helps SRI preference. Q Do small and medium sized companies (SMEs) need codes? A Ethical standards are just as important to SMEs as to larger companies, but the key issues and concerns can be very different. The Find Out More Section of this website also provides some guidance for SMEs on how to tackle ethical issues. Today's multinational corporations were yesterday's SMEs, and IBE suggests that SMEs address ethical concerns as early as possible. Many companies make the mistake of only tackling ethical behaviour when problems arise. A reputation takes years to build, but can be lost overnight. In addition, SMEs are finding that having ethical policies are a condition of tendering for contracts as larger businesses extend their ethical standards to companies in their supply chains. SMEs that are familiar with these demands can have a competitive advantage. Q How does a company start to address ethics? A If an organisation wants to take ethics seriously, it needs to identify the core values to which it wishes to be committed and held accountable. It then needs to translate those values into guidance for all employees on how to act responsibly in different circumstances. See below for further details. Q What are core values? A Core ethical values are those regarded by a company as non-negotiable - they form the foundation for a set of corporate ethical standards and commitment and the organisation's approach to corporate responsibility. Commonly used value words found in introductions/preambles to codes of ethics include: responsibility,