Ethics and Compliance Management

Corruption prevailed throughout the ages so also the strategies to contain. However, late last century marked the beginning of a new era in which actors have started to discuss the impact of
corruption, thanks to efforts by some global institutions, such as the World Bank, Transparency International, the Open Society Institute and the UNDP. Attempts to highlight the problems
associated with corruption and bribing have not only brought the issue on the global agenda, but have witnessed some path-breaking solutions. Of late, thanks to the efforts of the UN
organizations, the ill effects of corruption are discussed in the light of human development, and the freedom and choices offered to individuals and their capacity to enjoy these. No doubt
corruption cripples everyone, but more so, the least served and the most marginalized in societies within the developing nations. The advent of Information and Communication Technologies do provide an opportunity to prevail over corrupt practices, but the main challenge is the willpower of the governments to take advantage of this unique opportunity, rather than missing it. The paper examines the intrinsic relationship between corruption and human development while presenting an overview of the role of ICTs, especially e-governance as means to improve human conditions and prevent corrupt practices. More than 100 such e-governance efforts enlisted in this paper highlight best practices at both small as well as large scales, sometimes also at a pan-national level. The paper suggests that the hype around ICTs,
especially about their role in containing corruption does need some serious thinking and a joint effort by the government departments that intend to introduce e-governance with a view to
reducing corruption. The author concludes with a simple but doable five point agenda for successful implementation of e-governance programs that can provide a good foundation for a
long-term public-private partnership program that places the common people at the helms of anticorruption efforts.

The scope of paper is the description of the influence of changing AML/CFT rules, criteria and risk profiles as changing environment on corporate strategic decision making. It goes briefly through the main principles of compliance, AML and CFT, followed by the decision making process these requirements impose on companies. After this, the influences of client behavior, political and legislative changes on this decision model are discussed. The paper ends with a conclusion.

Columna publicada en Portal Revista Empresa de ACDE.

¿Hay una distancia psicológica con la ley?
Los ciudadanos estamos todos bajo el imperio de la ley, la conozcamos o no. Sin embargo, entre el trabajo cotidiano que el profesional realiza en una empresa y el sistema de justicia que sanciona los comportamientos asociales, hay una distancia importante. A esta distancia podríamos caracterizarla como una “distancia psicológica”.

Resumen: Conjugar ética y economía se ha convertido en uno de los grandes retos de nuestro tiempo. Los procesos de globalización económica actuales exigen cada vez más respeto a los derechos, valores y principios universalizables que defienden las sociedades con un nivel postconvencional de desarrollo moral. De ello depende la credibilidad y legitimidad de la actividad y, por consiguiente, su correcto desarrollo. A pesar de ello, la teoría económica preponderante sigue percibiendo la reflexión moral como algo externo, y sus orientaciones como imposiciones cuyo seguimiento minimizan la satisfacción de un máximo beneficio. Por ello, el objetivo de este estudio será doble. Por un lado, mostrar la ética como una actividad constitutiva y necesaria para el correcto desarrollo de la economía a través de la propuesta integrativa de Peter Ulrich y, sobre todo, del enfoque hermenéutico-crítico de Jesús Conill. Por otro lado, proponer orientaciones para el diseño de un sistema de monitorización y gestión del ámbito moral de la empresa y organización económica que permita su aplicación e implementación en la práctica

Directors are expected to be entrepreneurial while at the same time exercising prudent control. Care needs to be taken to ensure governance, compliance and risk management practices do not become a “hinder” rather than a “help”. Considers changes required and certain other dilemmas relating to fraud and cyber security when breaches occur and in relation to the internet of things, access to customer communications, collaboration and law enforcement agencies.

Many directors face difficult issues and choices. They have to balance contending considerations. Resilient systems, quick responses, competent directors, effective boards and relevant support can all help us to ensure that business development is sustainable and secure.

Speech delivered on 25th October 2017 at the 17th International Conference on Corporate Governance and Sustainability held at the Millennium Hotel London Mayfair, 44 Grosvenor Square, London W1, (UK)

Management theories abound. However, theories that truly help organizations manage, adapt and excel in the face of monumental change are needed now more than ever. Any executive leader who witnesses organizational crisis, such as a major product recall, a shortage of human talent or the loss of competitive market share, will tell you that an organization’s survival and success require that it “turns on a dime,” quickly planning for change and effectively meeting its challenges. Change management (or CM) signifies both the theory and the practice of transforming organizations in order to adapt and thrive in a dynamic environment, as well as the study of how individuals within changing organizations cope.  The paper is organized into five sections. In the first section, I offer a brief history of CM’s development from the 1960s to the present. The second section provides a survey of CM theories, models and frameworks. The third section outlines some critical responses to CM. The fourth section presents a case study in how organizational change generates corruption and its normalization: Penn State University’s failed attempt to adapt to change in the wake of the Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. I hypothesize that the reasons for this failure were executive leadership’s overreliance on top-down control (for instance, presidential calls for civility), the administration’s unwillingness to modify ethics-related human resource policies (for instance, pay secrecy) and, finally, the strategic decision to implement two new programs, one in the area of ethics and compliance and the other in employee training and development (viz. external reporting procedures and mandatory employee child abuse training), but to leave intact the organization’s culture of secrecy and silence. Unfortunately, the mainstream models of CM—most of which, as Cotter notes, seek only “to minimize the distractions and impacts of the change”—cannot advise an alternative course of action, or at least not one that would have saved Penn State from its path-dependent course towards a breakdown in its normative control system. In the last section, I recommend a more pragmatic approach to managing organizational change that starts with openness and transparency, so that large-scale organizational change does not have the unintended effect of fostering and normalizing organizational corruption.