FRThe latest discussion in GoodCorporation’s Business Ethics Debate series, held at the House of Lords, looked at the ethical challenges in the defence sector. Clearly a high-risk area, it operates within the sort of perfect storm where corruption can flourish. It is a shrinking market. Growth will only come by moving into new countries, with…
Author Archives: goodcorporation
Businesses striving to establish an ethical corporate culture are encouraged to set up an effective speak-up system. Working on what is now a clearly established truth that misconduct damages corporate reputations, a good whistleblowing system can act as a company’s eyes and ears, providing an early warning system so that real reputational damage can be…
GoodCorporation’s second Business Ethics Debate to be held in Paris looked at whether or not business ethics can be said to add value to an organisation, or is it simply another cost that must be borne? In the introduction to the debate, it was suggested that those working in the fields of ethics and compliance…
Corruption in the defence sector costs an estimated $20bn per annum. So Transparency International’s (TI) findings that two thirds of the world’s largest defence companies do not provide enough evidence of the steps they take to combat corruption is of real concern. Mark Pymen, head of defence at TI and the lead author of the…
When the UK’s bribery laws were amended last summer, for the first time in over a century, it raised many questions about business practices. While the media focused on whether companies would still be able to take clients to Twickenham, most businesses were taking a careful look at their anti-bribery policies and asking the government…
David Green, the new head of the Serious Fraud Office, has confirmed that his organisation does not have corporate hospitality in its sights when it comes tackling bribery, and rightly so. Even last summer, the then Justice Secretary Ken Clarke confirmed that taking clients to Twickenham would not become a criminal offence once the Bribery…
Half of the world’s biggest logistics companies are putting themselves and customers at risk of prosecution under new UK bribery laws by failing to publish a complete draft of anti-corruption policies, according to data. Research by GoodCorporation, a business ethics consultancy, has found that only two in three big logistics groups have publicly outlined their…
According to business leaders, politicians and much of the media, the corporate world has taken a long, hard look at itself following the crash of 2008. Repeated calls for greater corporate responsibility have been issued and some of the findings from the latest CGMA survey on business ethics would suggest that some progress has been…
The so-called Shareholder Spring and subsequent city scandals have led to much talk about reforming the City to create greater responsibility. While some call for more regulation, others demand less. Few would argue that big bonuses based on short term gains need to go. But what the City really needs is a change of culture…
If Bob Diamond’s resignation is “the first step towards a culture of responsibility” in the UK’s banking industry, what is the second? Any suggestion that it should be more rules is erroneous; there are already plenty with expensive compliance departments trying to enforce them. Scandals such as mis-selling and LIBOR have been caused by poor…
