Tuesday, March 19, 2024

A New Lesson in Corporate Ethics

Many of our largest companies are often reported as “having more cash than the U.S. Treasury.” These words are spoken in a marveling and laudable voice, and most readers stand in awe that businesses could accumulate so very much cash. As of July 13, 2011, 29 companies had more cash than the U.S. Treasury.

Ethical-Regulatory Compliance

Recent ethical, regulatory, and legal responses to enterprise wrong-doing is driving a sea change throughout organizations in the United States. There are many new regulatory guidelines in place, evidencing the imperative to drive ethical behavior and establish integrity across both public and private organizations.

Social Responsibility and the Commercialization of Society

While the pursuit of growth and profits continues to rule daily life within the corporate world, a growing number of businesses are also measuring their success against one of the most fundamental ethical principles of business – that of “social responsibility.”

Corporate Governance in Private Organizations

Corporate Governance in Private Organization. In the wake of corporate scandal, widespread unethical behavior, and illegal activity in some of our most respected organizations, corporate governance in both public and private organizations is undergoing possibly the greatest change since the original creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission during the 1930s. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 formalized many new white-collar crimes, set stiff penalties for such crimes, and is impacting every element of Board governance from independent membership and financial competency, to employee whistle blowing and the role of auditors.

The Importance of Duty Of Care (PDF)

Exaggerated marketing, false and overblown label claims, adulterated and misbranded products all violate the law, mislead or deceive consumers, and evidence a failure by manufacturers to fulfill the duty of care due consumers.

The Ethics of Intellectual Asset Management (PDF)

The shift from the familiar corporate asset base centered upon traditional physical and financial asset to an asset base centered upon intangible intellectual assets brings with it subtle new ethical challenges and problems.

Strategy for an Ethical Organization

Until recently, few organizations seriously considered ethics to be a legitimate topic for enterprise planning and strategic thinking. Those at the top of an enterprise regularly spent time developing their organizational and functional strategic plans, their growth strategy, possibly even their brand strategy, but ethics and regulatory compliance was merely an issue for the finance department, legal counsel, and possibly human resources.

An Industry in Crisis: Are Consumers Getting What They Deserve? (PDF)

The dietary-supplement industry has come a long way from its humble beginnings, and, some say, from its ethical and moral foundation. Industry expert Lindsay Moore, PhD, explores some of the most pressing ethical and least understood legal issues confronting suppliers, marketers and manufacturers.

The New Market State and Corporate Social Responsibility

The New Market State and Corporate Social Responsibility. Modern technology, globalization, the multinational corporation, and large amounts of unengaged, surplus capital1 are heralding a new era that is changing the traditional boundaries between government and business and that underlies the new concern about corporate social responsibility in the world of business.

“The Ethical Crisis in America” – A Status Report

“The Ethical Crisis in America” – A Status Report (2005). In America, the bursting of the so-called “dot-com bubble,” led to an unfolding ethical crisis that has expanded to become multinational, and now, global in its occurrence.