Genentech, the biotechnology behemoth, has been caught ghostwriting and mass marketing its ideas on health care reform and putting them into the mouths of a few dozen congressmen, many of whom entered the statements into the Congressional Record as their own. The repetitiveness of the statements triggered a New York Times reporter’s investigation which found […]
read more »Frank and Jamie McCourt are a classic case study in how to abdicate leadership and undermine the reputation of a franchise by trashing their own. They presented themselves to Los Angeles five years ago as a duo committed to building the Dodgers franchise into the greatest ballclub. Their timing stripping away their marriage’s veneer in […]
read more »Options backdating is about failure of ethical leadership. And, according to a study released in August 2009, the act of uncovering and disclosing stock option backdating can lead to improvements in management and financial performance. Aren’t leaders who lie about options backdating more likely to cut other corners? Even if their goals undermine their organizations’ […]
read more »Wall Street, like the Will Ferrell bomb Land of the Lost, has too many dinosaurs; business as usual isn’t moving fast enough to extinction. In the wake of the financial meltdown, this has been a busy week for trying to reign in executive pay packages that encouraged bankers to take excessive risks and also setting […]
read more »This month Max Mosley, the controversial, all-powerful, president of the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) which oversees Formula One and Grand Prix racing, finds himself at the end of a 16-year reign, felled by fallout from leadership some call dictatorial and a sex scandal 19 months ago that smeared the organization he helped build. Mosley […]
read more »Update: August 9, 2016, Chancellor Katehi resigned today after the investigation report was released. Its findings cited issues with her judgment, lack of candor with university leaders and violations of university policies. Update: April 28, 2016, Chancellor Katehi suspended for 90 days pending an investigation into whether she used public money to fund a social […]
read more »The University of Illinois (U. of I.) had a breakdown of integrity. For years, legislators, wealthy outsiders, trustees, and administrators were allowed to influence the admissions process, resulting in less qualified students being admitted over the more qualified, until it exploded this spring. The casualties are still being counted. Most recent is B. Joseph White […]
read more »Wells Fargo has an important question to figure out: was their recent public relations crisis caused by a renegade employee who ignored the rules, and operated outside the culture, to get what she wanted, and if so, what are the gaps that allowed that to happen? Or, could she do what she did precisely because […]
read more »In the spectrum of avoiding conflicts of interest and safeguarding reputation and trust, a particularly bruising episode in the last several days involves a Sempra Energy lobbyist and a California Assemblyman. More than just a story of real or perceived bad behavior, it gets to the heart of what ethical standards are – beyond the […]
read more »January 6, 2011 update on Dimitrios Biller: Arbitrator Gary L. Taylor sided with Toyota, in its suit against Dimitrios Biller, ruling Biller must pay Toyota $2.5 million in damages and $100,000 in punitive damages for violating attorney- client privilege and a confidentiality agreement when Biller accepted his $3.7 million severance agreement from Toyota in 2007. […]
read more »Transparent & authentic, insightful, seasoned with organizational knowledge, purposeful & engaging, Gael O’Brien takes her audiences on a journey of ethical exploration that is thought-provoking. She creates the needed disturbance that invites personal and professional growth. Gael carries the noble voice of humanity’s hopefulness.