DORIAN HELLENIC

The EBEN network

Ethics are part of human nature incorporated in the laws which human follow. It is a significant area of philosophy and is considered a normative science: concerned with the norms of human conduct.
The principles of ethical reasoning are a guideline for sorting out the good and bad components within complex human interactions and have a profound influence on many modern management fields including quality management, human resource management, culture management, change management, risk management, mergers, marketing and corporate responsibility.
Business ethics concerns continuously improvement of ethics processes. In this context a number of institutions & organizations have been created as to promote ethics in daily business routine. One of the most distinguished ones is the EBEN which stands for as the European Business Ethics Network.
EBEN is today the most active network of Business Ethics in Europe, which embraces already 33 member-countries, among them Denmark, Great Britain, Germany & Spain. EBEN was founded in 2000 and it is already universally recognized as a representative of European perception of Business Ethics. In Greece it is represented by the EBEN Greek Chapter which is a non-profit organization founded in 2005.
Its vision is the diffusion & cultivation of a new way of management based on Business Ethics values, the establishment of a widely accepted Business Code deontology as well as the knowledge & information increase in Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility & Governance issues. Moreover, its long term aim is to cultivate the business society as to adopt business ethics values & provide supportive knowledge to professionals & academics.
As a summary its mission can be contained in the following bullet points:
• Promotion of Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility & Governance values in private & public sector, academic community & non-governmental organizations
• Up to date information about business ethics practices & the recognition of responsibilities taken up by companies towards society
• Assiduous training of personnel & companies concerning the practices & know-how related to Business Ethics
• Cooperation with other organizations for the spreading of business dexterity & dialogue development with other institutions
The EBEN GR Model

As to promote and diffuse ethics in business world, the EBEN GR has developed the EBEN GR Model with the following characteistics
The whole concept refers to Corporate Governance (C.G) & Corporate Social Responsibility (C.S.R), each of them applying in 4 different business areas. The Corporate Governance is divided in Business Analysis, Business Performance, Internal Auditing and Regulations & Communications. The Corporate Social Responsibility is divided into Environmental Actions, Social Activities, Economic Stability and Regulations & Communications. In turn each of these areas follow their own specific sub-criteria covering almost all aspects of business life.
Corporate Governance and social Responsibility intersect to the Standard Corporate Code which is considered the heart of the EBEN GR body.
It is divided in three levels with respective awards (Bronze – Silver – Gold). EBEN Gr certifies those succeeding to cover the minimum criteria of each level (20%-50%-70% respectively) in special ceremonies each year. The existence and adoption of the Standard Corporate Code is a perquisite irrelevant of the level of application.
Applicants can not enter an upper level without succeeding in the lower ones.
Specialized and experienced EBEN assessors visit applicants and inspect the existence and steady application of business ethics criteria as to approve the award of the level they have applied for.
There are three Committees which supervise and control the development and operation of EBEN Model, i.e the Development, Academic and Assessment Guideline Committees
Major part of the Model is based upon ancient Greek (and not only) philosophy and values which see business as global issue but always under the service of the human factor.
EBEN GR Model Benefits
In terms of the benefits a company has as to apply the EBEN GR model we can cite the following:
 The Model contains qualitative and quantitative characteristics that help companies to develop more efficiently their own business operations and systems
 Companies become a more organic part of the society since they can better understand its need and requirements
 Companies promote quality in their business investing mainly on the human factor
 The are more recognizable and accepted by the society
 Awarded companies attract more easily cautious stakeholders especially after the wave of scandals that shook business foundation in the last years
 Awarded Members have the opportunity to exchange among them own experiences and ideas having always the steady support of EBEN organization.