Ethics

Every year, Mary Meeker, a partner at venture capital firm KPCB, publishes a comprehensive guide on internet trends. This year’s guide was just released, and SAI Global’s Sean Freidlin offers highlights for the compliance and ethics practitioner. The findings can be hugely informative when it comes to ethics and compliance training and strategies in terms of mitigating data privacy and...

Findings from the 2017 Ethics and Compliance Survey Convercent and Ethisphere recently released findings from a survey about the importance of an ethical business culture. A culture of ethics is finally being recognized by the top brass as a key differentiator and critical to long-term success. The report touches on today’s biggest ethics and compliance challenges and demonstrates that CECOs...

Even companies committed to a culture of ethics and compliance experience unethical behavior and compliance failures from time to time. In this gap between attitude and action, education and technology can help to unlock a company’s true potential. Both are powerful components, but when working together, they’re a dynamic team in combating corruption.

Ethics experts from Bentley University's Center for Business Ethics discuss several reasons why businesses should have values-driven management, as well as give you a good starting point for implementing values-driven management in your company.

Today we take a look at how Microsoft drives integrity and compliance in all they do. The company’s Microsoft Runs on Trust campaign was designed to embed and promote a culture of trust and transparency. Also key is the multinational corporation’s commitment to ensuring not only the right tone at the top, but also a complementary “echo from the bottom.”

All of us are faced by those moments when doing what’s right is very different from doing what’s easy or what would be the most profitable. Ask yourself what you would do in some of these business situations. Then, ask yourself what you've done.

2017 is shaping up to be the year of populism in the U.S. This has direct implications for compliance, HR and diversity professionals. If diversity is a key driver of business competitiveness, how do you create a culture of ethics, respect and inclusion amidst this rising tide of populism?

How do business leaders create a sustainable, ethical business culture? An important first step is helping the organisation stay focused on ethical concerns. Then, they must bolster this focus with practical actions, such as making sure there are shared values, having a credible code of ethics and ensuring continuous ethical improvements.

Companies with a strong culture of ethics have a real competitive edge in the marketplace. Often these organizations outperform the competition in productivity while also enjoying a lower rate of employee misconduct. Culture may be difficult to measure, but CCOs should focus on continually improving the corporate culture – it’s the company’s most important control.

They say drastic times call for drastic measures. But organizations are expected to operate with integrity even in the lean years. In the past few years, there have been several high-profile instances of financial reporting manipulation, including Wells Fargo, Toshiba, and GSK. When does “managerial discretion” cross the line into misrepresentation?

While it’s vital to have leadership on board in order to have a strong culture of ethics and compliance, an organization must also have the right mechanisms in place so that the team can do their jobs well. Captain Sullenberger was able to land Flight 1549 safely because he had the advantage of a prepared and well-trained staff AND appropriate...

The importance of planning is no more apparent than in times of crises. In 2009, Captain “Sully” Sullenberger landed Flight 1549 on the Hudson River after both of the plane’s engines failed. A few weeks later, in a formal address to the House, he lauded the virtue of preparedness – both for the risks that can be anticipated and the...