Ethics

Late last week the DOJ announced that GM will pay $900 million to settle criminal charges related to flawed ignition switches that have killed more than 100. No individuals have been indicted, which is shocking given that the company had knowledge of -- and covered up -- this issue for years. The DOJ has fallen woefully short of its obligation...

The most beautifully written policies and procedures are worth little more than the paper they're printed on if ethics isn't woven into the fabric of an organization's corporate culture. Ethics must be promoted from the C-Suite, with the CCO and CEO proactively communicating the importance of doing business ethically, as well as identifying and closing ethics gaps to minimize misconduct.

Strong leaders don't just know the right thing to do, they want to do it and then make it happen. Jim Nortz shares an experience in which he saw need for drastic, immediate change, pulled the necessary stakeholders together to devise a strategy, and then watched as the would-be plan fizzled and died. There were multiple failures that day, and...

Corporations and individuals who either insinuate themselves into news stories or report on them in such a way as to capitalize on the events are guilty of newsjacking. You’ve no doubt witnessed this before, though some organizations are subtler than others. But how ethical is this practice, and who determines whether a company is acting ethically?

Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for professionals to be asked to compromise their convictions. When considering a hypothetical ethical dilemma, most of us probably believe we'd take the moral high ground, but even the most honorable among us can get ensnared in morally questionable schemes. Make sure you know which lines you're willing to cross when your principles are tested.

There were some serious systemic issues that allowed two inmates to escape from a New York prison recently. Their prison break unveiled lax internal controls and major ethical lapses on the part of supervisors and management. One key lesson learned from these events: favoritism never bodes well for the many. What are the weaknesses in your internal controls?

It's said that the measure of a person's character is how they behave when no one is looking. Cheating at work can be a very alluring idea, especially when it seems there will be no victims and great benefit. Corporate counsel can have quite the job ahead of them in battling morally questionable conduct, but Jim Nortz offers several suggestions...

The temptation to bend the rules can be great, particularly when it seems the regulatory watchdogs aren't taking notice and it's clear that issues of noncompliance have gone undetected. Maintaining a culture of ethics means doing the right thing at all times, not allowing yourself to become complacent when it comes to doing business ethically.

There is ongoing contention in the United States about what it means to represent shareholder interests...

Does it really make good business sense to always operate in accordance with the highest ethical standards? Don’t business professionals need a bit of moral elbow room to do their work in a responsible way?

When trust is violated the damage can be far reaching. The old axiom, “it takes a lifetime to build trust and a second to ruin it” is an apt warning. Trillions of paper profits have been lost because of a loss of trust!

As often as not, our clients come to us with difficult problems, expecting more than a recitation of the law; they want to know the right (honorable) thing to do. This is both a great privilege and a great responsibility, and shame on us if we lack the courage of our convictions to steer our clients in the right direction.