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December 1, 2014 By Richard Bowen

The Kellogg Case Study Award on Anti-Corruption and Inspiration

In my recent post on ethical and responsible leadership, I mentioned  the international  award for the  Outstanding Case Study on Anti-Corruption, given by the United Nations Compact Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) and Giving Voice to Values (GVV) and presented at the North American Case Research Association (NACRA) conference: Through the Eyes of a Whistle-Blower: How Sherry Hunt Spoke up about Citibank’s Mortgage Fraud.

The award being granted and the use it will be put to, gives me hope.

I can rant and rave about the DOJ’s questionable need to reward forthcoming whistleblowers, and about the present and past Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacles and how they, combined with Wall Street’s fraudulent mortgage activity, almost brought down our entire financial system.

Yet this award, which will lead to classroom study in university settings around the world, is partially what is needed to stop this behavior from occurring in the first place. I say partially, because the public also needs to be more aware and companies need to adopt and instill guiding principles which have zero tolerance and are truly embraced by their employees and culture.

While one would think that ethical behavior is a compass we all have instilled in us, such is not the case. Unfortunately decades of transgressions prove this to be fact.

Greed, ego, and winning at all costs has been so rewarded that those organizations which conduct themselves with a true north perspective rarely make the news. How refreshing and necessary those schools are at teaching what our conscience already knows and sometimes ignores.

Yet isn’t it time that the Whole Foods, Container Stores, Southwest Airlines, Trader Joes, Starbucks, REI, LL Bean, Costco’s and dozens more, including a recent client, Penn Mutual, one of the oldest values-driven companies in America, started receiving more press because they are truly following the guiding principles of ethical behavior?

Rewarding whistleblowing is not the answer. Encouraging, coaching, and strategizing for guiding principles an organizations’ team can take hold of, follow, and embrace is the answer and the eventual solution to a successful, profitable customer-employee centric culture.

Guiding principles are not rocket science. They are about treating people fairly, with respect and dignity. A company’s principles and values are the moral compass which should guide all decisions. A company needs to define those values and clearly communicate to all within the organization what they are.

A colleague, Marianne  M. Jennings, JD; a professor at Arizona State University and the author of The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse puts it this way: “here we are … [many] years out from Enron’s fallout and … from Sarbanes-Oxleys’ mandates on financial reporting and the same business ethical missteps keep cropping up …. Nearly every day another company’s pension woes or some other accounting issue bring more ethical (and sometimes legal) lapses that are inevitably followed by financial bad news. Heck, the lawyers are now being indicted for kickbacks.”

I’ll be talking more often about what ethical leadership is and sharing examples of this behavior as I do believe it is the prevention of lapses, not whistleblowing after the fact, that will truly make a dent in how U.S. companies conduct business. Teaching students ethical business constructs is one huge step in the right direction.

Thank you, Kellogg.

Penn Mutual's Guiding Principles: a First Step Toward Fraud Prevention
A Call To Honor: Kellogg Case Study Award on Anti-Corruption

Tagged With: Kellogg Case Study, Kellogg School of Management, Richard Bowen, WhistleBlower, whistleblowing

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Richard Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As Business Chief Underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors.

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William D. Cohan"Richard Bowen is one of my heroes. His is a story of human fortitude at its best and Wall Street at its worst."

~ William D. Cohan, NY Times Best Selling Author
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"Richard Bowen is one of my heroes. His is a story of human fortitude at its best and Wall Street at its worst." ~ William D. Cohan, NY Times Best Selling Author
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"Richard's speech at the April Financial Executives International dinner was informative, interesting, riveting, and fast moving.  The feedback from members was overwhelming positive, and Richard received one of the few standing ovations given by our membership." ~ Jim Farrell, Program Chairman, Dallas Chapter, Financial Executives International
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Dennis McCuistion"Richard Bowen has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it, and his message of corruption at the highest levels of industry and government needs to be heard. I only wish that more bankers had the courage that Bowen exhibits. He is not only one of the most talented bankers I have ever met, he has more integrity than all the bankers on Wall Street put together. If his former employer had listened to him taxpayers would not have had to bail out Citi for the third time in the last 30 years."

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"Richard Bowen has been there, done that, and has the scars to prove it, and his message of corruption at the highest levels of industry and government needs to be heard. I only wish that more bankers had the courage that Bowen exhibits. He is not only one of the most talented bankers I have ever met, he has more integrity than all the bankers on Wall Street put together. If his former employer had listened to him taxpayers would not have had to bail out Citi for the third time in the last 30 years." ~ Dennis McCuistion, Host of the McCuistion TV program
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~ Betty Garrett, Garrett Speakers International
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"Richard Bowen is a dynamic, entertaining speaker and story-teller - a CPA with a great personality!" ~ Betty Garrett, Garrett Speakers International
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fred-timmons"I believe Richard Bowen is the only keynote speaker to ever receive a standing ovation from the Texas Society of CPA’s at any of its annual conferences."

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"I believe Richard Bowen is the only keynote speaker to ever receive a standing ovation from the Texas Society of CPA’s at any of its annual conferences." ~ Fred Timmons, Chairman of The Texas Society of CPA's
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Presentation Topics

Playing for High Stakes: The Principles and Practice of Ethical Leadership

Dark Citi: The Story of a Whistleblower

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Now an ethical leadership speaker, Richard Bowen was Citigroup's Business Chief Underwriter during the housing bubble.

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