Billy Hughes (william.hughes@gartner.com) is a Senior Director, Advisory, and Dian Zhang (dian.zhang@gartner.com) is a Research Specialist at Gartner in Arlington, VA.

In 2018, it’s not surprising that one would have a negative view on the state of corporate culture and ethics from the news cycle. Regulators are handing out giant fines, CEOs are resigning due to violations of company codes of conduct, and the public’s trust in corporations — especially in the U.S. — is dropping dramatically.^[1]

Although all of these trends are of great concern to compliance and ethics teams, fortunately there has never been more attention on corporate culture and reputational risk from key stakeholders. A recent report from the National Association of Corporate Directors highlights culture as a corporate asset and encourages more board-level discussion on the topic.^[2] Our research shows that questions about culture from institutional investors are becoming staples on earnings calls.