Ethics Articles

White Papers and Reports From the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership

Cyber Security and the Obligations of Companies

Ken Baylor, an expert on IT security and regulatory compliance, addresses the reality of cyber security in 2013.
Margaret Steen

Privacy and Innovation

Travis LeBlanc, special assistant attorney general of California, and Irina Raicu, Internet Ethics Program Manager at the Ethics Center discuss whether privacy concerns must stifle innovation.
Margaret Steen

Nexus of the Law and Ethics

Joseph Grundfest, professor of law and business at the Stanford Law School, a key to ethical decision making is determining what is smart.

Legitimate Role of Whistleblowers in an Organization

Video of a conversation with Hank Shea, former federal prosecutor and professor of law at St. Thomas University
Hank Shea

Chinese Perspectives on Doing Business in China

Summary of a panel featuring Liu Baocheng, director of the Center for International Business Ethics
Margaret Steen

Western Perspectives on Business Practices in China

Summary of a panel featuring Chris Cooper, Deloitte; Carson Block, Muddywaters; and David Chen, Microsoft.
Margaret Steen

Building an Ethical Business Culture in China

Summary of a panel featuring Sheridan Tatsuno, Dreamscape Capital; Stanley Kwong, professor, USF; and Jacqueline Fan, Ernst & Young.
Margaret Steen

When Things Go Wrong in China

Summary of a panel on the FCPA featuring Chris Forrester, Morrison & Foerster, and Randy Gausman, former CFO of Rae Systems
Margaret Steen

Lessons on Ethics and Compliance in China

Five takeaways from a meeting on Business Ethics in China
Margaret Steen

Patterns of Fraud in the Chinese Market

Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Executive Director Kirk Hanson talks with Jacqueline Fan, a partner at Ernst & Young, about corruption, bribery, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. She identifies supply chain problems, financial statement fraud, and the rapid transition in the economy as ethical challenges when doing business in China.
Jacqueline Fan

U.S. and China: Are Their Values Really Different?

David Chen, vice president for China Legal and Corporate Affairs at Microsoft, and Kirk Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, discuss differing perspectives on intellectual property, piracy, and creating value.
David Chen

Identifying Fraudulent Companies in China

Carson Block, research director of Muddywaters, talks with Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics about ethical issues such as fraud, conflicts of interest, executive pay, and cozy relations with auditors and how these problems manifest in China.
Carson Block

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Case Study

Randall Gausman, former CFO of Rae Systems, talks with Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, about the steps he took when he became aware of FCPA violations in a joint venture with China.
Randall Gausman

Investigation: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Against the background of financial scandals and the recent economic collapse, companies are under increasing scrutiny and are facing real risks in terms of regulatory action that can impair their ability to conduct business, according to Craig Martin, a partner at Morrison & Forester. Martin and Catherine Madrid, a partner at Ernst & Young, talk with Center Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson about the role of internal investigations as one of the affirmative steps companies can take to make sure they are in compliances with the law.
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Chief Legal Officer in the New Reality

The role of corporate counsel in the company's ethical culture
Miriam Schulman

Ethics for Corporate Boards

Video conversations between former federal prosecutor Hank Shea and Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson on corporate governance

Role And Responsibilities of Ethics and Compliance Officers

Patrick Gnazzo and Kirk Hanson

Ethical Collapse: Signs and Cases in Point

Marianne Jennings and Kirk Hanson

Firing the CEO: Lessons boards should learn

Richard Moran and Kirk Hanson

Corporate Governance and Ethics: Conversations with the Delaware Court

Video interviews with justices from the Delaware Court of Chancery and Supreme Court

Corporate Ethics, Governance and Social Responsibility

A study comparing European business practices to those in the United States conducted for the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership
Nathan E. Hurst

Corporate Moral Responsibility and the Ethics of Product Usage

SCU Dirksen Professor in Ethics Manuel Velasquez discusses expanding notions of corporate responsibility for personal injury.
Anne Federwisch

Ethical Risk Assessment: Crisis-prone or Crisis-prepared

Center Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson and SCU Assistant Professor of Management Shawn Berman describe a risk-assessment tool.
Anne Federwisch

Sustaining Ernst & Young's Ethical Culture

Susan Sweet describes EYs process developing their Americas ethics program for more than 35,000 employees in North, Central and South America, Mexico, Israel, and Canada.
Anne Federwisch

Reconstituting the Ethical Culture at Hewlett Packard

Summary of a presentation by Hewlett-Packard Vice President and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer Jon Hoak on steps the company took to renew their commitment to ethics after the pretexting scandal.
Miriam Schulman

Power and Ethics in the Executive Suite

A review of recent research on the effects of power and applications to the business world
Miriam Schulman

Role of the CEO in Building an Ethical Organization

Panel discussion featuring Radha Basu (SupportSoft), Ken Denman (Openwave Systems), Robert Ewald (SGI), Mark Lonergan (Lonergan Partners)
Miriam Schulman

Business Ethics, Fiduciary Responsibilities, and the Law

A conversation with J. Travis Laster, vice chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery, about the fiduciary duties of corporations. Interviewed by Ethics Center Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson, Laster discusses the role of incorporation in regulating business, whether fiduciary responsibilities extend beyond the shareholders, and how the law can chart a middle course between managers and shareholders.
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Board Oversight of Compliance and Business Conduct Programs

Three different perspectives on setting the ethical tone of a company from the board level
W. Swenson, B. Finocchio, Jr., A. Muller, C.S. Par

Building a High Performance Team: Creating an Ethical Culture (ppt)

Founder and CEO of Ariba uses that company as a case study for defining key principles in building an organization
Keith Krach

Insolvency, Bankruptcy, and the Board

Practical suggestions for corporate board members on the ethical aspects of insolvency and bankruptcy
Tim Harris, partner, Morrison & Foerster

Ethical Challenges in Developing Markets

Description of Nokia Siemens efforts to create a culture of ethics in international operations
Robert Weisberg

Toward Stronger Ethics in Government Relations

The senior counselor to the chairman at Hill & Knowlton discusses lobbying.
Tom Hoog

Taking Your Code to China

Why it is so difficult to apply Western companies' codes of conduct in China, and what the most successful companies are doing to make it work.
Kirk O. Hanson and Stephan Rothlin

On the Front Lines of the War Against Corruption

Looks at global issues of bribery
Rob Weisberg, Global Ethics Officer, Nokia Siemens

Risk Oversight: A View From the Audit Committee

Video and PowerPoint slides from a presentation on risk
Robert Finocchio, Jim Balassone, et al

General Counsel's Role in Building an Ethical Organization (video)

Retired Agilent Technologies General Counsel Nordlund talks with Center Director Kirk Hanson
Craig Nordlund

Role of the CFO in the Ethical Culture of an Organization

The CFO can become an ambassador for ethics throughout a corporation.
Miriam Schulman

Internal Audit, Partner in Ethics

Chief legal officer of Millennium Management discusses making internal audit an integral part of an organization's ethical culture
Kirk Hanson, Simon Lorne

Fiduciary Duty vs. Shareholder Empowerment

A three part video interview on corporate governance issues with Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court Myron Steele
Myron Steele, Kirk Hanson

Workplace Faith - Pitfalls and Possibilities?

David W. Miller, Director, Princeton University Fa

Risks of Multi-tasking - Governance, Integrity, and Effectiveness

F. Daniel Siciliano, Stanford School of Law and Di

Corporate Governance

Three perspectives on governance from the Center conference, "The Accountable Corporation."
Tom McCoy, Katharine Martin, Stephen F. Diamond

Perspectives on the Roles and Responsibilities of the Board of Directors for Corporate Culture

A report on the best board practices delivered at the April 6-7, 2005 Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership Meeting
Vail Leadership Institute

Board Governance and Culture Research Report

A PowerPoint presentation delivered at the April 6-7, 2005 Business and Organizational Partnership Meeting
Vail Leadership Institute

Ethics and Brand Value: Strategic Differentiation

A PowerPoint presentation given at the April 6-7, 2005 Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership Meeting
John Paluszek

Business Ethics in China

Stephan Rothlin, general secretary of the Center for International Business Ethics in Beijing, discusses Chinese approaches to corruption.
Miriam Schulman

Sarbanes Oxley After Three Years

A Powerpoint presentation by a partner in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's corporate practice
Mark Bertelsen

Character Mentoring

A PowerPoint presentation on character formation in a business context keywords, business ethics, character, role model
Dennis Moberg

Understanding Rule Bending

A PowerPoint presentation on the Devaluation of compliance in the DOD
Leslie Sekerka

24/7 Workplace Connectivity: A Hidden Ethical Dilemma

An exploration of the effect of digital technology on workers' health and relationships
Charles F. Piazza

Speaking Truth to Power: A White Paper

O'Toole, aresearch professor in the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California, explores how to encourage candor within organizations.
James O'Toole

Managing Moral Responsibility for Product Use

Dirksen Professor of Business Ethics Manuel Velasquez asks the question, Is a company responsible for the uses to which customers put its products?
Miriam Schulman

Making the case that your program works (ppt)

The Editor of Ethikos magazine talks about what makes a credible ethics and compliance program
Joe Murphy, CCEP

Zimbardo's Theories Applied to Business

Psychologist Philip Zimbardo proposed 10 traps that organizations inadvertently create to ensnare good people in bad behavior.
Cameron Bilger

Ethics and Lobbying in Washington and at the State Level

The vice president for government affairs at Applied Materials outlines an agenda for ethical and effective lobbying.
Gary Fazzino

Giving Wise Advice

Results of an empirical study on wisdom and ethics
Dennis Moberg

Whistle Blowing: The Good, the Bad, and...

Michael Winston describes his experience as a whistle blower at Countrywide in an interview with Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson
Kirk Hanson

Insider Trading Enforcement

A definition of insider trading and tips on preventing the problem
Miriam Schulman

Stopping Corporate Fraud

Joseph Grundfest, former SEC commissioner, addresses the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership.
Miriam Schulman

Encouraging Internal Whistleblowing in Organizations

How can businesses encourage employees to report ethical lapses?
Lilanthi Ravishankar

Surviving a Federal Criminal Investigation

PowerPoint presentation on FBI investigations of white collar crime.
Jeffrey Bornstein, Tamara Neiman

Curbing Corruption Around the Globe

Summary of a presentation by Glenn Ware, chief investigative counselor for the World Bank, on the bank's Department of Institutional Integrity
Anne Federwisch

Encouraging Internal Whistleblowing (And More!)

An update on how organizations can set up mechanisms to identify wrongdoing
Carl R. Oliver and Francis J. Daly

Control Fraud at Rite Aid

The executive director of the Institute for Fraud Prevention discusses what went wrong at Rite Aid (pdf)
William Black

Exploring Ethical Lapses During the Rite Aid Crisis

Former Rite Aid COO and interim CEO Timothy Noonan gives a frank account of an ethical lapse that he wished he had avoided
Anne Federwisch

Crisis at Sunrise Medical

Former Sunrise CEO describes a 1994-95 accounting fraud in one of the companys divisions, exploring the impact, causes, and lessons learned (podcast).
Richard Chandler

Identifying and Investigating Fraud and Corruption

A presentation on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other international anti-corruption laws
Bob Mattson and Craig Martin, Partners, Morrison &

Insider Trading: Law, Trust, and Prevention

A definition of and scenarios about insider training, plus suggestions about what businesses can do to discourage it

Deferred Prosecution Agreements and Federal Monitors

Panelists discuss their role in white collar prosecutions and as federal monitors
B. Prachar, L. Caldwell, B. Schwartz, W. Swenson,

Ethics and the Middle Manager: Creating "Tone in The Middle"

Specific behaviors middle managers must demonstrate in order for lower level employees to understand that the organization is serious about ethics
Kirk O. Hanson

Roles and Responsibilities of the General Counsel in the Organization

Panel discussion among general counsels of large and small cap companies
Tom McCoy, Craig Nordlund, Martin Collins, Fred Go

Partnership Members Named Best Corporate Citizens

Advanced Micro Devices, Agilent, Applied Materials, and Cisco are among the top 20 corporate citizens of 2007, according to CRO magazine.

Speaking Truth to Power: The Role of the Executive

James O'Toole argues that great leaders encourage candor.
Jennifer Pittman

Transformation of Work

Summary of a presentation by Edward Lawler highlighting findings from his book "The New American Workplace."
Anne Federwisch

Ethical Issues in the Financial Services Industry

Summary of a presentation by Ronald F. Duska and James A. Mitchell on the reasons for ethical lapses in the industry and some ways to protect against them.
Anne Federwisch

Assessing for Ethics

Dan Pracher, business development manager for Development Dimensions International, explores how to hire employees who mesh with the ethical culture of the organization.
Anne Federwisch

Business Ethics Outlook 2006-07

Five crucial ethical issues on the agenda for American businesses.

Members of the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership Honored

Business Ethics Magazine names six partner companies to the annual list of 100 best corporate citizens.

New Strategies for Corporate Responsibility

A candid analysis of the potential and limitations of the corporate responsibility movement by U.C. Berkeley Professor David Vogel
Sharleen Sy

Unocal in Burma

Background to a suit in federal court alleging that members of a minority Burmese group had been subjected to relocation, forced labor, torture, murder, and rape on the Yadana pipeline project
Manuel Velasquez

Role of the Audit Committee in Business Ethics

Executives discuss how new standards are changing corporate governance
Tom McCoy, Marty Malone, Susan Wang, Nick Moore

Incorporating Ethics into the Organization's Strategic Plan

Robert Finocchio, former CEO of Informix, offers prescriptions for making ethics part of strategy
Miriam Schulman

18 Rules of International Business Ethics

General secretary of the Center for International Business Ethics in beijing offers a guide for doing business ethically.
Stephan Rothlin

New Corporate Governance: Key Themes for Public Companies Today

An article on a talk given by Mark A. Bertelsen to the membership of the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership on September 12, 2003
Mark A. Bertelsen

Sarbanes-Oxley: A View from the Perspective of the Audit Committee

A sixteen-slide PowerPoint presentation given at the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership
Bob Finocchio

Ethical Challenges in Human Resources

A talk given to the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership
James O'Toole

Corporate Ethics, Governance and Social Responsibility

A study comparing European business practices to those in the U.S. conducted for the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership
Nathan E. Hurst

Corporate Governance

A PowerPoint presentation delivered at the April 6-7, 2005 Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership Meeting
Bill McGrew

CEOs: Setting the Ethical Tone

The role of the CEO in setting a company's ethical culture was the focus of a panel at the April 6 meeting of the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership, a program of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and 13 corporations.
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Advice from Aristotle

Aristotle was a practical and business-oriented philosopher who defined principles in terms of the ethics of leadership.
James O'Toole