Monday, May 6, 2013

TEST OF INTEGRITY, ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE

In the past five years, which of the following (if any) apply to your organization (or any members of senior leadership):
  • Named in a class-action law-suit
  • Defendant in a serious civil action (e.g. tort) related to business activities
  • Defendant in a qui tam action
  • Under a government investigation
  • Achieved a settlement with or without admission of liability
  • Subject to a deferred prosecution or non-prosecution agreement
  • Subject to a corporate integrity agreement
  • Required to have a compliance monitor
  • Indicted
  • Paid substantial fines and/or penalties related to a compliance failure
  • Dismissed executive(s) or received resignations from executive(s) due to actual (or alleged misconduct)- SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC HAD THIS SERIOUS CASE IN 2012. REFER TO THE CASE ON THE LINK BELOW.

(The company (SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC) also revealed that the profit line had been reduced by 27 million euros, equivalent to about 1.4 percent of total profits, owing to fraud by a senior member of staff who had now left the company.
The fraud involved the creation of “fake” documents which led to an under-estimation of the provisions the company made for year-end discounts to big customers.
Finance director Emmanuel Babeau told a telephone conference that despite internal controls “that are extremely heavy”, when someone in an important position was not trustworthy “we have an issue.”)

ETHISPHERE ASKS FOR IS YOU WON ANY OF THE BELOW AWARDS/RECOGNITION-
Has your organization earned any of the following media recognitions within the past five years?

  • Fortune: 100 Best Companies to Work For
  • Fortune: World‘s Most Admired Companies
  • Fortune: Most Accountable Big Companies
  • Newsweek: Green Rankings (top 50 overall or top 10 in industry)
  • Barron‘s: World‘s Most Respected Companies
  • Bloomberg: The World‘s 25 Unsung Innovative Companies
  • Working Mothers: Best Companies
  • Forbes/Audit Integrity: 100 Most Trustworthy Companies
  • CRO: 100 Best Corporate Citizens
  • Ethisphere: World‘s Most Ethical Companies
  • Diversity MBA: Top 50 Companies for Diverse Managers to Work
  • Directorship Magazine: Boardroom Leaders
  • Fast Company: World‘s Most Innovative Companies

THOUGH I AM NOT SURE HOW ACCOLADES/AWARDS/RECOGNITION IN THE working mothers category, Bloomberg: The World‘s 25 Unsung Innovative Companies, Directorship Magazine: Boardroom Leaders or Fast Company: World‘s Most Innovative Companies, ever relate to Ethics.
QUESTION IS- IS ETHICS A PERCEPTION THING, BESIDES BEING COMPLIANT TO AGENCIES ON HARD TERMS?
IS THERE A PERCEPTION THAT ALL GREEN COMPANIES ARE ETHICAL, ALL WOMEN FRIENDLY AND DIVERSITY AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER COMPANY ETHICAL?  IS ETHICS A TOP CRUST THING OR MATTER OF PROBITY AND MATTER OF BEING CONSCIOUSLY RIGHT FOR RIGHT CAUSE, RIGHT PEOPLE AND RIGHT POLICIES, PRACTICES?

CAN YOU DECLARE A COMPANY ONE OF WORLD'S MOST ETHICAL COMPANIES IN 2013 WHEN LAST YEAR/2012, COMPANY POSTED A TOP EXECUTIVE FRAUD OF $27 MILLION? SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC IS IN THE LIST OF TOP 100 COMPANIES IN ETHISPHERE LIST OF ETHICAL COMPANIES WHILE, THE STORY OF TOP EXECUTIVE INVOLVED IN HUGE CORRUPTION WAS EXPOSED, PROBED AND THE EXECUTIVE LEFT COMPANY. DID ETHISPHERE INSTITUTE ASK FOR DETAILS OF CORRUPTION AND HOW IT WAS HANDLED BY SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC? WHAT ACTIONS HAVE BEEN TAKEN AGAINST OTHERS INVOLVED. WHY THIS FRAUD HAPPENED AND WHY COMPANY LOST SHAREHOLDER'S MONEY SO EASILY? DOES THIS NOT SHOW HOW HOLLOW ARE ETHICS AND INTEGRITY IN THE COMPANY, THAT TOO AT THE TOP. THIS SHAKES INVESTOR'S CONFIDENCE AND ERODES LEVELS OF TRUST IN TOP EXECUTIVE AND THE SYSTEM AS SUCH.

IS ETHISPHERE INSTITUTE AWARDING TOP 100 ETHICAL COMPANIES BASED ON SELF-DECLARATION ONLY?

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