It is always a privilege to be invited to speak at a University to accounting and business students and their faculty. This last week I had that honor- of presenting to Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management and Wheatley Institution, to these groups on ethics and how important integrity is in the business world…. [Read More]
Starbucks’ $16 Million Mistake – A Painful & Expensive Lesson!
Recent headlines blasted “Starbucks to Close 8,000 U.S. Stores for Racial-Bias Training After Arrests.” Starbucks executives’ response to the recent arrests in a Philadelphia café are unprecedented. Starbucks is known as a strong company with a concern for its employees and a socially responsible agenda in its community. It has a reputation for excellent customer service…. [Read More]
Can Ethical Principles Become the New Norm?
Pick up a newspaper, read the headlines, turn on your TV set and the prevalent news relates to lying, cheating and stealing. Whether it regards our politicians, business professionals, or local leaders much of our daily input is negative. The trust we put in our elected officials, the media, bankers and business executives is at… [Read More]
The Goldman Sachs Takeover of the Fed!
With the Fed’s latest hiring of Neel Kashkari as President of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank, Goldman Sach’s former executives will now hold 4 of the 5 Fed President’s seats on the very powerful Federal Open Markets Committee, which is responsible for the formulation of U.S. monetary policy. Before discussing concerns about these appointments, it would… [Read More]
Behavioral Ethics: Too Big To Fail and the Financial Crisis
This coming week, I will be speaking at the annual conference of the American Accounting Association (AAA). AAA is the largest community of accountants in academia; key experts in that field on leading-edge research and publications. They are well known and respected as thought leaders and for shaping the future of accounting through teaching, research… [Read More]
Bernie Sanders Knocks Wall Street’s Casino-Style Gambling Tactics
Senator Elizabeth Warren applauds Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid, and says, “I think that Bernie Sanders is going to play out a vision for America and that it is important for people to hear what he has to say.” Progressive Democrats have been urging Senator Warren to make a bid for the presidency as well. However,… [Read More]
Situational Ethics: Heads or Tails!
Years ago, Stephen Covey commented, “Some say that ‘business is business’ and that ‘ethics and principles’ sometimes have to take a back seat to profits. Many of these same people see no correlation between the quality of their personal lives at home and the quality of their products and services at work.” He may be… [Read More]
Ethical Leadership- Culture is the Culprit!
People act in their own best interests; not necessarily because they believe they are doing the right thing or because they may be punished or rewarded for doing so. And if a company wants to promote and assure ethical standards are followed then transparency, trust and developing an ethical culture based on guiding principles is… [Read More]