As a privately held, family-owned company, management is committed to remaining independent and to running the firm very much in the spirit of a partnership. Its aim is to provide an environment in which top professionals can achieve their own personal goals while providing a valuable service to clients. Ruder Finn's commitment to independence assures its employees and its clients that it will give the highest priority to the values which are basic to its tradition. Management believes that the staff deserves to be the primary beneficiaries of the firm's success and that management's responsibility is to maintain good business practices and assure effective performance for clients. Continued growth provides opportunities for professional development and long-term security for the firm.

Early in its history, Ruder Finn recognized that ethical behavior is not something that can be decreed but rather requires continuous self-examination. As a result, Ruder Finn established an Ethics Committee to consult with outside scholars to study the ethical aspects of issues which arise in the course of the practice of public relations. Many decisions in the areas of human resources, client acceptance and staff assignments have been made as a result of discussions in Ethics Committee meetings.

The offices of Ruder Finn are surrounded by works of art and the walls of its conference rooms are lined with quotations from different sources combined with photographs of sculpture reminding the staff that original thinking is one of the firm's hallmarks. A series of portfolios of these "Thoughts & Images" have been published over the years for the benefit of clients, friends and in some cases for sale to
the public.