By two to one, people in Britain believe that British businesses generally act ethically, according to an Ipsos MORI poll for the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE).

1. Corporate Responsibility Attitudes of the
British Public – Ethics in Business
Report for Institute of Business Ethics
Fieldwork Dates: 20-26 August 2010
Released 15 December 2010

2. By two to one, the public believes that business
behaves ethically
Q “How ethically do you think British business generally behaves?”
Very ethically
No opinion
3%
Not at all ethically
12%
59%
5%
29%
Fairly ethically
24% 56%
Not very ethically
Base: 1,019 British adults 16+; 20th-26th August 2010

3. Public belief that British business behaves ethically
is up this year
Q “How ethically do you think British business generally behaves?”
% % saying very/fairly ethical
80
58 59
60 51 54 54 51 52
47
40
20
0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Base: c. 1,000 / 2,000 British adults aged 16+ / 15+ each year

4. Improving perceptions among many subgroups,
especially those aged 55+
Q “How ethically do you think British business generally behaves?” Ethically
Change
Ethically Not ethically 09-10
+
All 59% 29% +7
Men 61% 29% +7
Women 57% 29% +8
ABC1 60% 30% +6
C2DE 58% 28% +9
16-34 56% 32% +5
35-54 64% 26% +6
55+ 57% 29% +11
Graduates 59% 31% +4
Workers 64% 28% +9
With children 61% 24% +9
Base: 1,019 British adults 16+; Subgroups (min 215, max 532); 20th-26th August 2010 Circles indicate that the change figures are
statically significant at 95% confidence level

5. This year, SEVEN MORE PEOPLE IN 100 think
business ethics is improving than last year
Q “How do you think British business is behaving now compared with
ten years ago – is it behaving more ethically than ten years ago, less
ethically, or the same?”
No opinion
16% +7% SWING
More ethically
38% Change
2010
‘09-‘10
%
+
Same 27%
More 38 +7
Less 20 -7
20%
Less ethically Same 27 0
Circles indicate statistically significant
Base: 1,019 British adults 16+; 20th-26th August 2010 differences at 95% confidence level

6. Several groups are more positive this year,
especially those aged 55+ - and women
Q “How do you think British business is behaving now compared with ten years ago?” More
ethically
Change
More ethically Less ethically 09-10
+
All 38% 20% +7
Men 35% 24% +4
Women 40% 16% +9
ABC1 43% 15% +8
C2DE 31% 26% +6
16-34 35% 18% +2
35-54 42% 17% +6
55+ 35% 24% +11
Graduates 44% 13% +3
Workers 41% 19% +5
With children 39% 16% +4
Base: 1,019 British adults 16+; Subgroups (min 215, max 532); 20th-26th August 2010 Circles indicate that the change figures are
statically significant at 95% confidence level

7. Executive pay still top concern, but declining
Q “In your view of company behaviour, which two or three of these
Change
issues most need addressing?” 09-10
+
Executive pay 35% -7
Employees being able to speak out 24% +1
about company wrongdoing
Sweatshop labour 23% -2
Environmental responsibility 21% -3
Discrimination in treatment of people 20% -2
Harassment and bullying in the workplace 19% +3
Fair and open pricing of products
and services 17% +1
Safety and security in the
workplace 16% 0
Work-home balance for employees 15% +2
Openness with information 14% +1
Treatment of suppliers 12% +3
Bribery and corruption 11% -6
Advertising and marketing
practices 6% +1
Base: 1,019 British adults 16+; 20th-26th August 2010 Circles indicate that the change figures are statically
significant at 95% confidence level

8. Ethics of British Business - Details
Q1. “How ethically do you think British business generally behaves?”
Grad- Work With
Total Men Women 16-34 35-54 55+ ABC1 C2DE uates* -ers children
% % % % % % % % % % %
Very 3 4 2 4 4 2 3 3 3 4 3
Fairly 56 57 55 53 60 55 56 56 57 60 58
Not very 24 24 24 29 22 22 25 23 28 24 21
Not at all 5 5 5 4 4 7 5 5 3 4 3
No opinion 12 10 14 12 10 14 10 14 9 8 14
Very/fairly 59 61 57 56 64 57 60 58 59 64 61
Not very/not at all 29 29 29 32 26 29 30 28 31 28 24
Net ‘ethical’ 30 33 28 24 38 28 30 31 28 36 37
Circles indicate statistically significant
* Graduates = all those with a degree differences at 95% confidence level (only
summary codes tested, compared to all figure)
Base: 1,019 British adults 16+; Subgroups (min 215, max 532); 20th-26th August 2010

9. Change in Past Decade - Details
Q2. “How do you think British business is behaving compared
to ten years ago?”
Grad- Work With
Total Men Women 16-34 35-54 55+ ABC1 C2DE uates* -ers children
% % % % % % % % % % %
More ethically
than 10 years ago 38 35 40 35 42 35 43 31 44 41 39
Less ethically 20 24 16 18 17 24 15 26 13 19 16
No difference 27 29 25 24 30 28 30 24 32 29 26
No opinion 16 12 19 23 11 13 13 19 12 11 20
Circles indicate statistically significant
* Graduates = all those with a degree differences at 95% confidence level
(compared to all figure)
Base: 1,019 British adults 16+; Subgroups (min 215, max 532); 20th-26th August 2010

10. Most Pressing Ethical Issues – Details (1)
Q3. “In your view of company behaviour, which two or three of these
issues most need addressing?” (Top mentions)
Grad- Work With
Total Men Women 16-34 35-54 55+ ABC1 C2DE uates* -ers children
% % % % % % % % % % %
Executive pay 35 39 32 29 41 35 35 36 35 39 35
Employees
speaking out about
wrongdoing 24 25 24 23 24 27 23 26 19 22 18
Sweatshop labour 23 20 25 20 25 22 25 19 22 23 23
Environmental
responsibility 21 21 21 25 21 17 25 16 28 22 19
Discrimination in
treatment of people 20 19 21 25 17 18 21 19 19 20 20
Workplace
harassment/
bullying 19 14 24 16 17 24 18 20 19 18 17
Fair and open
pricing of products/
services 17 18 17 17 17 19 20 15 20 17 18
* Graduates = all those with a degree Circles indicate statistically significant
differences at 95% confidence level (compared
to all figure)
Base: 1,019 British adults 16+; Subgroups (min 215, max 532); 20th-26th August 2010

11. Most Pressing Ethical Issues – Details (2)
Q3. “In your view of company behaviour, which two or three of these
issues most need addressing?” (Top mentions)
Grad- Work With
Total Men Women 16-34 35-54 55+ ABC1 C2DE uates* -ers children
% % % % % % % % % % %
Workplace
safety/security 16 16 17 17 15 18 15 19 12 14 16
Work-home balance
for employees 15 17 14 16 23 8 19 11 23 20 18
Openness with
information 14 15 13 9 15 18 15 13 11 15 12
Treatment of
suppliers 12 14 10 10 12 13 15 8 18 13 9
Bribery and
corruption 11 13 9 8 10 16 10 12 8 10 7
Advertising and
marketing practice 6 7 4 8 4 5 7 4 8 6 7
* Graduates = all those with a degree
Circles indicate statistically significant differences at 95%
confidence level (only summary codes tested, compared to
all figure)
Base: 1,019 British adults 16+; Subgroups (min 215, max 532); 20th-26th August 2010

12. MORI Founder:
BIE President Sir Robert Worcester:
“Over the past year there has been a significant recovery in the
British public’s belief that British businesses generally act
responsibly. Now by a margin of two to one the public thinks this
to be true. Increasingly British companies are concerned about
their corporate responsibilities and are acting more responsibly,
in the way they deal with their customers, their employees, the
way they do business, and importantly, through their corporate
communications are telling people what they are doing to act not
just in the interests of their shareholders, but in the interests of all
of their many stakeholders.”
– Sir Robert Worcester, Founder, MORI
President, Institute for Business Ethics

13. For more information please contact:
Jenny Dawkins +44 (0)20 7347 3087
jenny.dawkins@ipsos-mori.com
Our ref: 10-023823-01