Where’s the ‘Ethics’ in Goldman Sachs’s Code of Ethics

The most frequently mentioned word in Goldman Sachs’s code of ethics is not “ethics” or “morality” or “honesty” or “integrity.” It is in fact: “firm.”

That’s according to the above infographic we produced by importing the entire four-page document, titled “Code of Business Conduct and Ethics,” into a word map. The more times a word is mentioned, the larger it appears on this illustration.

If you judge the document strictly by word count, it appears that “Firm” is best represented. And why is the word “compendium” so big?

What do you read from this graphic?

And read our interview with Greg Unruh, director of the Lincoln Center for Ethics, about situational ethics here.