articles 21 to 30 of 62
What Hewlett-Packard's Spying Scandal Tells Us about the Limitations of Corporate Boards
The crisis at Hewlett-Packard over allegations that its chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, authorized illegal surveillance of HP board members in order to find out who leaked sensitive company information to the press, is dragging on, perhaps longer than most people first expected. And it has raised a number of important issues about corporate governance, privacy protection and surveillance of employees. Tom Donaldson, professor of legal studies and business ethics at Wharton, joins Knowledge@Wharton to talk about HP's woes as they relate to business practices both in the U.S. and abroad. Donaldson's research areas include business ethics, leadership, risk management and corporate compliance. He has consulted with companies ranging from Goldman Sachs and Wachovia to Exelon and KPMG, and is currently working on articles about corporate risk management programs and cash management practices at non-profit organizations.
From: October 18, 2006
The Billion-Dollar Body Parts Industry: Medical Research alongside Greed and Corruption
Body parts are big business in the United States. Tissue, organs, tendons, bones, joints, limbs, hands, feet, torsos, and heads culled from the dead are the cornerstones of the lucrative and important business of advancing scientific knowledge and improving medical technique. Few people, however, think to ask where the material that sustains this enormous industry comes from. Journalist Annie Cheney is a timely exception. In Body Brokers: Inside America's Underground Trade in Human Remains (Broadway), Cheney chronicles her quest to find out how human remains are procured, processed, marketed, and used. It's a complicated, detailed and disturbing tale.
From: August 09, 2006
Podcast: Thomas Dunfee on the Enron Verdict
On May 25, a federal jury convicted former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay and former Enron president Jeffrey Skilling on conspiracy and fraud charges, with sentencing to be decided on September 11. As has been repeatedly noted in press coverage of this trial, Enron is the incredible story of a once powerful company done in by a group of top executives whose greed and fraud was breathtaking even by post dot-com standards. But it is by no means the only high-profile criminal trial in recent days, nor is it likely to be the last case brought by the government against CEOs who abuse their positions, their stockholders, their employees and the public trust. Thomas Dunfee, chairman of Wharton's legal studies and business ethics department, and an expert on social contracts and the social responsibility of business, talked to Knowledge@Wharton's Mukul Pandya and Robbie Shell about the Enron verdict.
From: May 31, 2006
Linking Strong Moral Principles to Business Success
In Moral Intelligence: Enhancing Business Performance & Leadership Success, Doug Lennick and Fred Kiel look at the connection between strong moral principles and business success. Using original research, the authors show how the best performing companies have leaders who are able to promote moral intelligence throughout their organizations, despite the fact that the business world all too often rewards bad behavior, at least in the short run. Included in their book is what the authors call their Moral Competency Inventory, a metric that can help leaders assess where they and their organization currently stand.
From: November 21, 2005
Winners Never Cheat: Lessons for Today's Business Leaders
In 1970, Jon M. Huntsman started a small entrepreneurial firm with his brother. By 2000, Huntsman Corp. had grown to become the largest privately held petrochemical and plastics business in the world. Today, Huntsman is a billionaire philanthropist who recently donated $225 million to establish the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. He has also contributed millions to help rebuild the country of Armenia, and supported organizations that feed the poor, house the homeless and protect victims of domestic violence. In his new book, Winners Never Cheat: Everyday Values We Learned as Children (But May Have Forgotten) (Wharton School Publishing), Huntsman offers a "moral compass" for business leaders and others to live by that is based on his own experiences.
From: June 01, 2005
Corporate Fraud on Trial: What Have We Learned?
The high-profile corporate scandals involving former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers and former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski are back in the news, refocusing attention on corporate fraud and inviting such questions as: What has changed since these allegations emerged a few years back? And will the criminal trials of these two men, under way this week, serve as a deterrent to other high-profile executives who might be tempted to forget the rules of fair play in corporate America?
From: March 30, 2005
Tiffany & Co: A Case Study in Diamonds and Social Responsibility
"Minerals should - and can - be extracted, processed and used in ways that are environmentally responsible." Those words, coming from Michael J. Kowalski, chairman and CEO of Tiffany & Co., set the stage for a discussion last week of the luxury jeweler and specialty retailer's recent efforts to bring about industry reform. Kowalski spoke to a Wharton marketing class that looked at such issues as how Tiffany should proceed in its campaign to promote responsible mining, what the campaign might do to its brand equity, and how the public commitment to reform could affect consumers and shareholders.
From: November 17, 2004
How Serious Was the Fraud at Computer Associates?
The $3.3 billion securities fraud case against Computer Associates has been called the last of the big Enron-era cases, involving alleged practices termed "the 35-day month," "the three-day window" and the "flash period." But the cases of the Houston energy-trading firm and the Islandia, N.Y., software giant are also different. Computer Associates executives are not accused of reporting nonexistent deals or hiding major flaws in the business. The contracts that were backdated by a few days were real. So was this really a crime or should it fall under the heading of no-harm, no-foul?
From: October 20, 2004
Death of a Drug: The Aftermath of Merck's Recall
Wharton management professor Michael Useem, director of the school's Center for Leadership and Change Management, notes that one of the key mantras in corporate crisis management is: "Hide nothing, tell all." Less than a week after Merck & Co.'s voluntary withdrawal of its blockbuster arthritis pain medication Vioxx, following an extended clinical trial that linked the drug to heart attacks and strokes, the jury is still out on whether the pharmaceutical giant followed this cardinal rule. Wharton professors debate Merck's response to the crisis and the impact of the recall.
From: October 20, 2004
Going Once, Going Twice ... Glamour, Greed and Fraud at Sotheby's and Christie's
Christopher Mason, author of The Art of the Steal: Inside the Sotheby's–Christie's Auction House Scandal, thinks billionaire Albert Taubman got a raw deal when he was sent to jail for price-fixing two years ago. But the book is more than a defense of the famed shopping center developer who became owner and chairman of Sotheby's in 1982. It is a detailed, gossipy account of the inner workings of the two firms known for auctioning the multi-million dollar paintings, diamonds, emeralds and other possessions of the rich and famous. While the art world this week buzzes about the August 22 theft of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" from Oslo's Munch Museum, The Art of the Steal talks about a different kind of theft, focusing on the background behind the auction houses' price-fixing conspiracy, who was involved and how it came to light.
From: September 08, 2004
