Lehman Brothers’ Perfect Storm: Where Ethical Lapses Met Bad Judgment
The Week in Ethics
Lehman Brothers’ Perfect Storm: Where Ethical Lapses Met Bad Judgment
Update: September 9, 2013: Five years ago this month Lehman Brothers collapsed. The New York Times reports today about the SEC’s several- year investigation, internal disputes over whether evidence against Lehman was strong enough to bring charges, and why they haven’t. Update August 26, 2011: Former CEO Richard Fuld and 12 other Lehman executives and […]
read more »Toyota and the Ethics of Greed
U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-WV, said this week that he had once worked hard to have Toyota locate an engine plant in his state because he knew it was a company built on the philosophy of quality first. “If they designed and built the safest and most reliable cars possible, then sales and profits would […]
read more »Toyota’s Focus on Process not People
There is a saying “you get what you focus on.” Jim Lentz, the president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., said yesterday in the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearings that “We lost sight of our customers.” Toyota documents from July 2009 released this week by a Congressional committee include an internal memo citing company success […]
read more »Reputation and Image at Toyota
Toyota’s challenges of the past several months are more than just a case study of what not to do if you want to avoid a crisis. How events have unfolded actually speak to the nature of corporate reputation, what is perceived, what is real, and how both get managed. There is a distinction between image […]
read more »Five Ways Toyota Can Take the Road Back to Trust
Update: March 19, 2014: U.S Attorney General Eric Holder announced a $1.2 billion criminal penalty is imposed on Toyota for “hiding safety defects from the public,” concluding a four-year investigation of Toyota’s handling of its unintended acceleration issue. Trust and reputation decline in proportion to how big the gap is between cultivated corporate image and […]
read more »Why Sundance Films Matter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KRD8e20fBo Jim Clark, founder of Netscape, is an example of social responsibility at its most effective in his financial backing of a 2009 award-winning Sundance Film Festival movie, “The Cove,” shown in theatres last summer and released in DVD last month. The film about the secret annual slaughter of 23,000 dolphins in Taiji, Japan created […]
read more »The Two Faces of Corporate Responsibility: Haiti and Bonuses
The best and worst examples of how corporate responsibility connects with reality are colliding with each other, building and destroying credibility simultaneously. The outpouring of U.S. corporate money to Haiti, $43 M in the first 72 hours and more than $83 M two days ago demonstrates a sense of corporate responsibility that is fundamental to […]
read more »Johnson & Johnson on the Defensive for Reputation Hits
Update, October 1, 2010: Johnson & Johnson’s long reputation battle continues. CEO William C. Weldon admitted to a congressional committee that the company failed to maintain “our high quality standards” and is spending $100 million to fix quality problems that led to last spring’s recall, which are part of a series of recalls J&J has […]
read more »“Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you?”
Today the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Committee on Standards and Privileges began an official investigation into Peter Robinson, the leader of Northern Ireland, and his wife Iris Robinson, a member of the House of Commons and Northern Ireland Assembly. Mrs. Robinson is embroiled in a scandal involving an affair she had in 2008 with a then-teenager […]
read more »Government’s Misconduct Trumps Charges Against Broadcom Executives
When last we left Broadcom’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) problems two months ago, (Broadcom’s Backdaters: The Trials of Many Tears) several former executives had pled guilty to a felony, settled with the SEC or were either on trial (former CFO William Ruehle) or awaiting trial (co-founder Henry Nicholas III). The Department of Justice was […]
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Gael has proven to be a source of thoughtful and actionable advice on issues related to corporate culture and ethics. Her academic knowledge is a useful supplement to her practical experience and tailored advice.