LRN Report: Singapore Companies Lead Global Ethics & Compliance Metrics

Singapore organisations outpace their global peers in areas including ethical governance,  employee experience enhancement, and proactive responses to global risks, setting new benchmarks for corporate excellence

SINGAPORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new report by LRN Corporation, the leader in ethics and compliance (E&C) solutions that inspire principled performance, has found that organisations in Singapore compare favourably to global counterparts on ethics and compliance. The latest edition of LRN’s Ethics & Compliance Program Effectiveness Report has found that 90% of organisations surveyed in Singapore reported making difficult decisions that were consistent with the organisation’s values in the past year — 20% higher than the global and APAC averages. Further underscoring their commitment to E&C, especially in critical business decisions, 72% indicated that their boards have actively modified or abandoned business initiatives based on compliance factors – also 20% higher than the global and APAC averages.

Singapore organisations also significantly outperform global and APAC programmes in the implementation of incentives and disincentives for ethical behaviour – factoring these considerations into measuring management performance (87% for Singapore; 79% globally), hiring (82% for Singapore; 72% globally), promotion (79% for Singapore; 67% globally), and bonus awards (73% for Singapore; 60% globally). 75% factored ethical behaviour into their promotion and bonus consideration, and 60% terminated or disciplined an executive or high-performing employee over unethical behaviour in the past year; the global and APAC averages stand at only 40%.

Other notable findings from this year’s Report include:

• Singapore organisations still face challenges including the need to upgrade internal systems for better training (81%), the integration of compliance after merger & acquisition activity (75%), addressing staff shortages for compliance (73%), budget constraints (69%), and increasingly complex regulations (70%)
• Only roughly one-third (34%) of middle managers in Singapore reported taking on difficult decisions based on company values and purpose as compared to 90% of senior and executive managers
• High-performing programmes in Singapore are 1.2 times more likely to have the resources, authority, and reach to effectively mitigate risk and raise concerns directly to their board, with the former twice as likely to report into the chief executive officer of their organisations.

This Report from LRN marks the 10^th anniversary of the landmark report and is based on a survey of more than 1,400 E&C professionals at companies and organisations in 19 different countries and 26 industries across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, including 112 companies in Singapore.

“This year’s report shows that companies in Singapore are committed towards maintaining high E&C standards. They have taken action on ethical issues at a higher rate than worldwide peers and lead their global counterparts across several E&C metrics.” said Eric Morehead, Director, Advisory Service Solutions at LRN and lead author of the Singapore report. “With organisations in Singapore continuing to adapt to the emergence of artificial intelligence tools, hybrid working models, as well as an increasingly complex regulatory environment, it’s clearer than ever before that high-performing E&C programmes must focus on values, adapt to change, and emphasise personal accountability.”

“Businesses globally are facing numerous challenges from a regulatory and technological perspective, and it’s important that their E&C programmes anchor board members and employees alike to company values and missions,” added Kevin Michielsen, CEO of LRN. “Each year, the findings of the E&C Programme Effectiveness Report showcase a link between fostering ethical cultures and business performance. The more adaptable, organised and clearly communicated an E&C programme is, the more prepared a company is to face the everchanging industry and regulatory challenges that lie ahead.”

About LRN Corporation

LRN’s mission and purpose is to inspire principled performance and help people around the world do the right thing. Since 1994, LRN has worked to propel organizations forward with the partnership, knowledge, and tools to build ethical culture. Learn more at https://lrn.com and follow on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Contacts

Sheila Lim, Blue Totem Communications

LRN@bluetotem.co