Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
No es
Diálogo Sí
seguro
No
7. Nuestra gente tiene una fuente segura de orientación (es decir, ¡diferente
a su jefe!) Si tienen una pregunta sobre ética o ley.
8. Nuestra gente recurre a una tercera parte confidencial (como una oficina
del Defensor del Pueblo) si perciben alguna falta por parte de sus pares o
superiores.
No es
Liderazgo y Empoderamiento Sí
seguro
No
14. Animamos a nuestra gente a describir con precisión las limitaciones, así
como los beneficios y características de nuestros productos / servicios.
No es
Recursos humanos Sí
seguro
No
16. Las personas de nuestra compañía están bien equipadas para reconocer
y resolver problemas éticos en nuestro negocio.
18. Se brindan oportunidades formales para que nuestra gente revise los
problemas éticos con sus compañeros, como en los programas de
orientación y capacitación, o reuniones facilitadas.
19. Los gerentes y ejecutivos reciben una amplia capacitación en ética como
parte de nuestro programa de desarrollo de liderazgo.
No es
Sistemas Sí
seguro
No
One of the most lethal threats to any organization is misconduct within its own
walls. We need only consider the sudden demise of Enron Corporation or
Barings Bank – both fatally wounded by their own officers. Lack of attention to
ethics can be a corporation’s Achilles’ heel, with the potential for a single
employee to topple even large well-established companies. Adding to the
threat, advanced technology gives individuals more power, raises the stakes
and speeds up the action.
This is why there’s no reassurance in stating that recent scandals like Enron,
Xerox or WorldCom are aberrations rather than reflections of a systemic
problem. Whether or not the majority of companies actually have these
problems, they are all highly vulnerable under the wrong circumstances.
This paper presents five questions any board member can ask to begin a
dialogue that will mitigate the risks presented by principle-agent relationships
in larger organizations. But before we get to the actual questions, let’s consider
why they need to be asked.
Why does this concern the board?
Directors are essentially ‘guardians’ of a firm, charged with overseeing
management to ensure that a firm’s business is conducted with a sound
strategy and prudence. More than just maximizing return on investment, good
governance demands that directors do everything in their power to protect
shareholders’ assets.
Assuring the management of ethics is an important function of the board for
the following reasons:
The board is ultimately accountable for corruption or impropriety in a
company. Chairs have been asked to resign as a result of staff indiscretions.
Some have been fined or imprisoned for their complicity in approving policies
that encouraged misconduct.
Generally, staff know more than auditors about what is really going on. Yet
most corporate whistleblowers are given little or no protection if they choose
to challenge dishonest management. For this and other good reasons, it’s
unlikely that a staff member would ever approach the board directly with an
ethical concern about senior management, compromising the board’s ability to
‘supervise’ management.
Many CEOs complain that they are prevented from managing ethics because of
other business pressures. The board is in a key position to influence these
‘pressures.’
As a steward of the company’s interests, the board should insist upon the
establishment of systems and structures designed to reduce ‘agency risks’ and
nip problems in the bud.
Conclusion
It is comforting but dangerous to assume that there are adequate internal
mechanisms to prevent, detect and report unethical conduct, or that moral
assertions from the executive team need not be challenged.
To be proactive, corporate directors need to minimize a company’s ethical
liabilities and maximize its ethical assets by:
recognizing the company’s need to manage corporate ethics, and the dangers
of taking it for granted
supporting management to prevent or protect against unethical activities
developing strategies to raise the ethical standard in the organization and build
trust as a competitive advantage.
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https://ethics.ubc.ca/papers/invited/5questions.html/