The Week In Ethics Blog

Leadership Lessons from UVA’s Governance Crisis

The Week in Ethics

Leadership Lessons from UVA’s Governance Crisis

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Update: August 14, 2012  University President Teresa Sullivan is interviewed by The Washington Post on lessons learned from her ouster and reinstatement. Update: On June 29, 2012 Gov. Bob McDonnell made an announcement regarding his appointments to the Board of Visitors, including the reappointment of Helen Dragas. The June 2012 turmoil at the University of […]

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IBM Global CEO Study, Values Empower Employees

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Interviewing 1709 CEOs from 64 countries and 18 industries, (from September 2011 to January 2012) IBM identified that the top organizational attribute to draw out the best from their workforces was ethics and values (65%),  followed by collaborative environment (63%), and purpose and mission (58%); these findings are part of IBM’s 2012 study Leading Through […]

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How will Yahoo’s Levinsohn Impact Culture?

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Update: July 16, 2012 Marissa Mayer, a Google vice president, was selected CEO of Yahoo over interim CEO Ross Levensohn, who took over in May 2012 after Scott Thompson was fired. Yahoo has been an ongoing stage for drama: CEO firings, fluctuating stock prices, selling rumors, restructuring/lay offs and cost cutting,  activist shareholder proxy fights, and […]

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Yahoo’s Challenge to Rebuild Trust

Friday, May 11, 2012

Update: A May 18, 2012 New York Times article provides background on Yahoo board members’ deliberations and Thompson’s  ongoing failure to take responsibility for the resume lie. Update: May 13, 2012: Yahoo announced today effective immediately CEO Scott Thompson is replaced by interim CEO Ross Levinsohn.  Yahoo also said it had reached an agreement with […]

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What Murdoch, Corzine, and Strauss-Kahn Have in Common

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Several years ago I heard the expression “self-cleaning oven.” It was applied to situations where someone was causing harm or making a mistake, and the situation was likely to take care of itself, the way a self-cleaning oven intensely burns off the spills inside. While there are limits to that metaphor —  it has some […]

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UC Davis Leaders Fail to Give Voice to Values

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Update: August 9, 2016, Chancellor Katehi resigns today after the release of the investigation report. The report findings included issues with her judgment, 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 media […]

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Goldman Sachs’ Investment Facilitated Sex Trafficking: The Ethics of Owning What You Buy

Monday, April 2, 2012

Goldman Sachs finds itself in the very uncomfortable place of having exposed its investment in Backpage.com, one of a myriad of its investments. Backspage is a website accepting prostitution ads that included using under-age teenagers as forced sex slaves. Goldman’s latest negative headlines raise larger issues that apply to any company investing in other businesses. […]

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Goldman Sachs’ 2012 Problem with Culture

Thursday, March 22, 2012

The love-hate relationship with Wall Street is complicated. Great returns on investments are one side; examples of fraud, greed or throwing shareholders or clients “under the bus”  on the other. The global meltdown’s post traumatic stress and after shocks continue; ongoing investigations try to determine blame. A firm’s culture and leadership are critical success factors […]

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Gordon Gekko, Trust, and Corporate Culture

Thursday, March 1, 2012

The “Greed is good. Greed is right” mantra of film character Gordon Gekko in 1987’s Wall Street, has been upended by the actor who played him. The FBI is using Michael Douglas in a Public Service Announcement, launched in the last few days, to encourage viewers to report securities fraud and insider trading to the […]

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Benefit Corporations, A Path Away from Crises

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

How many crises would be averted – root causes eliminated or problems contained – if companies operated with a lens that included their impact on society as well as shareholder value? Lessons learned from the crises of BP,  Toyota, Massey Energy, Goldman Sachs,  and the 2008 global economic meltdown — among many others — have demonstrated […]

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Can Trees Teach Us About Ethical Behavior?

The answer is yes in ways we don’t necessarily think about which means we’re missing out. They also teach us about happiness and resiliency. Global Citizen reminds us that trees “provide all life on Earth with oxygen, combat climate change, generate food and shelter, clean the air and soil, foster vibrant ecosystems, etc…” “In fact, […]

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The Key to Thriving in Uncertain Times

This article was first published in Business Ethics Magazine on March 19, 2023. How can managers (or anyone) increase their ability to thrive amid 2023’s uncertainties and business challenges? It turns out the answer may be science-based: the result of more than eight decades of longitudinal research by the Harvard Study of Adult Development. The key […]

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Improve Work Cultures Through Friendships at Work

Years ago, when my then-company asked employees to take Gallup’s engagement survey, I was surprised by one of the questions: “I have a best friend at work.” I wondered why that mattered in a work culture. When I became a better leader because of a work friendship, I understood. However, some executives have been slow […]

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Gael provided DTS a vision for developing global strategies that maximized our engineering resources, highlighted our industry expertise and focused our strengths as a design engineering and manufacturing company….

Kirsten Larsen
Vice President, DTS
(Diversified Technical Systems)