corporate ethics

Enron "whistleblower" a fraud?

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Lynn Brewer has achieved fame with her new book Confessions of an Enron Executive: A Whistleblower's Story. She has given up to 200 speeches including the keynote address at a Sarbanes-Oxley conference hosted by the New York Stock Exchange. But now a USA Today investigation has raised claims about whether she has exaggerated her status as an Enron "executive" and as a "whistleblower." The paper calls her "an astute self-promoter who parlayed an undistinguished 32-month stint as an Enron employee into a lucrative career in the corporate ethics industry." Another zinger: "Her transformation from back-office researcher to international corporate governance heroine is astonishing." This is quite a story.

For more:
- here's the article

The benefits of an ethical culture

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Corporate ethics have obviously gotten a lot of press since the passage of Sarbanes Oxley. People are quick to point to cases like the Duke Business School cheating scandal as signs that corporate ethics in America have some systemic problems. But there is also some good news. One is that companies really benefit from instilling ethics in their workforce. This is easier said than done. It goes way beyond merely complying with Sarbox. Recent research from Kenexa, a talent acquisition and retention solutions firm, make clear the upside on many aspects of work. Employees in strong ethical cultures are more likely to stay with their organization and they rate their companies much higher in confidence in management and general satisfaction. Of course, developing such a culture is the hard part.

For more:
- read this release

ALSO NOTED: Proxy season is upon us; Sarbox leads to corporate ethics training;

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 19:01:38 -0500

> The passage of Sarbox has led to a new cottage of industry of sorts: Corporate ethics training. Its is growing by leaps and bounds. You may want to consider how many of your employees would benefit. It's one way of covering yourself and underscoring the importance of compliance issues. Release

> Some people takes a skeptical view about the claim that Sarbox has aided the decline of American markets. Article

> Former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt loves Sarbanes-Oxley. Article

> Proxy season is upon us. There will be several Sarbox-related issues that we'll hear a lot about. Article

> For companies that play hardball, note that guidelines about "pretexting" are scant. Article

> PwC hit with $10 million judgment. Article

And Finally... Intra-office dating: What does compliance mean? Article

Sarbox and Corporate PIs: Any link?

Mon, 02 Oct 2006 20:01:39 -0400

BusinessWeek makes an interesting point in a long article about what appears to be a bull market for private investigators. It suggests one reason for heightened demand is Sarbanes Oxley, which puts pressure on companies to root out fraud. I can see a board wanting a thorough background check on a potentially significant financial hire. If a firm is about to ink a deal with a foreign partner, I can likewise see the need for inside information that isn't readily available. Of course at some point, the tactics can turn way too sleazy and end up really embarrassing the company--like Hewlett Packard, which may never be the same. It would be really ironic if one were to justify questionably ethical tactics with a law aimed at upgrading corporate ethics.

For more on the PI market:
- Here's the BusinessWeek article