Who sets the ethical tone for a corporation?

• A. The front-line employees
• B. The regulators
• C. The corporation's executives
• D. The customers

Answer: (C)

Setting the ethical tone starts at the top. The executives establish the values, policies, and expectations that guide every decision, and they model those standards through their own actions. They decide how ethics are rewarded or penalized, how transparent the organization will be, and how strictly rules will be enforced. Through the code of conduct, ethics training, leadership communications, and the way performance is measured, they embed a culture that others in the company adopt. Regulators define external rules, customers shape expectations, and frontline employees carry out day-to-day work, but the direction and tenor of the corporate culture come from the executives who set strategy and allocate resources.