payment of dividend, within the framework of legal and regulatory compliance and obligations which addresses various issues including social and environmental.

The need for greater involvement and more proactive role by state, companies and communities in the development process is becoming a pre requisite. This has led to the following three interlinked movements: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Corporate Sustainability and World wide reforms on Corporate Governance.

CSR- 4 different responsibilities Economic Responsibilities: The only concern is to be profitable

Legal Responsibilities Strictly adhere and comply with legal provisions of its societys law that codifies right & wrong.

Voluntary Responsibilities Contributing the resources for well being of the community.

Ethical Responsibilities It emphasizes on being ethical. The values of the organisation focus on- doing right &fair.