The most effective route to an ethical and socially responsible organization is for senior management to provide strategic leadership in that direction. In this way, senior managers become ethics leaders: Their policies and actions set the ethical and social responsibility tone for the organization.

If high ethics receive top priority, workers at all levels are more likely to behave ethically. Strategic leadership of ethics and social responsibility includes leading by example. If workers throughout the firm believe that behaving ethically is in and behaving unethically is out, ethical behavior will prevail. Ethical behavior that is rewarded is likely to endure. In addition, workers who perform unethically should not be rewarded, and perhaps disciplined.