Book excerpt: Maintaining solid corporate ethics goes beyond just being a ‘feel good’ story or a good public relations angle. Organizations that demonstrate strong ethical commitments can gain a real competitive advantage over others by keeping employees happy and productive and keeping customers satisfied and loyal, while avoiding some of the unexpected pitfalls that may beset a less ethical organization. These factors all lead to a more stable and consistent organization, and will improve the bottom line and drives higher profits. The erosion of business ethics affects everyone, from the employees laid off, stockholders losing investments, to customers paying a higher price or receiving lesser quality. In Bringing Business Ethics to Life: Achieving Corporate Social Responsibility, best selling author Bjørn Andersen has written an easy to read yet powerful book demonstrating the need for solid ethics in every organization. Andersen first explains the importance of creating a strong ethical culture within every organization, demonstrating the positive effects it will have throughout the business. He then shows how business leaders can make this happen, by introducing a holistic value-driven and ethically based model of leadership and management that can bring about dramatic changes for any organization.