Ethics education

Creative presentation of ethics issues in the workplace using engaging video vignettes continues to be a winning formula for promoting employee ethics awareness and guiding ethical decision-making. Our annual education classes provide employees with an opportunity to view stories scripted from actual cases, in which characters respond to situations where taking an “ethics check” would have changed the outcome favorably. Discussion of these “Ethics Checkpoint” vignettes encourages employees to “pause, take an ethics check, then proceed,” when they are faced with ethical concerns at work. Our Ethics Checkpoint education program is required learning for all employees, and in 2011 presented topics including conflicts of interest, providing business courtesies to government officials, and reporting quality concerns. Employee survey data tells us that employees learn about the company’s Ethics expectations from Ethics Checkpoint, and 80% find it useful in guiding their decisions at work.

Our “EthicSpace” education program also is extremely popular with employees. “EthicSpace” videos are just a few minutes long, and several episodes are issued to employees via email each quarter. Based on actual situations, EthicSpace episodes present ethical dilemmas and show how the characters handled them. Recently, EthicSpace topics included use of social media, labor charging, competitive intelligence, and reporting concerns. In 2011, employees also completed more than 150,000 online compliance education modules, which cover a wide range of topics, including various laws and regulations impacting government contractors.

International initiatives

Since 2005, Raytheon has been a leader driving an international aerospace and defense industry initiative to promote ethical business behavior called the International Forum on Business Ethical Conduct (IFBEC). We helped draft and were among the first signatories of the IFBEC’s Global Principles of Ethical Business Conduct in 2009. Raytheon continues to serve on IFBEC’s governing Task Force today.

Ethics Checkpoint is a decision-making tool to encourage employees to pause and take an “ethics check” before proceeding with an action.

Performance measures

We use a range of metrics to measure our success and to develop facts and data to focus future educational programs. In 2011, the Ethics Office received more than 4,300 contacts, nearly 90% of which were employees seeking advice. In addition, more than 400 investigations of alleged misconduct were completed. Where misconduct was substantiated, discipline up to and including termination was imposed.

Engagement with community

The Ethics Office promotes business ethics in partnership with academic institutions in our communities. For example, we sponsor Bentley University’s business ethics lecture series, serve on an advisory board providing practitioner input for the Business Law and Ethics program at Suffolk University, present webinars at the University of Notre Dame’s business school, and sponsor an intercollegiate ethics case competition. In these ways, we communicate our values with our communities and share best practices.

Awards

Our EthicSpace and Ethics Checkpoint videos won several “Telly” awards for excellence in corporate training films in 2011. In January 2012, Patricia Ellis, Raytheon’s Vice President-Business Ethics & Compliance, was named the inaugural recipient of the Carol R. Marshall award, given by the Ethics Resource Center, which conducts the National Business Ethics Survey and cutting-edge research in business ethics. This award recognizes a chief ethics and compliance officer for innovative leadership building and enhancing a corporate ethics and compliance program.

Jay Stephens, Raytheon senior vice president, General Counsel and Secretary, and Patti Ellis, vice president, Raytheon Business Ethics & Compliance, proudly hold the Ethics Resource Center’s first Carol R. Marshall Award, which recognized Raytheon’s commitment to ethical leadership and employee awareness and education.