Arthur Andersen made it from 1913 to 2002. That’s pretty fucking long term.
And all it took was one partner sending one e-mail to bring it down. Had their culture of compliance been stronger, they might have continued in business for another 90 years.
That it takes a few years to destroy what took 70+ years to build (they apparently began playing loose in the 1980s) does point to such conduct being destructive of the business, even if payback sometimes isn’t as quick and neat as we would prefer.
We don’t really know how long they’ve been screwing people over. Could have been for decades. I just don’t think there’s necessarily a correlation between ethical behavior and longevity among corporations. AT&T was notorious for destroying upstart phone companies decades ago. How many corporations hired goons to beat up and intimidate workers? On the other side, there’s the Teamsters Union, which is kind of a Mafia of unions, and they’re still around.
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the tobacco industry. How many of those have been driven out of business by dodgy ethical practices?
Well, duh. I mean, that’s why we have a navy, isn’t it?
Yeah, but was it okay to make WACs? At least it would be within the branch…
ETA: D’oh! Darn you, Miller!
I’m sorry that being an ethical bit you in the ass. I teach business ethics, and I try to warn them that blowing the whistle can (or usually does) have negative consequences for them. Professional responsibility, however, sometimes dictates that you take the risks in order to prevent harms to others. This certainly isn’t the case with all and any moral violations, but there are some that are certainly worthy of taking the risk.
Are you aware of any correlation between corporations with stringent and/or vigorous ethical conduct rules and the longevity of those corporations.
If there are any such statistics, I am not aware of them. I’m not sure that we would be able to scrape together a statistically significant sample of “virtuous” corporations with which to compare the ones who act immorally.
I wouldn’t ask it of you. I’m just curious because we had an exchange a few posts upthread where another poster suggested that ethics promoted corporate longevity.
But while I have you…
Do you see business ethics as different in nature from individual ethics?
It takes time and maturity not to be self righteous about ethics in a corporation, if you’re so inclined. You manager cheating on expenses.
- make sure it can’t be blamed on you. Eg, you submit titty bar expenses for your boss and he approves them.
- do a sanity check - did your manager report something minor in a sloppy manner? Like a taxi for $25 instead of $20 and no receipt is required?
- Would it make the front page of the Wall Street Journal and would people care (eg, would the stock price tank because of it)? If the answer is no, then maybe it shouldn’t concern you
- Does your manager’s manager know about the misreporting the expense reports? My first rabbi taught me that the flat out easiest way to fire someone is to document and prove they cheat on expenses. The person could be “bullet proof” but still get whacked for cheating on expenses. So, maybe your manager’s manager or rival knows all about this BS and doesn’t want you tipping their hand. And, young grasshopper, learn the lesson that you should never ever fuck with your expense reports. Not always but often people in power will be “shocked, shocked I tell you” and fire you without a moments thought for *this *transgression.
- If it’s something really big, and you have bullet proof evidence, then look at different options including internal escalation or going to the press.
I’ve seen lots of stuff in my career, and been self righteous about it when younger. Later, with the benefit of maturity and experience, some of the stuff I went full mental about was minor or misconstrued by me. So, just keep a little perspective before you throw down the gauntlet.
If it was really big I would go talk to a lawyer about protecting myself before doing anything else. And I think, depending on what the lawyer says, I’d talk to law enforcement or maybe the IRS before people within the company. That’s of course assuming that if it’s really big it’s also criminal and/or someone is dodging taxes.