The Center serves as a resource for original research, programs, and discussion of emerging ethical issues in the financial services industry. With an emphasis on applied knowledge, we provide interactive continuing education courses, forums, and workshops to help practitioners think critically and behave ethically, even in the absence of clear direction.
Center Programs and Activities
Ethics Workshops
Ethics Workshops are either daylong events, or forums of shorter duration, that bring together representatives from Alliance member organizations and other key stakeholders to discuss timely and relevant ethical issues.
The centerpiece of each workshop is the presentation of the results of original research conducted by the Center, although we leave plenty of time for lively discussion and debate. The objective of each workshop is that participants leave with sound ideas that they can apply in their organizations. The Center held two Ethics Workshops in 2016. The first Ethics Workshop took place in April 2016 in Chicago, IL on the topic of women in the financial services industry. The second took place in June 2016 in Minneapolis, MN on how to build and maintain trusting relationships with clients and other stakeholders. At this workshop, the Center presented its original research on factors that lead to the creation and maintenance of trust in a professional relationship. The emphasis was on how to translate this new knowledge into best practices for financial services professionals.
The Center’s Ethics Workshops are open to Alliance members only.
The Forum on Ethical Leadership
The Forum on Ethical Leadership was founded by Jim Mitchell and his wife Linda in conjunction with The American College Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics in Financial Services in 2001. The forum’s purpose is to bring together practitioners from financial services companies and business ethicists from academia to engage in meaningful conversation about ethics in the industry. This annual event features a discussion of several key issues confronting the financial services industry, along with an examination of practical ethical dilemmas encountered by executives during their careers and questions raised by business ethicists from major colleges and universities around the country.
This is an invite-only event.
Research
The Center conducts original research on contemporary topics in ethics in financial services. Our current research agenda focuses on two key themes: business model risks and stakeholder management challenges in financial services.
Webinars on Ethics in Financial Services
The Center disseminates periodic webinars on various topics relating to ethics in financial services. These webinars are open to the public and at times provide Continuing Education (CE) credit for financial services professionals. Topics range from diversity and inclusion, methods to strengthen trust in financial services, and Fireside Chats with CEOs and other leaders in the financial services. To learn more about these events, please sign up for our monthly newsletter.
Culture Assessment
The team at the Maguire Center for Ethics is available to conduct an assessment of the ethical culture at your organization. Many organizations tout their level of commitment to excellence in ethics and integrity in its business dealings, but how is it possible for leaders to know what is going on across the organization and which areas or systems might present a risk?
Drawing upon the findings from academic and practitioner research on the characteristics of ethical business cultures, we can serve as a trusted third-party resource to review your internal systems, including engagement with your employees, to provide a framework describing the strength of ethical markers of your culture, and areas for improvement. We use both qualitative (interviews; focus groups) and quantitative (surveys) methods to provide a comprehensive analysis.
Members of the Alliance for Ethics may access this benefit at a discounted rate.
Custom Workshops and Leadership Retreats
The Center offers an array of ethics workshops, presentations and leadership retreats for both leaders and the broader employee population. These can serve either as interactive sessions that provide practical tools to your leaders, or as opportunities for specialized presentations designed to address the specific needs of your organization. Workshops and retreats serve as an opportunity to reinforce your commitment to doing business in accordance with ethical principles. Many of these programs are eligible for continuing education credit (State Insurance CE, CPE and CLE).
Members of the Alliance for Ethics may access this benefit at a discounted rate.
Private Sounding Board
Alliance for Ethics members can connect with leaders at the Maguire Center as a confidential sounding board when faced with ethical challenges. Please contact us for more information.
Newsletter and Thought Leadership
Members of the Maguire Center staff write for various publications and platforms, and the Center also provides a monthly newsletter, which aggregates insights from the business ethics community. We aim to help inform your understanding of trends relating to ethics in financial services, and to get out ahead of stakeholder management challenges.
The newsletter is a free service; you can sign up for our newsletter and other Center updates here.