Archive for the ‘Trust’ Category

“Stress” Taking a Heavy Toll on Compliance and Ethics Professionals

January 14th, 2012 by admin | 2 Comments | Filed in Business Ethics, Organizational Ethics, Trust

“On-the-job stress leading to sleepless nights and thoughts of quitting work

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — At a time when the public’s attention is focused on the need for greater corporate integrity, the majority of compliance and ethics professionals report that they often wake during the middle of the night with job-related worries and they have considered quitting their jobs due to the stress. This disturbing data was revealed in a recent survey conducted in October and November of 2011 by the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics and the Health Care Compliance Association.

Overall, 58% of survey respondents reported that they often wake up during the middle of the night worrying about job-related stress and 60% report having considered leaving their job in the last 12 months due to job-related stress.

Compliance and ethics professionals also report that keeping up with new and changing laws and regulations, preventing compliance and ethics violations, and remediating compliance and ethics violations are the greatest contributors to on-the-job stress.

“Six out of ten people waking up in the middle of the night from job related stress is unacceptable for any profession. The Compliance profession’s purpose is to prevent and detect the problems that have occurred in organizations such as Enron, Tyco, and Penn State University. There are reasons those who came before the Compliance profession stopped short of fixing these problems. Fixing these problems is very difficult and stressful. SCCE and HCCA will work to help their 10,000 members deal with this stress. We have dedicated a day and a half strategic planning session in January 2011 to this issue and this issue alone. However, we can only do so much. Compliance professionals, who are asked to do this difficult job, need support from leadership, reasonable authority, and independence. If society wants to us deal with these issues—so difficult that others have chosen to look the other way—then society should make an effort to support this profession,” said SCCE and HCCA Chief Executive Officer Roy Snell.

Most compliance and ethics professionals report that adversarial relationships with their colleagues, adds to job-related stress. Fifty-eight percent of respondents felt they are in an adversarial situation or isolated from colleagues in other departments. Compliance and ethics professionals positively rated their relationship with the legal department; 54% gave it a “5″ rating while another 26% gave it a “4″ rating. However, the relationship with the sales, marketing, and manufacturing departments was clearly the poorest with 14% rating it a “5″ and only 24% rating it a “4″.”

Calling for a new moral contract for the Canadian Federal Public Service

December 11th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Democracy, Public Sector/Government, Trust

“Canada needs to set ground rules for a new “moral contract” between ministers, public servants and Parliament because the existing rules are too weak to stop the partisan exploitation of the bureaucracy, says a former senior bureaucrat who helped write some of those rules.”

On Authenticity: How the Truth can Restore Faith in Politics and Government

November 25th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Democracy, Public Sector/Government, Trust

I suggest you read the transcript from this year’s Gordon Osbaldeston Lecture given by Allan Gregg Gregg’s thesis can be summed up as civil society (elected officials, public servants, and citizens) need to be more authentic.His lecture “On Authenticity: How the Truth can Restore Faith in Politics and Government” provides a perspective on the relationship between authenticity and trust. Gregg posited that if our political leaders were to act authentically and speak truthfully, Canadians would be more inclined to trust them regardless of whether or not they agreed with their politics.

This paper focuses on how trust—a key cultural factor—affects firms’ decision-making

November 23rd, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Business Ethics, Decision Making, Organizational Ethics, Trust

“Economists have been paying increasing attention to the role that culture plays in a firm’s overall performance. This paper focuses on how trust—a key cultural factor—affects firms’ decision-making process, size, and productivity. Research was conducted by Nicholas Bloom of Stanford University, Rafaella Sadun of the Harvard Business School, and John Van Reenen of the London School of Economics. Key concepts include:

If a firm is headquartered in a country where trust is prevalent (such as Sweden), it is much more likely to decentralize its decision making than if it is headquartered in a country in which trust is rarer (such as India). In short, higher trust leads to more decentralization.
Trust also enables a firm to hire a large number of plant managers, because the CEO will feel comfortable delegating decisions to their direct reports without spending too much time on supervision. Thus, higher trust increases firm size.
Higher trust increases the marginal value of information technology’s effect on productivity.”

What Paterno Teaches Us About Ethics

November 11th, 2011 by admin | 1 Comment | Filed in Case Studies, Ethical Development, Organizational Ethics, Trust

A Forbes article considers the lessons to be learned from this sad episode

So Much For Transparency

June 18th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Public Sector/Government, Trust

National Post · Jun. 18, 2011 | Last Updated: Jun. 18, 2011 4:07 AM ET

Former auditor-general Sheila Fraser’s final report on the budget for the G8-G20 summits revealed a severe lack of oversight on government spending. First, Ottawa grossly overestimated the costs of the summits, obtaining spending approvals far in excess of what was necessary. Second, the federal government spent money earmarked for “border security” on beautification projects in the riding of now-Treasury Board President Tony Clement -even though his electoral district of Muskoka lies nowhere near any border. The spending, said Ms. Fraser, showed the need for better controls on how Parliament spends money.

Regrettably, Ms. Fraser’s admonishments appear to have gone unheeded by both the government and opposition parties. A scant eight days after she issued her report, the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion which reduces scrutiny of $250.8-billion in government spending estimates for the coming fiscal year.

These estimates are usually subjected to review by 24 House committees, to determine their validity. Instead, according to a reports, only one committee will conduct a two-day symbolic review of the quarter-trilliondollar spending authorization. The House Government Operations and Estimates Committee will review all 519 pages of estimates and a report on its work will be “deemed” to have been submitted by Monday, June 20, even if it has not in fact been issued.

This is as unacceptable as it is hypocritical. Despite the campaign rhetoric from every party about strengthening our democracy and the need for more accountability, they are now blithely changing their tune in the name of expediency. Most curious is the behaviour of the opposition parties, who not only provoked said election over ethical issues, but specifically over the issue of transparency relating to the government’s failure to adequately divulge the cost of some its crime bills.

Yet now NDP and Liberal MPs seem perfectly content to work with unscrutinized figures, so long as they can get the report out of the way in time to begin their summer vacations as scheduled.

As for the government, not only did it support the Estimates motion, but on June 17 it was revealed that the Prime Minister’s own bureaucrats are failing to follow proper approvals procedure for expenses. An audit of 2,100 hospitality claims by staff in the Prime Minister’s and Privy Council offices found employees routinely failed to obtain preapproval for their expenses, as required by House rules.

We would like to politely remind our elected officials that ignorance is not bliss -especially for taxpayers who end up footing the bill for their failings.

Integrity Complaints Against Municipal Politicians

May 12th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Organizational Ethics, Public Sector/Government, Social Media, Trust

Withdrawal of a public complaint is certainly a right, but the issue is what if this is done out of fear of retribution? What does a municipal Integrity Commissioner (IC) do if the complaint has merit but is withdrawn because of fear of loss of job or a contract? The letter of the law in the Province of Ontario, Canada, would suggest that the complaint stops immediately in its tracks, as would be the case if a court suit was initiated. But the spirit of the law could be that the topic be pursued as an investigation by the IC acting in the public interest. After all, it is the public interest that is being served by the office of the IC.

For three timely articles on this subject intended for the professional organizational ethicist, see the Municipal Integrity Webzine Newsletter, released today, at http://ethicscan.ca/news.html?hc2=3.. This and all issues at directly downloadable for free

How To Take Something Unethical Back

April 4th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Decision Making, Ethical Development, Human Rights, Social Media, Trust

Ethicists, investigators and human rights professionals have a particular interest in getting their findings right.

Judge Richard Goldstone, head of the infamous UN panel that issued the Goldstone Report in 2009, backtracked on his most serious accusations on Friday. The Goldstone Report had accused Israel and Hamas of “actions amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity” during the 2008 Gaza War. Goldstone’s about-face includes a reversal on the contentious claim that Israel intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians. Investigations into some 400 incidents from the war, cited by another recent UN report, “indicate that civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy,” Goldstone wrote in an op-ed published in the Washington Post: “I regret that our fact-finding mission did not have such evidence explaining the circumstances in which we said civilians in Gaza were targeted, because it probably would have influenced our findings about intentionality and war crimes.”Goldstone starkly admitted, “If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.”

Several legal and human rights critics of Goldstone say that there is no new information, that these facts were always in the public domain, and have been pointing to these sources in public since the Goldstone Report was tabled. What accountability, transparency and responsibility lessons to you think are applicable?

An article by Dr. Michael Kirsch, a full time practicing physician and writer who writes regularly at MD Whistleblower.

February 27th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Trust

Doctor ethics over free drug samples? Have you seen a hospital room lately?

Many folks criticize pharmaceutical companies for providing physicians’ offices with free drug samples. They claim that this giveaway harms consumers because drug companies must raise their prices to cover the costs of these freebies. Of course, this is undeniable. Any business expense, such as payroll or advertising, has to be covered and is expectedly borne by the consumer. If a company chooses not to advertise, outsources manufacturing to a country with cheaper labor, offers limited benefits to its employees, then they can sell their product at a low price. In this hypothetical example, anemic sales may doom the company quickly.

Naturally, free samples are not really free. The rest of us pay for them. While this is true, I don’t think it is evil. Unlike the U.S. government, at least drug companies are covering their costs and not simply borrowing money every year to meet budget. Interesting concept.

Two of the community hospitals I work at have undergone transformations. One is owned by the dominant health care behemoth in Cleveland and has just completed a near $200 million renovation and expansion. The other smaller hospital is one of the few remaining Cleveland area hospitals that are still independent. I’d like to sneak there at night and hoist upa ’Live Free or Die’ flag up the flagpole, to celebrate its independent streak, but I’m sure that there are video cameras everywhere and that I would be in violation of several bylaws. The apt punishment might be that I would have to spend a cold Cleveland night chained to the flagpole reading electronic medical record manuals out loud.

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Both of these hospitals have private patient rooms that look more like hotel suites then hospital rooms. Patients are just a click away from work and play as there is wireless internet. Why do patients need flat screen TVs? Perhaps,they emit healing humors to help speed recoveries. Forget about those hardback chairs next to patients’ beds where visitors would stiffly sit. Now, there is posh furniture to sink into. Artwork is everywhere. Every new hospital these days is equipped with an essential architectural structure ’ an atrium.

What’s the angle here? Is this a marketing war between competing hospitals? Is the new comfort standard for a hospital similar to a high end cruise ship? That gives me an idea. What if a hospital system purchased a cruise line to serve as a floating hospital across the high seas? I’m amazed we haven’t seen this yet. Remember, you read it here first.
Get that gallbladder out!
Visit exciting ports of call!
Enjoy world class entertainment!
Splurge onour decadent midnight chocolate buffet!

Where’s the outrage here? Are these hundreds of millions of dollars helping sick people get well? Couldn’t this money be directed to a more worthy objective? Why aren’t health care reform-minded folks picketing and protesting? Or, does it make more sense to carp over free Nexium samples and pizza for the office staff?

It is true that physicians who have been actual patients gain a valuable perspective. I’m willing to make the sacrifice. Put me up in one of these carpeted, plush rooms with room service and soft music. It will be tough, but if it’llhelp me tobe a better doctor, then I’m willing to endure the pain.

The author, Dr. Michael Kirsch, is a full time practicing physician and writer who writes regularly at MD Whistleblower.

A Timely Article in Light of the Arizona Shooting

January 9th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Democracy, Trust

How should reporters behave?”As local and national journalists scramble to make sense of a mass shooting that leaves a U.S.  Congresswoman grievously wounded and six dead – including a federal judge – resources from the Dart Center’s archive offer guidance to reporters in the field and managers in the newsroom.”

Trust

December 27th, 2010 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Trust

Returning to the   subject of trust, can you share an experience when you were in a situation where it was broken,and what was done to restore it? Canadians ,as are people everywhere, are suffering a loss of trust. Trust is is also acknowledged to be at the heart of  all religious traditions. .