The Global Business Ethics Survey (GBES), published yearly by the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI), serves to foster a better understanding of ethics in the workplace from the perspective of employees. The 2019 report, incorporating responses from employees in 18 countries, examines the link between organizational commitment (to organizational values and ethical leadership) and two… [Read More]
Transparency and Ethics in Ireland
This coming week I’m off to Ireland where I’m presenting to several groups, Transparency International, Ireland, the Institute of Banking and the National University of Ireland. The core of each presentation is on ethics and integrity, using as a springboard my experience and resulting outcomes at Citigroup. I find that somewhat ironic given the present… [Read More]
The Fall of an American Icon
The lack of ethics has become a household norm. Whether it be in the political arena from which it is blatantly absent or in business, ethical violations have become the new normal. Still how disheartening to see a business we grew up with, our kid’s happy meal place, a pillar of our community be struck… [Read More]
How Will It Look in the Newspaper?
There has been a strong spotlight on nonprofits in the last several years, from taxation issues to ethical concerns. Unfortunately, a few nonprofits have made the headlines as a result of ethical and governance malfeasance and so more nonprofits are under scrutiny and overall have lost public trust. I had the honor recently of leading… [Read More]
We’re getting better ethics grades!
How would you rate your company’s ethical culture? Here’s the good news… the corporate fraud and ethical scandals of the last ten plus years have shown a spotlight on the importance of ethics. According to the 2019 Ethics and Compliance Program Effectiveness Report, based on a survey of 480 ethics, compliance and legal professionals at large… [Read More]
Let’s Get Real!
Authentic is defined as being true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character; no pretensions. Recent studies emphasize that bringing the real you, the whole self, an authentic self to work impacts ethical behavior. According to Maryam Kouchaki’s recent research with Mahdi Ebrahimi and Vanessa Patrick, it seems that “enabling people to bring their whole selves… [Read More]
On my honor… the Compliance or Ethics Debate
Bruce Weinstein, a leadership strategist and consultant, writing in a Forbes magazine article points out that “High character leaders ask, ‘What is required of me,’ but they don’t leave it at that; the highly ethical ones also ask ‘What is the right thing to do?’” They ask: What would an honorable person do, how does… [Read More]
This is Not a fairy tale!!!
All children’s stories start with once upon a time and have heroes and villains. In this case, this story, while it involves children’s books, has a slew of villains who might yet triumph over the heroes. Baltimore’s Mayor Catherine Pugh resigned under pressure last week, after revelations that she made more than $500,000 selling her… [Read More]
How to Stamp Out Fraud!
Is your organization immune from fraud? The 2019 Annual Fraud Conference recently held at the University of Texas at Dallas gave practical steps to assure you are. The conference was an outstanding success and I was honored to have been part of it once again. The conference attendees; internal auditors, CPA’s, faculty and students, learned… [Read More]
Brigham Young University: Practicing What They Preach
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]
