EthicsPoint Establishes Fund for Ethics Research at The University of Arizona

Program to advance business ethics research and ethical management practices

Portland, Ore. (PRWEB) June 2, 2009 -- EthicsPoint, a leading provider of hotline and anti-fraud reporting and case management services, today announced a gift to The University of Arizona Foundation that will establish the EthicsPoint Fund for the Discovery and Dissemination of Ethics Research. The first of its kind for the University and EthicsPoint, the Fund will support research, education and collaborative programs designed to redefine the focus and impact of business ethics research.

"The economic downturn has underscored that poor ethical leadership can have a negative impact on not only a company's reputation, but also the bottom line," said David Childers, CEO, EthicsPoint. "EthicsPoint and The University of Arizona's Eller College of Management share a common view that business ethics must transition from the philosophical to the practical. EthicsPoint makes this donation with the dual goals of helping prepare the next generation of business leaders and of advancing research to better understand the dynamics behind behavioral ethics in business."

Under the administration of the Department of Management and Organizations (M&O) in the Eller College of Management, the EthicsPoint gift will provide for research discovery and dissemination. The M&O department will work with EthicsPoint to define and support research in areas including organizational justice, behavioral decision-making and management information systems. They will jointly promote these findings and education via reports, webinars and other marketing and educational programs.

EthicsPoint and M&O will also partner to offer the inaugural Business Ethics Symposium hosted by the Eller College of Management. At this symposium, industry compliance officers and M&O faculty will offer panel discussions that tie best practices from industry with emerging research from academia.

"This program represents an important collaboration between the public and private sectors to redefine and promote ethical leadership," said Stephen Gilliland, Arnold Lesk Chair in Leadership and Head of the M&O Department, The University of Arizona. "The EthicsPoint gift will not only fund our research, but will give both our students and faculty the opportunity to gain real-world experience and knowledge with leaders from EthicsPoint. We are honored by EthicsPoint's recognition of our work and look forward to furthering it with their generous support."

"The cutting-edge research by the University faculty on the dynamics behind ethical decision-making, combined with our experience working with over 2,000 organizations, will enable us to deliver more value to our clients and help them build a sustainable business culture of integrity," added Childers.

About The Eller College of Management
The Eller College of Management at The University of Arizona is internationally recognized for pioneering research, innovative curriculum, distinguished faculty, excellence in entrepreneurship, and social responsibility. The College is home to top-ranked entrepreneurship, MIS, MBA, doctoral, and undergraduate programs, and leads the nation's business schools in generating grant funds for research. The Eller College of Management supports more than 5,500 undergraduate and 600 graduate students on the UA campus in beautiful Tucson, Arizona.

The Department of Management and Organizations (M&O) in Eller has embraced an emerging field of behavioral ethics that focuses on organizational practices and individual decision processes. The M&O Department represents one of the strongest groups of researchers in the world using this new orientation, and is defining and developing the next generation of business ethics research. This new orientation draws on social scientific research methods, with an emphasis on quantitative data analysis and experimental methods.

About EthicsPoint
EthicsPoint enables organizations to foster a business culture of integrity and compliance. We help our clients protect their culture and reputation by automating business processes, from the reporting and identification of issues and events of behavior that may be inconsistent with their code of conduct, to the subsequent investigation and resolution of these cases. Over 2,000 organizations use our telephone hotline, web-based reporting and case management services as a critical component of their overall governance, risk and compliance efforts.

For more information, visit http://www.ethicspoint.com.