Ethics

Reputation risk expert Michael Toebe explores two recent high-profile cases of ethical oversights that have produced very real consequences in terms of social backlash, eroded public trust and harm to the companies’ internal reputations. Ethics are not intended to be fluid, yet it’s transparent that for some leaders and organizations that end up in the news, situational ethics are more...

Ingrained cultures of denials and threats – together with shifts in federal prosecution of organizations rather than individuals – continue to protect a highly entrenched culture of impunity at the top. Join Sandra Erez on a journey all along the watchtower accompanied by the pied pipers who puff and blow to bring the guilty down. His watchmen are blind, they...

A growing number of people these days do not seem to want to “do the right thing,” but rather “what they can get away with.” Celgene’s Calvin London discusses the significant effect this behavior can have on compliance culture. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard someone say, “everyone wants to do the right thing.”...

In the latest installment of his ongoing series, Jason Lunday explains why social media can and must be proactively managed for a company to safeguard its reputation and provide its employees with the tools to manage their own personal and business activities.

A single tweet or viral video can do irreparable reputational harm to a company. GAN Integrity’s CEO, Neil Lustig, discusses the democratization of ethics and how it impacts companies – take, for instance, the billions in fines Facebook faced recently. There are virtually no closed doors in businesses anymore. We have more transparency into businesses than ever before because of...

Following an April vote by the European Parliament, potential whistleblowers in the EU member states can expect greater protections. GAN Integrity’s Pauline Blondet discusses what businesses should do now to strengthen their ethics and compliance programs accordingly. The European Parliament recently approved an enhanced and unified whistleblower protection across the European Union’s member states. In order to be ready for...

Our behavior is influenced by what we see and what we are socialized into doing in the workplace. CLOO’s Andre Pinto explains how exposure to dishonest behavior can change our understanding of what is ethically acceptable and offers some compliance strategies based on these insights. We tend to think the moral compass is a very personal thing, but the truth...

Thomson Reuters’ Henry Engler shares insights from an interview with L’Oreal Chief Ethics Officer Emmanuel Lulin on the corporation’s approach and commitment to ethics. Leaders from all industries could take a cue from L’Oreal with respect to how to embed ethics into the fabric of the organization. Rapid innovation in the business world and an inability for regulation and law...

Findings from recent studies on compliance trends and developments are a mixed bag; some positive, some negative. Michael Volkov shares an uncharacteristic view of corporations and their failures to embrace E&C strategies. We all like to believe in straightforward and consistent trends and developments. For example, compliance programs are improving, budgets are increasing and CCOs are embracing new technologies. Everything is just...

Effective ethics and compliance training are more than just formalities in the onboarding process. Skillsoft’s John Arendes and Convercent’s Katie Smith explain how to ensure ethical behavior is rooted in company culture. Speaking up in the face of unethical behavior takes a great deal of courage, and your company needs employees who feel empowered to share their concerns without repercussion....

People need reminding more than they need instruction. Compliance training expert Ronnie Feldman stresses that instruction isn’t enough. Think like an ad man to influence workplace behavior and corporate culture. A very wise and important person once said, “people forget stuff.” I can’t remember who said it first, but I know most recently… it was me! “People Forget Stuff” Most...

While training is helpful and important, it can get too much focus. After all, training doesn’t address the primary reasons people do what they do. Ronnie Feldman discusses the importance of changing the culture. Ethics and compliance programs tend to put much of their focus on training – making the training shorter, making it modular, making it interactive, making it...