A new survey of 2,300 employees found that more than 75 percent felt they had 'observed violations of the law or company standards' over the last year at their places of employment.

With an overwhelming response rate of 78 percent, the survey was conducted by KPMG, who found many infractions to ethics practices.

They found, for example,, that 56 percent of sales personnel reported that their company had deceived or lied to customers. In addition, 50 percent of employees in R&D said they had seen mishandling of proprietary or confidential information.

KPMG reports the findings despite the fact that ethics programs were in place among employers. In the finance arena, approximately 20 percent of respondents reported they had witnessed improper handling of financial information.