Legendary merchant John Wanamaker famously said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Compliance and ethics professionals may have similar feelings about aspects of their respective companies’ programs.

More worrisome still: Such concerns may be shared by regulators, senior executives, board members, directors of communications, employees, the press, and other constituencies. But compliance and ethics measures are not exempt from the need to be efficient.