More than half of South Africans in the corporate turn a blind eye to business misconduct.And‚ according to the findings of the fourth South African Business Ethics Survey released on Monday‚ 52% don’t report observed ethical lapses because of a “belief that the company would not take action and a fear of victimisation”.The latter‚ the survey conducted by The Ethics Institute found‚ accounted for “42% of those who did not report observed misconduct”.“While awareness of corporate ethics codes has increased‚ there has been a drop in the number of persons reporting ethical misconduct‚” a statement said on Monday.“This is probably because South African companies are investing fewer resources in improving their ethics performance and‚ as a result‚ ethical business practices are still not well-embedded into the organisational culture of corporate South Africa.”Driving this situation‚ argued The Ethics Institute CEO Professor Deon Rossouw‚ “are probably the global economic situation and the poor performance of the local economy”.“Organisations have ethics codes in place‚ and people know about them‚ but the pressure to meet unrealistic financial targets is probably to blame for many unethical actions.“At the same time‚ it seems as though weak trading conditions are reducing budgets for ‘non-essential’ programmes like strengthening formal ethics programmes aimed at embedding ethics in organisational culture.”The survey also found‚ since the previous edition in 2013‚ an “11% increase in the number of employees who observed misconduct (to 25%)”.“This increase in observed misconduct‚ combined with the fact that 16% fewer employees are reporting it than in 2013‚ is extremely worrying‚” Rossouw said.“Above all‚ organisations should guard against giving the perception that unethical behaviour‚ especially in pursuit of financial or other organisational targets‚ is acceptable.”Key findings of the survey:- “Awareness of formal interventions aimed at promoting ethical business practices remains constant‚ and employees generally (79%) find that corporate values are a useful and clear guide to behaviour; - “However‚ only two-thirds of employees consistently consider corporate values when making decisions‚ and only 35% indicated that employees consistently adhere to them;- Insufficient attention is paid to how employees reach their targets or fulfil their roles…employees might receive a bonus for achieving an unrealistic financial target despite the fact that they did so by transgressing organisational ethical standards; and- “The percentage of employees who agree that their companies expect its employees to do what is right for clients/customers (customer service) has decreased significantly by 30% from 2013 and 34% from 2009.”The full report can be accessed on the website of The Ethics Institute at www.tei.org.za- TMG Digital..