To mark the World Economic Forum’s International Anti-Corruption Day on Dec. 9, 2008, executives from companies in the Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative appear in this video inviting ideas on how to fight corruption. Speaking in the the video are (in order of appearance) Peter Bakker, Chief Executive Officer, TNT, Netherlands; Alan L. Boeckmann, President … Read more »
A Triumph Of Sports Ethics
With all of the fraud and corruption stories in the news, how about a feel-good story: J.P. Hayes. Mr. Hayes disqualified himself from a PGA Tour qualifying event when he realized he had accidentally used an unapproved golf ball for two shots. Not two rounds; Not two holes; two shots. By disqualifying himself he became … Read more »
How To Keep The Corporate Website In Compliance With Securities Laws
Timothy Hearn of Dorsey and Whitney, penned SEC Provides Guidance On Use Of Company Web Sites in Cyberspace Lawyer Vol. 13, No. 9, Pgs. 8-12. Bowne’s Digest of Compliance professionals abstracted some of the highlights: Tips On How To Keep The Corporate Website In Compliance With Securities Laws. The SEC has issued an interpretive release … Read more »
A History of Codes of Ethics
Robert Baker, currently a professor of Bioethics at Union College and Director of the Bioethics Program, compiled a 1999 Codes of Ethics: Some History. Read more »
Writing a Company’s Code of Ethics
W. Michael Hoffman of the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College penned a 1999 Writing a Company’s Code of Ethics for Perspectives on the Professions. If employees are not brought into the process in some such way as I have suggested, they will be turned off. The code will seem something “they” have imposed … Read more »
Software License Compliance
Mike Sisco of Cutter Consortium wrote a case study on what to do about a softwre license problem in the context of an M&A transaction: Compliance Problems? Address All Issues Quickly. If you encounter software license compliance problems in an M&A transaction, there are two ways to resolve the problem: Point out the problem to … Read more »
Resources for Writing a Code of Ethics
The Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions at the Illinois Instiute of Technology has published a great set of Resources for Writing a Code of Ethics. Read more »
Business Ethics Organizations
The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University published an annotated list of business ethics resources. Read more »
Ethical Relativism
Ethical Relativism is a theory that morality is relative to the norms of one’s culture. The same action may be morally right in one society but may be morally wrong in another. One of the arguments against ethical relativism is that universal moral standards can exist even if some moral beliefs vary among societies. In … Read more »
Is There More White Collar Crime Today?
Sam E. Antar, the convicted felon and former CEO of Crazy Eddie, puts forth the theory that the bad economy is accusing white collar crimes to float to the surface: Is there really more white collar crime today? No. The Madoff scheme is an example of a scheme that fell apart whent he markets went … Read more »