Every company whether small, medium-sized or large should have a code of conduct, says PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Southern Africa joint CEO Colin Beggs.

At the launch of the professional services firm's global code of conduct last week Beggs said that while introducing guidelines for ethical behaviour was initially a costly exercise, it made good business sense in the long term.

The initiative placed a heavy emphasis on values and the protection of the organisation's reputation.

A joint venture by PWC firms globally, the code was the result of a long and exhaustive process of selfexamination, market evaluation and input from clients, said Beggs.

With the advent of scandals such as Enron's, there had been a deterioration of trust in the accounting and auditing profession. The code would help strengthen relationships with all stake holders.

"We don't guarantee that with the introduction of the code, mistakes won't happen. It is a process of informing staff; not policing them, but supporting them with knowledge and a structure," said Beggs.

The code needed to be articulated and made transparent and visible because "we think people know what is right and what is wrong, but this is not always the case".

Doing business was about making choices, and staff needed to be informed about what their choices were. "Certain staff at Enron made certain choices, with damaging results," said Beggs

While launching the code now might appear to be a knee-jerk reaction to recent events, this was not entirely the case.

"The initiative began in 1996, but is even more imperative today."

It was not a one-time effort but a long-term commitment to the second King report's recommendations on organisational ethics. Staff throughout PWC would receive training under the guidance of Mollie Painter-Morland, director of the University of Pretoria's Centre for Business and Professional Ethics.

Painter-Morland said such initiatives had been taken before but had not been effective because the training had been a once-off thing.

"To effectively raise staff awareness on ethics training must be an integrated, holistic approach. The code should not be just another document," she said.

Staff would receive guidance on decision-making and this would be a facilitated process with full support from the firm.

The code was devised with help from the Ethics Institute of SA. Beggs, a director on the board, said the institute would guide PWC's progress on ethics and integrity.

The code of conduct deals with such issues as:

Professional behaviour by employees, which has bearing on the firm's reputation;

Respect for colleagues and clients;

The organisation's obligations as a responsible corporate citizen;

Upholding the company's name through the actions of each employee of the firm around the globe; and

Compliance with the code

PWC offers clients a corporate governance service, including guidance on setting up an ethical code.

The firm had helped about 30 companies that approached it for advice on designing their own codes of conduct, said Beggs.

PWC Southern Africa, the first division in the global firm to launch the code, has a team of 20 technical advisers to deal with queries.

The cornerstones of PWC's global code of conduct are:

Teamwork, which requires "relationships, respect and sharing".

Excellence through innovation, learning and agility; and

Leadership, which demands courage, vision and integrity.

Central to the process would be the appointment of ethics officers, said Beggs. They would be peers to whom staff could go should they feel they had been asked to do something with which they felt uncomfortable.

For example, a secretary being asked to type a letter she felt was inappropriate or damaging to business could approach an ethics officer for help.

Staff would receive sensitivity training to enable them to deal with difficult situations, and there would be various channels whistle-blowers could resort to, including an anonymous hotline.

"It will depend on people's needs," said Painter-Morland.

"One query may best be handled by a human resources person, while another will better suit an internal auditor."

With acknowledgements to Yvonne Fontyn and Business Day.