When upper management is perceived as ethical, this tends to filter down into the rest of the organization. Consequently, when upper management is viewed as immoral, this may have a negative effect on the ethical environment of the organization. To set an appropriate tone at the top, upper management should encourage ethical behavior via transparent means. Examples include an ethics policy, mission statement, or employee handbook, all of which should strongly reinforce the importance of ethical behavior. Such communications should also stress that unethical behavior will not be tolerated. This will help serve as a fraud deterrent.

 

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