http://ethicscrisis.com/ A blog about global business ethics, from SRF Global Translations, specialists in nuanced, localized, multilanguage translation of compliance and marketing materials for multinational companies. en Copyright 2008 Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:12:56 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss When the new Congress began its session in January, two familiar faces were not present: Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes and Rep. Michael G. Oxley, who are both retiring (after 30 and 26 years, respectively.) Many companies think their main legacy, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, ought to be retired with them. Sarbanes-Oxley has seriously harmed American corporations and financial markets without increasing investor confidence, say critics.... http://ethicscrisis.com/2007/01/kiss_sarbanesoxley_goodbye.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2007/01/kiss_sarbanesoxley_goodbye.php Corporate Ethics Sat, 13 Jan 2007 19:15:56 -0500 Sadly, while more people seem to be talking about ethics, there is precious little sign that any of the talk is turning into action, says Leon Ho at Lifehacks.... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/12/ethics_schmethics.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/12/ethics_schmethics.php Corporate Ethics Mon, 04 Dec 2006 18:45:03 -0500 Jeff Swartz, CEO of Timberland, says corporations need to take the lead rather than waiting for the government to legislate social responsibility. “Jeff could have inherited an ice-making company or a coffee house and he’d still have wanted to see how it could be used for a broader social purpose,” said Dave Aznavorian, Timberland’s global brand manager. Schwarz acknowledges that he also needs to deliver results to shareholders. He says that changes in fashion have led to a downturn in Timberland sales that could result in selling the company. He says he'd give up control for more power, but that he'd never sell and walk away like Ben & Jerry's owners did. They sold the company and went home,” said Swartz. Swartz would have to be carried out with his [Timberland] boots on.... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/12/corporations_not_government_need_to_take_the_lead_on_social_responsibility.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/12/corporations_not_government_need_to_take_the_lead_on_social_responsibility.php Corporate Ethics Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:50:20 -0500 I've always wondered what you would need to teach honest people about ethics, and whether any code could make dishonest people more honest. http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/10/are_corporate_ethics_codes_bunk.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/10/are_corporate_ethics_codes_bunk.php Corporate Ethics Sat, 28 Oct 2006 20:54:36 -0500 Corporate ethics crises have turned corporate responsibility into a big business. It's got its own conference, and a directory of companies that provide services to corporate responsibility officers. The first annual conference for Corporate Responsibility Officers will take place in New York City on November 1. Featured speakers include: Vice Chair of Citigroup Lewis Kaden, Wall Street Journal Assistant Managing Editor Alan Murray, Bloomberg News Editor Marty Schenker, Def Jam Records and Comedy and Phat Farm Fashions founder Russell Simmons, and 20 other Corporate Responsibility officers telling their success stories.... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/10/corporate_responsibility_spurns_new_businesses_and_conferences.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/10/corporate_responsibility_spurns_new_businesses_and_conferences.php Corporate Ethics Wed, 18 Oct 2006 12:37:05 -0500 It's a hot time to be a business ethics expert says the Atlanta Journal Constitution. One sign: the Atlanta for the Society for Business Ethics' annual conference workshops included their first-ever workshop for members on how to deal with the press. Other sessions included "Markets and Business Ethics," "The Corporation and Moral Agency" and one titled simply "Wal-Mart." Need certified multilanguage translation of your company's Code of Ethics? Phone Sloan Friedman at SRF Global Translations.... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/08/business_ethics_gurus_business_is_booming.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/08/business_ethics_gurus_business_is_booming.php Corporate Ethics Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:20:32 -0500 A recent global survey of over 1,800 communication professionals, conducted by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation, found that an overwhelming 65 percent of respondents had not received any formal ethics training -- such as seminars, continuing education or training workshops -- from their employers. Many respondents cited in the IABC survey, The Business of Truth: A Guide to Ethical Communication, noted that ethics was never given more than a cursory mention in their organizations, usually on the first day of employment when company policy manuals were distributed. Additionally, 70 percent of respondents reported studying ethics “not at all” or at a basic level, as part of the coursework for their highest earned degree.... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/07/study_two_in_three_companies_dont_provide_ethics_training_to_employees.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/07/study_two_in_three_companies_dont_provide_ethics_training_to_employees.php Corporate Ethics Fri, 28 Jul 2006 19:26:29 -0500 Pepsi's ethics are just, well, refreshing, says Doug Cunningham at the Times-Herald-Record in New York. He notes that when someone tried to sell Coke's secret formula to PepsiCo's headquarters in Purchase NY, Pepsi immediately turned the letter over to Coke and alerted the FBI. "Clearly, PepsiCo has instilled a strong sense of business ethics. Would that more companies had such a strong set of values. Any guesses ...what would have happened if a similar letter landed at Enron headquarters in Houston?"... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/07/what_if_enron_had_followed_pepsis_ethics.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/07/what_if_enron_had_followed_pepsis_ethics.php Corporate Ethics Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:44:54 -0500 Has Silicon Alley entered the McCarthy era for business ethics? A widening federal investigation into suspicious stock options allocations at least 57 companies, including 25 based in Silicon Valley is "rattling corporate boardrooms, entrepreneurs and rank-and-file workers alike," according to the San Jose Mercury News Red Herring reports that "Investors are hammering the stocks of many of the companies affected by the inquiries and are asking questions about how well these companies have been governed." The rush to judgment is "a shame" Michael Gray, a certified public accountant, wrote in a newsletter. "We may be killing the goose that laid the golden eggs."... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/07/is_options_gate_a_mccarthy_era_for_business.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/07/is_options_gate_a_mccarthy_era_for_business.php Ethics Compliance Tue, 04 Jul 2006 18:21:41 -0500 Companies will pay a price if they fail to meet society's expectation that they act ethically. Merely obeying the law, or following compliance guidelines to the letter is not enough, writes Marc Gunther in Fortune. Companies need to meet their "moral liability" or face bigger threats from customers than from government or courts. Sometimes the price will be damage to a brand or reputation. Other times, the cost will be more concrete, in the form of lawsuits, damage awards or lost sale," Gunther says. The good news is that "...all these social issues present opportunities as well as threats... the best way for business to avoid "moral liability" - become part of the solution instead of part of the problem."... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/06/moral_liability_is_hidden_threat_to_corporations_fortune.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/06/moral_liability_is_hidden_threat_to_corporations_fortune.php Corporate Ethics Thu, 29 Jun 2006 19:38:15 -0500 There were unethical practices in the diamond industry, Eli Izhakoff, chairman & CEO of the World Diamond Council told The Jerusalem Post, but that was "true for the 1990s." That was then, the industry wants the public to believe, and this is now. In anticipation of the negative portrayal of the diamond industry by the upcoming film, "The Blood Diamond," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, The World Federation of Diamond Bourses is launching a pre-emptive PR campaign beginning with a new code of ethics. The ethics code, the Post reports, is "an effort to boost consumer confidence and restore credibility to the industry."... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/06/diamon_industry_anticipates_impact_from.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/06/diamon_industry_anticipates_impact_from.php Corporate Ethics Thu, 29 Jun 2006 15:47:52 -0500 Revelations that the Japanese central bank governor, Toshihiko Fukui, owned $90,000 of a stock fund accused in an insider trading scandal have raised an ethics issues for the bank and helped cause not only the biggest sell-off in Tokyo's stock market since 9/11, but also a political firestorm, according to The New York Times. A Bank of Japan spokesman, Takashi Yoshimura, denied that there is an ethics issue, saying that the bank's ethics guidelines only required employees, including Mr. Fukui, to report internally any purchases or sales of stocks, and any profits, and did not limit where they could invest their money. In the most understated comment of the year, Mr. Fukui apologized during a meeting of Cabinet members. "I'm sorry," he said. "I have created a fuss." "At the very least, it is a warning that the bank needs to tighten its ethical standards," said Naoki Iizuka, chief economist at the Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute.... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/06/japans_top_banker_embroiled_in_ethics_scandal.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/06/japans_top_banker_embroiled_in_ethics_scandal.php Corporate Ethics Thu, 15 Jun 2006 12:08:29 -0500 The Ethics Web annual Ethics in Action Awards and Business Ethics Magazine's 2006 Business Ethics Annual Award are accepting nominations of companies that are "out ahead of the pack, showing the way ethically." Ethics compliance champions, start your engines!... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/06/ethics_awards_nominations_sought.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/06/ethics_awards_nominations_sought.php Ethics News Articles Thu, 01 Jun 2006 20:05:10 -0500 "Nothing focuses the mind like the knowledge you will be hanged in a fortnight," said Columbia University business law professor John Coffee. He's talking about the way corporations are rushing to tout their ethics codes on their websites in the face of the Enron convictions. Unfortunately, they seem to be doing it in English only. Clearly, American companies still have a ways to go toward true globalization.... http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/05/post_1.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/05/post_1.php Ethics Compliance Tue, 30 May 2006 12:51:31 -0500 http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/05/walmart_expands_search_for_global_ethics_director.php http://ethicscrisis.com/2006/05/walmart_expands_search_for_global_ethics_director.php Corporate Ethics Fri, 26 May 2006 11:44:01 -0500