There are a lot of talented CEOs. Some remarkable leaders, innovators and eloquent spokespeople for their companies. In several recent experiences, I have been befuddled by some CEOs. When a CEO addresses a global ethics and compliance staff or has the opportunity to address a large staff or division meeting, the CEO should take the opportunity to reinforce the company’s culture and compliance program message. ...
We often hear the compliance refrain on the importance of tone-at-the-top – meaning when the board, the CEO and senior executives demonstrate by communications and by conduct their commitment to a culture of ethics and compliance. This single idea carries with it enormous importance to the success or failure of a compliance program. A positive tone-at-the-top permeates every aspect of a compliance program and specifically...
We always hear about the importance of tone-at-the-top. Corporate leaders are very familiar with how to say the right things about ethics and compliance and the company’s culture. But we all know that words are cheap – it is conduct that matters, and it is behavior that ultimately builds trust in an organization. In large corporations, however, the tone-at-the-top can only go so far. No...
Lauren Connell, Managing Associate at The Volkov Law Group, rejoins us and provides a posting on corporate culture. Lauren can be reached at [email protected]. What exactly does “corporate culture” mean? Compliance professionals often talk about how important “tone from the top” or the “mood in the middle” is, but what does that really mean? Improving corporate culture has been directly tied to higher profits and...
When you look back on the rise of the ethics and compliance profession, you cannot ignore the history of accomplishments. It is easy to minimize these accomplishments as a reaction to the government’s aggressive FCPA enforcement program. Companies are starting to embrace ethics and compliance as a positive force to build sustainable financial growth – which is the true calling of a robust ethics and...
My final posting on this week’s ethics series is a call to action for all compliance professionals. Every compliance officer should insist on and embrace a title – “Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer.” Some larger organizations have a separate ethics officer, and I am not suggesting to merge the positions. Every company should have a chief ethics officer, either as a separate function or as...
The challenge for corporations is to build practical approaches to business ethics and its specific corporate values. Business ethics as a field is all well and good but we need to start sharing specific and practical strategies to infuse our day-to-day conduct and advance our corporate performance. In doing so, I am not so limited nor naïve to suggest that the only measure is corporate...
People are getting confused. A company’s ethical culture is not a touchy-feely concept that makes everyone warm and cozy all over. At the same time, compliance controls are not hard and fast rules that are mechanically enforced with no regard to purpose or results. I always get frustrated when people like to classify concepts as either black and white. People are uncomfortable with grey concepts,...
Ethical culture is the flavor of the year these days. We are seeing more postings and articles about the importance of ethical culture, and even pushing the idea of measuring and monitoring culture. It was only seven years ago, 2010 to be exact, when the US Sentencing Commission added ethics to the applicable guideline defining compliance program requirements. We have definitely come very far in...
It is easy to say something and convince yourself it is true. As George Costanza advised Jerry Seinfeld when Jerry had to take a polygraph examination when he failed to admit that he watched “Melrose Place,” “Remember Jerry. It’s not a lie, if you believe it.” See Video Here. This statement from this Seinfeld episode (Season 6, Episode 16) reminds me of compliance professionals who...
