Transcript Slide 1

Understanding Corporate Ethics:
A Primer
Presented by:
Joshua B. Toas, JD, CCEP, CCEP-I, CFE
Chief Compliance Officer
Business Ethics
 Billy Madison-Billy wins the decathlon
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Learning Objectives
 A conceptual understanding of ethical principles
that help guide employees at all levels:
 at work
 at home
 How to identify when things are falling apart
 This is not an overview of RF policies governing
ethical behavior or conduct
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Qualities of an Ethical Teammate
 Competence to recognize ethical issues and to think
through the consequences of alternative resolutions
 Self-confidence to seek out different points of view and
then to decide what is right at a given time and place, in a
particular set of relationships, circumstances, and involved
parties
 Tough-mindedness. The willingness to make decisions.
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Ethics Defined
A branch of philosophy which is the systemic study of
reflective choice, of the standards of right and wrong
by which it is to be guided, and of the good towards
which it may be ultimately directed.
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Ethics Defined
 The Alamo-There’s right and there’s wrong
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Ethics Defined
Ethics is about people and how they act towards one
another. Defining conduct in terms of right and
wrong.
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Guiding Principles
 Honesty
 Professionalism
 Transparency
 Diligence
 Consistency
 Competence
 Equity
 Integrity
 Fairness
 Confidentiality
 Good versus bad
 Diversity
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Act Ethically
 “Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’
Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity
asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But, conscience
asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a
time when one must take a position that is neither
safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it
because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.”
– Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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Ethics Program
 Organizational leadership must:
 Establish and communicate expectations
 Lead by example
 Understand why good people sometimes act
unethically
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Ethics Program
 Everyone must:
 Act in the interest of the team and not personal gain
 Follow the rules
 Maintain personal integrity
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Code of Ethics/Conduct
 Moses-The 10 Commandments
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Looking for a higher standard
 The Company Men-Ethical scrutiny
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ETHICAL versus LEGAL
 True or False:
 If an activity is legal, it is by extension ethical?
 Is an ethical person:
 Dishonest?
 Untrustworthy?
 Unfair?
 Uncaring?
 Unprincipled?
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ETHICAL versus LEGAL
 Ethical people
 are guided by basic principles not laws
 make decisions with the law as the minimum standard
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Warning Signs of Ethical Collapse
 7 signs of ethical collapse:
 Pressure to maintain numbers
 Fear and silence
 Young ‘Uns and Larger-than-life CEO
 Weak Board
 Conflicts
 Innovation like no other
 Goodness in some areas makes up for evil in others
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Pressure to sell, meet quotas, make
money
 Margin Call-A fire sale
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Young Un’s and Larger than Life CEO
 The Social Network-I deserve some recognition
 In Good Company-You're my new boss
 Steve Jobs calls Bill Gates in jOBS-I’ll sue you
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Pressure for Numbers – Even when
you know it’s wrong
 Cadillac Man-Sale at a funeral
 Ask yourself what would your neighbors think?
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Enforcement and Discipline
 Back to School-Academic fraud
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Ethical Dilemmas
 Ethical versus Moral
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Do the ends justify the means?
 Fat Man and Little Boy-Stop playing God
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International Business
 Back to School-Thornton talks business
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 Ethics is knowing the difference between what you
have a right to do and what is right to do.
• Potter Stewart
– Former Associate Justice US Supreme Court
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