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Category Archives: Corporate Crime

Trust and shared values

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

A discussion of the importance of values in the context of business and management can be conducted across a wide range of domains occupied by the individuals, formal and informal communities, organizations, societies, and cultures that are affected by them. Each has its own values, which influence and are influenced by all the others. As a result, an organization, to be effective, must comprehend this environment, achieve an understanding of its own place in it, and integrate that awareness consciously into its corporate goals. But there is another fundamentally related issue, here . . .

Also filed in Culture, Ethics | | Comments (0)

Roundup: Boards, bosses, and brouhahas

Friday, March 7, 2008

This year is shaping up to be a pointer to not only the direction the corporate governance debate takes, but the venue in which it is held. Thankfully, that direction seems to be toward more responsible assessments of the issues rather than denial of their existence, and that venue seems to be in the boardroom rather than in the bureaucracy. Let’s take a brief look at this. . .

Also filed in Boards, CEOs, Corporate Governance, Women in Management | | Comments (2)

Vices and virtures

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The legal construct of the corporation presents interesting questions of collective and individual accountability. The subject has attracted new momentum with the egregious managerial excesses that led to passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act. Many commentators have argued that we don’t need additional laws like this, targeting people already burdened with exceptional responsibilities. But as new scandals emerge, that assertion is losing its force. . .

Also filed in Corporate Governance, Ethics, Personal Observations | | Comments (3)

Random Day 4: Lines and crimes

Thursday, August 9, 2007

The makeup and behavior of corporate boards remains controversial. More and more dust is being thrown up around the misbehavior of directors - especially executive directors - and the general dysfunction surrounding the operation of so many of these really key institutions. While it can be difficult to penetrate through those dust clouds to the truths hidden within, we can be sure of one thing they confirm over and over again: the interests of managers and owners do not coincide. . .

Also filed in Corporate Governance, Organizational Leadership, Personal Observations | | Comments (2)

Roundup: Lectures from all quarters

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Reinventing the MBA
Business education has come under fire from many directions, including in these pages, for a tendency toward academic abstraction, the pursuit of celebrity-scholar/consultant status at the expense of real work in the field, and a tendency to pile on the bandwagon, creating a proliferation of cookie-cutter MBA programs tossing out jargon-filled rhetorical chaff [...]

Also filed in Boards, CEOs, Corporate Governance, Peter Drucker, Training and Education | | Comments (1)