Trust is becoming ever more important to business strategy. Trust affects brands and sales, new products and ventures, and protection against fraud and misrepresentation by outside parties.

Scandals and low public reputations have led to increased regulation and penalties, which have affected not only the individuals or companies involved, but entire industries and the encompassing business community. 

Industries such as oil & gas, financial services, mining, pharmaceuticals, health care, communications, retail, food and beverage, apparel, defense contracting, and manufacturing are constantly being scrutinized and negatively portrayed.

The fact is that most businesses in these industries are implementing positive corporate social responsibility programs, and contribute far more than they cost to society.

BCLC's research indicates that a profound divergence of opinions exists regarding business values and trust. 94% of business leaders believe that ethical business practices are either critical or very important to their company, but public opinion polls continue to portray skepticism in corporate ethics. 

Most companies think about trust in terms of how to reduce risk and strengthen compliance. However, some companies are developing ethical and stakeholder relationship management practices to proactively build trust with customers, employees, investors, and other important constituencies.

Low trust is not just a business issue — it affects many American institutions. BCLC believes organizations across the different sectors can work together to rebuild trust. BCLC will host a forum on July 15 in partnership with the Ethics Resources Center to address these issues. A special feature of the event is a roundtable discussion on how individual companies and organizations build trust and prevent scandals from derailing their reputation.

CSR and ethics practitioners who want a better understanding of how to address the trust problem are invited to attend. Learn more about this event.