Technology provider Cisco Systems puts a high value on ethics and corporate social responsibility. Cisco is one of only three companies to appear on the business ethics publication Corporate Responsibility Officer's 100 Best Corporate Citizens list every year in the list's first ten years. So it was no surprise that company leaders were concerned when an employee survey revealed that ethics and compliance issues training was seen as boring and dry. Cisco realized that it had been cramming ethics and compliance information down employees' throats. Because many of Cisco's employees are tech-savvy engineers who are more comfortable figuring things out for themselves, the old model of in-person PowerPoint-based training clearly was not working.

Accordingly, Cisco decided to revamp the ethics and compliance program for its 65,000 worldwide employees to make the training interesting, engaging, and fun. The company developed Ethics Idol, a cartoon-based parody of the television reality show American Idol, to engage employees in ethical decision making. Featured on Cisco's intranet, employees view four cartoon contestants, each of whom sings the tale of a different, complicated ethical situation. The three judges then give their decisions as in American Idol.

The themes of the song parodies include international trade regulations and chain-of-command issues when reporting malfeasance or harassment. The parodies are purposely vague to make employees really think about the ethical issues. After viewing the judges' decisions, employees vote on which of the three judges gave the most appropriate response to each situation, and instantly see how their vote matches up companywide. Cisco's ethics office then weighs in at the end of each episode to give the correct answer based on the company's official ethics and compliance standards.

Thanks to its ability to easily change the language in which it is broadcast, Ethics Idol is being rolled out to Cisco employees globally. The Ethics Idol program not only got Cisco employees to learn more about ethics and compliance, but it also gave the company momentum when it decided to rewrite its Code of Business Conduct in more simple and clear language. Cisco's new code was introduced shortly after Ethics Idol was rolled out, and within ten weeks, 99.6 percent of Cisco employees certified that they had received and read the new document. A survey of employees found that 94 percent agreed that the new code was easy to read, and 95 percent agreed that it was easy to comprehend.

Ethics Idol has been a hit among the technology-loving employees at Cisco. As one expert says, You cannot teach people morality, but you can teach them how to deal with the ethical problems they encounter in the hopes they will make a good decision. Ethics Idol has done just that by matching the communication medium to the audience and making learning fun.

1. What are the advantages of Ethics Idol as an ethics training communication medium over in-person PowerPoint training?

2. Would you enjoy this type of training program? Why or why not?

3. Can you think of other ways ethics and corporate social responsibility information could be communicated in an engaging way?