The Ethical Company
by Robert Fripp

Recognisable features of the ethical company involve these attributes:

transparency;
straightforwardness;
accountability;
owning-up;
honesty;
fairness;
common decency;
distributive justice.

Recognisable features of a company whose base is ethically challenged are these:

dissembling;
use of threats;
unkindness to employees;
a widespread use of gagging orders;
an inequitable distribution of company income;

A company which:

would rather conduct its business verbally (particularly with regard to disputed issues) instead of committing its views to writing; commonly resorts to litigation, or employs the frequent threat of such;
employs gagging clauses as standard policy;
pays its directors highly disproportionate sums in comparison with its employees;

is suspect and should be avoided wherever possible.

It is a sad commentary on current business and public life that this needs to be written or debated.

transparency + straightforwardness = honesty
accountability + owning-up = responsibility
distributive justice + fairness = equity
common decency = goodwill

The Four Pillars of The Ethical Company

Honesty
Responsibility
Equity
Goodwill