A sword of Damocles hangs over the checkers of company accounts. The once comfortable world of auditing lies in disarray. The four largest UK Auditing firms face constant and widespread distrust. There’s concern about the quality of their checking and reporting standards. Nor are the numerous smaller audit firms immune […]
Tag: transparency
Staying relevant—why ethical business leaders must keep adapting and evolving
“Why should the citizens of this world keep companies around whose sole purpose is the enrichment of a few people?” Paul Polman, the highly successful and far-sighted departing CEO of Unilever. “Society demands that companies “serve a social purpose” Larry Fink, CEO BlackRock, world largest asset manager “In the eyes […]
How employees can keep you on the straight and narrow
It has cost $15 million dollars and with nothing to show for it. Except serious reputation damage. Barclays’ CEO Jes Staley tried discovering the identity of a whistle blower. He ran slap into laws designed to protect people who speak up about unethical practices in business. The resulting $15 million […]
Was James Comey an ethical leader–making sense of the evidence
James Comey, the ex FBI director continues to arouse extreme reactions about his particular form of leadership and ethical performance. At the start of his recent book A Higher Loyalty, he expounds at length about ethical leadership. It’s good to see this topic receive an airing from someone who, in […]
How ethical business leaders can make sense of Artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already here. At least in a most basic form. Jobs previously doable only by people can now be automated and the trend keeps accelerating. What passes as thinking machines are replacing human tasks and jobs. They are altering the skills organisations want from their people. […]
Transparency in business: Time for leaders to fall in love with making it happen
Thieves recently stole 143 million consumer records from credit reporting company Equifax. Claimed to be the worst data breach ever, the company’s response met widespread disdain. Regarded as dishonest, and lacking in transparency in business , one critic labels it “Full of vague cover-your-ass statements at the exact moment when […]
Truth—how leaders can protect themselves from disaster
“There is a chronic culture of lying. We can’t possibly trust such a company. Shame on you.” Angry shareholder at a recent Toshiba meeting When Toshiba’s CEO recently tried putting a positive spin on the state of the company’s finances, distressed shareholders drowned him out. It seemed the truth was […]
It’s the culture, stupid!–making sense of business ethics
Travis Kalanick, Uber’s combative, and arrogant CEO is no model ethical leader. His apparent “shock horror” at finding lack of respect for employees as rampant under his regime does not convince. To Kalanick, business results out rank everything else. Integrity seems in short supply. Whether its treatment of women or […]