Inter-Disciplinary

Ethics Applied Centre

Professional ethics portfolio

We carry out a wide range of activities in the area of professional ethics, working for clients in a
number of sectors. This is a selection of some of our projects, illustrating particular types of work.

Using academic approaches to answer questions of relevance to industry and the professions.
Real Integrity: practical solutions for organisations trying to
promote and encourage integrity
This report is the culmination of a major research project,
sponsored by the Institute for Chartered Accountants in England
and Wales (ICAEW), that combined an online survey with nearly
1,500 respondents, interviews with 94 employees in organisations
of a wide range of sizes and types and an investigation into the
philosophical literature. In July 2012 Real Integrity was submitted
as evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practice and
ethics of the press.

Ethical Decision Making in the NHS: A checklist for senior managers

Working with the University’s Centre for Innovation in Health

Applied research Management (CIHM), we produced a National Inquiry into Ethical

Decision Making in the NHS. Our report set out some simple,
practical advice to help NHS organisations to make better, more
effective ethical decisions, as well as looking in detail at specific
ethical issues – fairness, justice, equity, equality, openness, honesty,
transparency – which play a role in decisions made by all trusts.

Training for professionals, ranging from a general introduction to ethics and professionalism,
to highly focused, bespoke sessions looking at specific issues affecting a particular profession.
Face-to-face training for the Chartered Insurance Insitute (CII)
We developed, and deliver, a training course for the Chartered
Insurance Institute (CII). The course, which has so far been run
successfully in eight different locations around the UK, aims to
allow the CII’s members to explore the particular ethical issues
inherent in their roles, as well as the overarching themes of
professionalism, creating value and the role of values in decision-
making. A mixture of real-life case studies and exploration of
ethical concepts make for a dynamic, interactive half-day course.

Face to face and online training for the Actuarial Profession (AP)
We were contracted by the Actuarial Profession to review, revise
and co-facilitate its face to face Professional Skills Course, and
design, host and co-facilitate an online version. At some point in
their career, each of the Actuarial Profession’s 20,000 members
participates in either the face-to-face or the online version of the
course.
Training
Enabling your organisation’s ethical values to have a tangible impact on the working practices of
all of your employees.
Ethics and Integrity Review
We offer an integrity review that provides a scorecard for
organisations to demonstrate how well adapted they are for the
Consultancy and review promotion of integrity. We also offer bespoke ethics consultancy
to meet an organisation’s specific challenges. For example,
we were engaged by the Higher Education Funding Council for
England (HEFCE) to review how its mission and goals affected
the organisation’s culture and were reflected by employees.

Ethical Audit for the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL)

More recently we have worked with the NNL to develop an
ethical audit process for their projects. Based on the Royal
Academy of Engineering’s Statement of Ethical Principles,
this process grades elements of a project against a set of
ethical audit standards.

Developing materials exploring issues in ethics and professionalism.

Guide to engineering ethics for the Royal Academy of Engineering
(RAEng)
In 2010, the RAEng commissioned us to produce an innovative
guide to professional ethics for engineers. Engineering Ethics in
Practice is designed to supplement The Royal Academy’s
Statement of Ethical Principles with illustrative case studies that
identify and analyse the ethical dilemmas that engineers face in
their professional lives. The guide contains eighteen in-depth
case studies, illustrating different aspects of the RAE’s four top-
level principles.

Ethics and professionalism web zone for the Institution for

Engineering and Technology (IET)
In 2008/9, we produced a series of online case studies to help
bring to life the IET’s code of ethics. The provision of such a
resource was felt to be necessary since codes of conduct and sets
of ethical rules are not able to provide detailed guidance in every
situation directly, and an element of judgment is necessary in
determining how rules should be applied.
Materials development

For more information on our Professional Ethics activities,

please contact Jim Baxter on
0113 343 8211 / j.d.baxter@leeds.ac.uk.