Did you know that Americans are the most ethical people in the English-speaking world, the British are morally dubious, and New Zealanders, Australians and Canadians have excellent social consciences?

Or that the difference between men and women is a global one and there is a greater similarity between Kiwi and British men than between Kiwi men and women?

These are some of the results of  British corporate philosopher Professor Roger Steare’s ongoing Moral Character survey, which has so far been taken by over 30,000 people from 162 countries.

 In ‘Getting to the heart’ in the latest issue of Employment Today, Steare explains that a deficit in the character and judgement of many of the directors and senior executives in the banking sector was a major cause of the global financial crisis.

 However, it’s not just arrogant male bankers who cause collapse, he says. It is the rule-bound and profit-oriented corporate structure that is inherently problematic—it’s time we changed our thinking.

Steare, a keynote speaker at the Human Resources Institute of New Zealand Conference 2010 (1-3 September), works with businesses to achieve a moral foundation that will support sustainability. In this article, he outlines the simple three-step approach he uses.