Ethics and integrity are the core foundation of our business


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By: Nora Wahby, Vice President and Head of Ericsson West Africa and Morocco

Be it working on the latest tech, designing solutions for our customers, or contributing to the next big innovation – we are all committed to what we do at Ericsson. This commitment is what makes us accountable and responsible to conduct our business responsibly. We work continuously to improve and strengthen our business practices, with a focus on building and maintaining trust, transparency, and integrity.

Ericsson takes pride in being a responsible, relevant driver of positive change within the communities and societies we impact. To succeed, we must set a high standard for winning business on merit, ability and fairness, and when needed, remediate compliance-related risks.

Codes of Ethics

When we join Ericsson, we make a personal commitment by signing our Code of Business Ethics (CoBE) document. This is our guiding framework to be a trusted partner, to conduct business responsibly and to remind us that every action count.

Following our Code of Business Ethics in everything we do is an oath we all take year-on-year to conduct ourselves and do our business responsibly and to live up to our purpose of empowering an intelligent, sustainable and connected world. We create intelligent technologies that connect societies and industries, driving positive change.

We require our business partners to commit to our standards as defined in The Ericsson Code of Conduct for Business Partners. This document outlines Ericsson’s expectations and requirements in key areas such as anti-corruption, labor, and human rights, occupational health and safety, environment, and climate change.

The Ericsson Code of Business Ethics and Code of Conduct for Business Partners go beyond fulfilling a legal requirement. It is a commitment to do the right thing, the right way, always.

I have seen this strong commitment being reflected across Ericsson. This is what helps us attract talents and business partners, which in turn inspires us to empower our people, not just to make ethical decisions but also the right ones.

AfricaInMotion

Our #AfricaInMotion campaign is something that I often talk about and take as an example. The key vision behind the campaign was to drive our “accelerate Africa strategy”, enabling social, technological, and financial inclusion for a young, dynamic, and growing population. The foundation of this vision lies in conducting our business responsibly so that our end-users can benefit from the full potential of connectivity and secure sustainable development.

Africa in Motion: Accelerating Africa’s digital future – Ericsson

The Effort

We have been making significant efforts to strengthen our Ethics & Compliance program with policies, processes and tools for preventing, detecting, reporting and remediating non-compliance. We have therefore put our focus on four areas:

  • Leadership and culture
  • Third party engagements
  • Compliance and Investigation capabilities
  • Internal controls

 I have seen the quest of driving business responsibly being followed and implemented in our daily work. That is why I am proud to say that demonstrating strong ethics and integrity is the cornerstone of our culture. These are as critical to our business as technology and innovation.

Ethical business for us is not just about complying with legal obligations. We are equally committed to ethical conduct and acting with integrity in how we interact with our colleagues, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders, and how we engage with the communities at large. After all, it’s all about doing the right thing.