Ethisphere Leads APEC Effort to Measure the Impact of Doing Business With Integrity in the Asia Pacific Region

PHOENIX, August 3, 2021 (Newswire.com) - Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, today announced a new effort with APEC focused on measuring the positive impact of ethical business practices on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Asia-Pacific region.

The research, which will focus on the region's health-related industries, will analyze how integrity programs have contributed to business resiliency throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The Royal Holloway University of London will also partner with Ethisphere on the project, providing insight into the research methodologies related to ethical business practices. The study is part of the Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative, which is led by the U.S. Department of Commerce in the APEC SME Working Group. The results will be presented at this year's APEC Business Ethics for SMEs Forum.

The research will begin in August 2021 with a survey and interviews to assess the maturity of ethics and compliance activities of SMEs across the health sector, including biopharmaceutical and medical technology enterprises. The research will include an analysis of how integrity programs impact the quality of care that patients receive, as well as the impact on a range of economic and business indicators, including financial performance, employee turnover, new client development, new market expansion, and other related themes.

The impact assessment is supported by APEC with a matching grant from the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) which serves as Industry Co-Chair of the Business Ethics for APEC SMEs Initiative. APEC is a regional economic forum of 21 member economies that aims to create greater prosperity for the people in the region by promoting balanced, sustainable, and inclusive growth and by accelerating regional economic integration. APEC helps SMEs build their capacity to engage in international trade and fosters the advancement of ethical business practices.

"Governments and industries that uphold high business standards are best positioned to foster innovation, attract investment, and help startups and small businesses build a competitive edge in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region," said Diane Farrell, Acting Under Secretary for International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce. "We anticipate this timely research will help companies better understand the value of ethical practices for patients and for profit margins."

Rady Johnson, Executive Vice President, Chief Compliance, Quality & Risk Office at Pfizer, serves as the Chairperson of the Ethics and Business Integrity Committee of IFPMA. He said, "An important component of the IFPMA mission is to help enhance the ethical standards, expectations and practices of businesses that serve the pharmaceutical and health-related sectors around the globe. We are excited to support this important study. This analysis provides an opportunity to further reinforce with our value chain partners why doing business with integrity is both an expected practice and is also beneficial to the long-term health of their business."

"Ethisphere has a long history of reporting on the correlation between strong ethics, compliance and integrity programs and long-term financial performance. We call it the Ethics Premium," said Jonathan Whitacre, Executive Vice President at Ethisphere. "We are very excited about this APEC project as it is the first broad-based assessment focused on the integrity programs of small- and medium-sized businesses. The study will help these companies understand where to best focus their ethics and compliance program activities in order to drive their companies forward. The research will inform larger companies about how to minimize risk exposure with value chain partners and provide insights to better understand which integrity program actions will help their value chain partners most."

To learn more about the project, visit https://ethisphere.com/apec-impact-assessment

About Ethisphere 

Ethisphere^® is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust, and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere also helps to advance business performance through data-driven assessments, benchmarking, and guidance. More information about Ethisphere can be found at http://www.ethisphere.com.

Source: Ethisphere