|
 |
 |
| Publications: Ethics Today Archives |
|
|
|
|
|
Ethics
Today Online This newsletter
is published by the Ethics Resource Center.
The New Reality of the Global Village The unprecedented growth of the global economy and its commensurate problems are part of our current crises as well as our economic future. As I write this essay, I am in Dubai overlooking the Persian Gulf. My hotel is an architectural masterpiece, surrounded by so many magnificent modern buildings that it feels as if I'm in the land of Oz. The hotel is filled with tourists and business people from throughout the world. It is a place few Americans have heard of, however, and if asked to find it on a map they would probably put it in central China or the tip of South America. Yet this is the face of a global marketplace that will have a profound impact on the American economy and on the future of our children. My visit here has two purposes. First, I will be participating in the Dubai Strategic Business Forum (see below), a gathering of Global business leaders to discuss the challenges confronting the future of business in the region. One of the major issues is business ethics; both in the way multi-national firms conduct their affairs and in the obligation of regional companies to transact business openly with values that comport to the global business community. Second, I am here to sign a document that will officially transfer the administration of our Ethics Center, the Gulf Center for Excellence in Ethics (GCEE), to officials in Dubai. Through the able leadership of Director Alex Zalami and with the support of Merck & Co., Inc., the GCEE has been the focal point for major efforts in developing ethics and integrity in the gulf region. The design for our international centers has always been to transfer independent responsibility to regional groups as soon as the center became viable. ERC will continue to have a strong relationship with the new leadership team and will remain a member of the board of directors. The new leadership will be trained at ERC in November and will help us lead a pan-Arab ethics development program this spring in Dubai, Amman, Beirut, Cairo and Casablanca. This trip enhanced the impression I took away from a meeting last month of the International Institute of Public Ethics in Brisbane, Australia. The theme of that conference was building bridges between the ethical demands of the public and private sectors. I was privileged to give a keynote address on the essential integrity interfaces between the private and public sector. I was also greatly honored to be elected to the Board of Directors of the IIPE. In subsequent talks with the Key Centre on Ethics, Law and Justice in Brisbane, the ERC agreed to be a partner in exploring the creation of at least two ethics centers in Southeast Asia. This simply underscored our common agreement on the need for exploring global ethics. These experiences reinforced my belief that the United States cannot afford to be introspective on ethics. We must understand the importance of ethics and high integrity in both business and government within the context of the global marketplace. Enron, Worldcom and Tyco should not be viewed as only American problems but rather as a worldwide concern. This is true if for no other reason than that large shares of the American economy depend on global investment for capital and growth. Americans must understand that what we do domestically has global reverberations. As such, our global responsibility includes articulating high business and government standards not only in the U.S., but as an aspiration of shared ethical expectations throughout the ever shrinking global village. Stuart C. Gilman, President ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** A Global Look at Public and Private Sector Ethics In early October, Stuart Gilman, ERC President, and Stephen Potts, Esq., ERC Fellows Program Chair, made presentations at the International Institute for Public Ethics (IIPE) Biennial Conference in Brisbane, Australia, "Restructuring "the Public Interest" in a Globalising World: Business, the Professions and the Public Sector." Stuart was a keynote speaker for the Ethics, Auditing and Compliance section. In his presentation entitled "The Ethics Interface Between Government and Business: The Janus Face of Anti-corruption and Prevention Efforts", he noted that ethics and ethics programs have attained legitimacy in the last decade, but some are uneven and inadequate and others are ineffective and dangerous. As he traced the historical development of government ethics programs and corporate ethics programs, he also pointed out some places where programs have taken divergent paths, some becoming compliance based systems, others relying on values and a third corporate model attempting to guide behavior and prevent misconduct. He made note of several areas of disconnect in both the government programs (including the "reinventing government" movement, contractors, and clashes of values) and private sector programs (corporate ethical behavior in face of government corruption and corporate behavior in the face of government ineffectiveness) Stuart concluded with the following key points:
Steve Potts' presentations included a description of U.S. government ethics education at the Public and Corporate Ethics session and a description of the ERC Fellows Program for a panel on Private Sector Anti-corruption Initiatives. He also chaired the keynote session on Global Attempts to Prevent Corruption and made a presentation on private sector anti-corruption efforts. As these programs were well attended, the delegates engaged in lively discussions. For more information about the IIPE
Conference, visit: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Dubai Strategy Forum: New Requirements for Corporate Governance Stuart Gilman chaired a session on "Corporate Governance: Meeting the New Requirements" at the Dubai Strategy Forum on October 29. Willem Brocker, Managing Partner, Global Markets, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Netherlands and Khalid Al Molhem, President, Saudi Telecom, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, were panelists. The issues covered included an overview and discussion of the new requirements and expectations on corporate governance, in view of the changes in the global economy, the shift of power from management to shareholders, the intricacies and complexities of global financial engineering, the new dimensions of risk, and the unrelenting pressure for more transparency and accountability. Panelists also spoke about how corporations can meet these new requirements and expectations in terms of corporate culture and mindset, the role of the Board, the relationship between Management Board and shareholders. Stuart opened the session by drawing on his own experience in the field of ethics, declaring that "the starting point for all businesses must be values." Noting that Enron twice voted to override its own code of conduct, he contended that recent business failures in the US did not result from financial crises at the corporate level but rather from a crisis of integrity. Read a summary of the session at: Read more about the Dubai Strategy
Forum at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** The U.S. Business Scandals: Perspectives on Ethics and Culture at Home and Abroad In this article, Frank Vogl, President of Vogl Communications and a member of the ERC Board of Directors, takes a long look at U.S. corporate corruption at home and abroad. According to Mr. Vogl, the essay "is a call by an American to American business to maximize efforts to pursue uniformly high ethical standards in all its dealings and to adopt new approaches, at home and abroad, that ensure that CEOs operate on the ethical high ground. It is an essay driven by concern over the extent of corporate corruption and by the failure, so far, by many U.S. business people to recognize the global implications of these scandals. This essay aims to stimulate thinking about future reforms that assist in restoring domestic and foreign respect for corporate America. "This essay is born of the twin convictions that, at this time of global insecurity, the United States needs friends across the globe and that its status and the respect it enjoys is influenced by the ways in which U.S. multinational corporations are perceived. The concern abroad about the impact of the U.S. scandals has economic dimensions, with the undermining of the nation's economic health and its financial markets negatively infecting all other economies and markets. Moreover, numerous U.S. corporations are global leviathans whose fortunes influence the fates of nations. Damage to the fabric of U.S. business ricochets across the globe and hits all economies, and the prospects for the people who live in those economies." Get a printable version of this essay
at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Ask the Expert: Bribery vs. Facilitation Our Ask the Expert question for this month is actually two related questions. First: is bribery a legal method to get business done? Second: can one distinguish between bribery and a "facilitation payment"? Program Development Manager Jerry Brown
answers these questions at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Latin American Ethics Game Project Update Cherie Raven, acting director of international programs and Katie Sutliff, associate consultant (character education) traveled to Mexico in October to discuss progress on the development of an ethics game for 12-15 year old Latin American students. Also attending the meeting were Nieves Tapia of Argentina, Nuria Gomez of Mexico, Javier Marin of Mexico (representing Merck, Sharpe & Dohm - Mexico), Alma Balcázar of Colombia (representing Transparencia por Colombia) and Hernan Escobeda of Colombia (consultant to Transparencia). Participants reviewed the findings from focus groups, surveys, interviews and meetings held to determine the feasibility of developing the game, considered game design and implementation strategies, defined learning goals and game objectives, and discussed implementation partners and strategies. Funded by Merck & Co., Inc., the Latin American game project represents a novel effort to use a game to teach ethics. It will likely combine extended role play and simulations, individual and team activities, and curricular elements as well as at-home and possibly online aspects (depending on the country). The developers envision that the game would actually play out over several weeks or months, could be added to by the students, and would be self-perpetuating. One feature of particular interest is the ability to change a player's role during the course of the game, which would enable him or her to see things from a different perspective. The group will also be creating teacher training seminars and is considering including parts to the game that could be played by families. A final report from the meeting is being written to wrap up this phase of the multi-phase project. In addition to continuing progress on the topics discussed at the meeting, the team will be seeking funds to execute the recommendations of this phase and to design a game development and implementation project plan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Rosa Inés Ospina of Colombian Center Elected TI Vice Chair Rosa Inés Ospina, co-founder and executive director of Transparencia por Colombia (TPC) has been elected Vice Chair of Transparency International. TPC is the organization that resulted from combining Transparencia International's national chapter and ERC's ethics center in Colombia. Rosa Inés Ospina holds a degree in Applied Social Work from the Universidad Externado de Colombia and worked as a college and university professor. During her professional career she has worked as an advisor to various public institutions on issues like rural and social development, gender and institutional development. The founders of Transparency International won the ERC Fellows Program's Stanley C. Pace Ethics and Leadership Award in 2000. Read about the ERC's work in Colombia
at: Read about Transparencia por Colombia
at: Read about Transparency International
at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **Opinion Poll: CEO & Chairman of the Board Given the recent discussions about the independence of company boards of directors, do you think it appropriate for the same person to hold the positions of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer for the same corporation? Take our poll at: /cfpoll.cfm We're interested in hearing your thoughts on this issue. To comment further on topic of this poll, please e-mail your comments to ethicstodayonline@ethics.org and reference the CEO poll in the subject line. Last Month's Poll: 60% of those responding to last month's poll felt that September 11 and the war on terrorism was the current event which would have the greatest impact on the values of our next generation. 20% voted for Enron and other corporate scandals, 12% for the global debate about Iraq and 8% for the Israeli Palestinian conflict. See the results of last month's poll
at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** SEC Proposes Rules Implementing Sarbanes-Oxley Act The Securities and Exchange Commission voted October 16 today to propose rules implementing provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The proposed rules concerning Sections 404, 406 and 407 of the Act would require public companies to disclose information about internal control reports, company codes of ethics and audit committee financial experts. Proposed rule changes dealing with provisions of Section 303 would prohibit actions designed to improperly influence auditors. The Commission also took actions relating to the process for registration as a national securities exchange for the sole purpose of trading securities futures. Read the rest of this SEC press release
at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ **CEO Roundtable: New Rules for Corporate Conduct On the day that the NYSE approved new rules on corporate governance for listed companies, Susie Gharib, Co-Anchor, "Nightly Business Report", posed the question "Can CEOs restore investor confidence?" to NYSE Chairman and CEO Dick Grasso, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. (MER) Chairman and CEO David Komansky, Pfizer Inc. (PFE) Chairman and CEO Henry McKinnell and Fannie Mae (FNM) Chairman and CEO Franklin Raines. NYSE Magazine published excerpts from this wide-ranging interview. Read the article at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Media Coverage and Publications -- Lee WanVeer, Director of Advisory Services, and Frank Navran, Principal Consultant, presented in a town hall setting to the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) Convention in Washington, DC, on October 8 The ERC has been gathering information from RAPS members about developing a code of ethics for the RA profession through interviews and other means to discover their level of need and interest. At the conference, Frank Navran shared the results of that survey with the members of the RAPS, who also had an opportunity to comment and ask questions on the concept and process of building a code. Regulatory affairs is an emerging profession with continuing education and a certification program, he told them, and "the next logical step might be a code." An aspirational code, he said, which articulates and illustrates the core values, principles and standards of conduct of the profession, "could be a good place to start" while the organization grapples with some of the thorny issues of enforceable codes such as the complaint and adjudication processes and sanctions. Speaking on "The Ethical Climate of Business Today," Lee WanVeer touched on the recent business scandals and discussed the fundamental issues surrounding them, including trust, accountability, independence, responsibility and the foundation of free enterprise. He also noted that issues such as greed, security, recognition, arrogance and pressure helped to cause the scandals by fueling unethical conduct in a market boom time. The findings of the National Business Ethics Survey 2000 show how misconduct by top management and fear of retaliation can lead to perceived pressure on employees to compromise their standards. Although there are a number of current and proposed solutions, including prosecution, legislation and self-regulation, rules are not enough - the underlying social and corporate values must be clarified and supported. Codes of conduct can build a bridge between organization aims and rules that govern behavior by expressing values and expectations to satisfy stakeholders. As ethics codes also have business values, such as reducing risk, and increasing reputation and results, they can help us to reach the ultimate goal of creating and maintaining a culture where individuals and organizations can succeed using ethical business practices. For more about these presentations
or the RAPS convention: -- Managing Director Pat Harned and Fellows Chairman Steve Potts represented the ERC at the annual Ethics Officer Association meeting in Boston in mid-October. Steve Potts and Pat Rodgers, Chief Compliance Officer, U.S. Olympic Committee and former Chair of the Ethics Officer Association, conducted a session entitled "Restructuring Ethics Programs to Prevent Self-Governance Failures." Two principle recommendations were that ethics and compliance officers should have interactions with and reporting relationships to the Board of Directors and that they should not be able to be fired by the CEO acting alone. -- Lee Wan Veer, Director of Advisory Services, participated in a virtual media event "How HR and Training Impact Corporate Responsibility" which was webcast by American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on October 29. His presentation "The Good, Bad and the Ugly: How corporations foster ethical business practices" discussed how HR and training practices have contributed to ethical and unethical work climates in organizations, common factors of ethical organizations, and the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on future practices. Other participants included Rita Bailey, Former Director of the University for People, Southwest Airlines, and Judy Streeter, PHR, Senior Vice President of Human Resources for North American Lodging Operations of Marriott International, Inc. The webcast eventually will be posted in SHRM's archives. -- Joshua Joseph, Research Manager, and Stuart Gilman, ERC President, were quoted extensively in Human Resources 21, September 19, 2002, in an article entitled "Ethics: It's not just a big company problem". Much of the interview was based on the findings of the ERC's 2000 National Business Ethics Survey. Josh and Stuart offer four guidelines for small and mid-size companies:
-- Frank Navran, principal consultant for the ERC, was interviewed by the Atlanta Business Chronicle for an article about the Atlanta Regional Commission's proposed ethics reforms. The ethics committee is considering changes that would significantly tighten the agency's disclosure and conflict-of-interest policy. In the article, Frank said that the ARC ethics committee's proposals are generally consistent with typical regulations, but cautioned that definitions of "interests" and "remote interests" should be taken as basic guidelines, rather than concrete rules. Read the full story at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** News from the ERC -- Ingrid Matuszewski, ERC consultant, recently met with a delegation of 20 Japanese visitors who were on a U.S. study tour sponsored by the Kyushu Regional Productivity Center (KRPC). The KRPC is involved in a variety of activities related to improving the productivity of corporations in Kyushu, including assistance in management development and guidance and personnel development. The delegation leaders were Mr. Hirohiko Yamashita, Chairman of Nishi-Nippon Railroad Co., Ltd. and Mr. Naonori Tsuchiya, President, Seiko Electric Co., Ltd. Directors from other leading Japanese corporations were also present. Ingrid spoke with the group about the history of business ethics, business ethics programs and practices in the U.S., and recent changes that affect businesses following recent corporate scandals. -- Ingrid also met and discussed business and media ethics with Mr. He Li of China who was visiting the U.S. under the auspices of the State Department's International Visitor Program. Mr. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Economic Observer, a weekly business magazine that began in 2000. The Economic Observer has both private and public investors and is the newspaper of choice for over 150,000 economic decision-makers at all levels in China. -- Tarek DeLavallade attended the Character Education Partnership conference in Atlanta in mid-October where Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, MD, one of the original subscribers to MAXIMize the Moment last fall, won the National School of Character Award. -- In November, Tarek will be speaking at a Senior Ethics Day for 300 students from Seneca Valley High School in Maryland. In an effort to bridge the gap from school to work, he will be presenting and discussing case studies in business ethics with the students. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Offering Our Thanks As a nonprofit organization, the Ethics
Resource Center depends on contributions from many generous donors.
Without their dedication and trust, many of the programs and projects
highlighted in this newsletter would not be possible. We invite
you to join our loyal contributors in lending your support. To find
out how to contribute or to donate online, go to: Federal Employees: Please consider making a donation to the ERC through the Combined Federal Campaign. The fall drive is currently underway and ends December 15th. The ERC's CFC # is 2456. Contributions are earmarked for ERC's character education programs, including MAXIMize the Moment, which assists schools in their efforts to bring character education to thousands of young people nationally and internationally by creating an environment in which values such as honesty, integrity, respect and responsibility are discussed, exemplified and nurtured. A donation of only $99 will provide one school with these relevant and timely character education resources for an entire year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Share Ethics Today With a Friend You are invited to forward this newsletter in its entirety to anyone you think might benefit. If you received the newsletter from a friend and would like to receive your own issue every month, please visit our subscribe page at /today/et_subscribe.html. We will not share your e-mail address with third parties other than the list management company we use to deliver this newsletter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Ethics Resource Center (ERC) is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization exempt from taxation under the Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Copyright (c)
2002 Ethics Resource Center. All rights reserved. Please contact ethics@ethics.org for information about reproducing any of the information contained within this newsletter or on our web site The Ethics Resource
Center, 1747 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 400
|
About ERC •
Advisory Services
•
Research
• Character
Education •
Resources
• News
•
Publications
• Fellows
• Support
ERC • Contact
Us
Ethics Resource Center,
1747 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20006
Telephone 202-737-2258 Fax 202-737-2227 E-mail ethics@ethics.org