It's Earth Day - How's Your CSR? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economic, social and environmentally sustainable manner. Because today is Earth Day 2015, and this is the only planet we've got (that makes chocolate), there's no better day than today to ensure your corporate social responsibility policy is built into your code of conduct.
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose" - Dr. Seuss Establishing compliant and ethical behaviour among the masses, and regulating against non-compliance is a big step in the fight against fraud and abuse. All organizations have their own unique plan in operating their businesses and achieving success, but there's a similar foundation that sets the base of any effective program, in any industry.
How Would You Start Writing Your Code of Conduct? Writing is hard. Not everyone is born with J. K. Rowling mastery (if you're into wizardry). So what happens when you've been handed the task of writing your organization's Code of Conduct? Gasp! Where on earth do you start?
Why do some good employees commit fraud? We've seen in the ACFE's Report to the Nations findings that the higher the perpetrator's level of authority, the greater the fraud losses tend to be. It goes to say that many white collar crimes aren't committed by 'hardened criminals', but instead these crimes are being committed by people who are under severe pressure from management or shareholders.
Considering Revamping Your Code of Conduct? Or Maybe You're Creating One From Scratch? Here's a Few Things You Should Take Into Account. When an organization is about to implement an anti-corruption compliance program, a Code of Conduct is often times that platform upon which that effective program is built. Of course, you don't want that platform to break and have everything come crashing down. So it's important to ensure that a Code of Conduct is clear, concise, and accessible to all employees, and those doing business on the organization's behalf.
Governments Need to Ensure Proactive Ethical Reporting Measures Are in Place Just Like Any Organization As the world has heard by now, Canada was rocked by two unique, and tragic, events. Last week a soldier was killed in a parking lot hit-and-run in what authorities say was linked to terrorist activity. And of course, just a day ago, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was shot while standing guard at Ottawa's National War Memorial, just a few dozen metres from Parliament Hill, in another attack linked terrorist activity, prompting the Prime Minister to cancel Malala Yousafzai's (Nobel winner) citizenship ceremony.