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November 18th, 2013
Accountability / Transparency / Risk Management, Corporate Matters, Corporate Matters @zh, Crisis Management, Crisis Management @zh, Ethics in the News @zh, Gestion des Crises, Gestion du risque, Risk Management, Risk Management @zh, Sujets relatifs aux Entreprises Commerciales, Uncategorized
One of the biggest obstacles to ethics is arbitrariness. All kinds of behavior – both unethical and ethical – can lead to arbitrary ethics consequences. Conversely, arbitrariness in ethics oversight almost always generates unethical behavior. Let’s take a common example in organizations of all sectors and sizes: leaving enforcement of ethical guidelines up to the immediate boss in a hierarchical structure. One employee’s particularly punitive boss may deliver a career-damaging punishment. Another boss may not even read the e-mails signalling more serious unethical behavior leaving her direct report to carry on with impunity. Both occur within the same organization with...
August 21st, 2013
Board Matters, Board Matters @zh, Conseils d'Administration, Crisis Management, Crisis Management @zh, Ethics and Leadership, Ethics and Leadership @zh, Ethics in the News, Ethics in the News @zh, Éthique et Dirigeants, Gestion des Crises, Highlighting Ethics Excellence, Highlighting Ethics Excellence @zh, L'Éthique dans l'Actualité, Lumière sur l'Excellence Éthique, New Ethics for New Issues, New Ethics for New Issues @zh, Nouvelle Éthique pour Nouveaux Problèmes, Uncategorized
Iterative Ethics This blog is the first of a series of eight blogs I will write extracting ethics lessons from research and stories that are not at the start ethics-related. It is part of a deliberate effort at synthetic organizational thinking at SLAL, tying together cross-sector organizational matters to derive learning directly and indirectly relevant to ethics. The messages are gleaned from business, non-profit, and governmental organizations, and the ethics applies to all. In a recent Harvard Business Review article entitled “Leadership Lessons from the Chilean Mining Rescue,” Harvard Business School professors Amy C. Edmondson and Herman B. Leonard, and...
May 22nd, 2013
Accountability / Transparency / Risk Management, Article, Article, Article @zh, Board Matters, Board Matters @zh, Conseils d'Administration, Corporate Matters, Corporate Matters @zh, Crisis Management, Crisis Management @zh, Ethics and Leadership, Ethics and Leadership @zh, Ethics in the News, Ethics in the News @zh, Éthique et Dirigeants, Gestion des Crises, Gestion du risque, Gouvernance, Accountability, Transparence, Governance, Accountability and Transparency, Highlighting Ethics Excellence, Highlighting Ethics Excellence @zh, L'Éthique dans l'Actualité, Lumière sur l'Excellence Éthique, New Ethics for New Issues, New Ethics for New Issues @zh, Non-Profit Organizations Matters, Non-Profit Organizations Matters @zh, Nouvelle Éthique pour Nouveaux Problèmes, Risk Management, Risk Management @zh, Sujets relatifs aux Entreprises Commerciales, Sujets relatifs aux Organisations à But Non Lucratif, Uncategorized
This article was first published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (Summer 2013). A wave of ethics transgressions underlines the importance of comprehensive ethics oversight for organizational success. Last year, 2012, was in many regards a step forward for proponents of ethical action. Roger Gifford, the Lord Mayor of the City of London, one of the world’s financial capitals, declared business ethics a priority and critical to the City’s economic success. François Hollande published a Code of Ethics within 11 days of becoming president of France. And the new Chinese premier, Xi Jinping, highlighted the ongoing danger of corruption to economic and social development as a central part...
March 11th, 2013
Board Matters, Board Matters @zh, Conseils d'Administration, Crisis Management, Crisis Management @zh, Ethics and Leadership, Ethics and Leadership @zh, Ethics in the News, Ethics in the News @zh, Éthique et Dirigeants, Gestion des Crises, L'Éthique dans l'Actualité, New Ethics for New Issues, New Ethics for New Issues @zh, Non-Profit Organizations Matters, Non-Profit Organizations Matters @zh, Nouvelle Éthique pour Nouveaux Problèmes, Sujets relatifs aux Organisations à But Non Lucratif, Uncategorized
The recent press storm detailing ethical failures within the NHS highlights the oversimplification (to two words) and under analysis (in two words) of the ethics challenge. This blog focuses on those two words: “moral purpose”. The key question is how will this “moral purpose” result in more ethical decision-making throughout the NHS but within the context of the NHS’ reality? Calling for a moral purpose is useful if it is shorthand for calling for on-going comprehensive ethics oversight and not a one-shot tagline. For the moment, the prescription is for these two words (with a code of ethics and dismissal...
The actions and commentary surrounding the recent shareholder revolt over the proposed $78 million payment to departing Novartis Chairman Daniel Vasella offer a range of ethics and governance lessons. These are critical across all sectors from corporate to non-profit to governmental. My purpose is never to attack an individual leader, an organization, or commentators. My intent here is learning, especially as it seems inconceivable that this kind of situation could continue to occur following the relentless say on pay and other ethics events of 2012. (more…)