Enron’s Skilling is sentenced to 24 years.
New York Times. October 24, 2006
More CEO’s were forced out for ethical lapses in 2018 than poor financial performance.
Washington Post. May 15, 2019
FTC hits Facebook with $5 billion fine and new privacy checks: The largest penalty ever levied against a tech company.
The Verge. July 24, 2019
‘A Few Dirty Tricks’: Documents Show Audi’s Role in the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal.
New York Times. July 26, 2019
Headlines such as these have been appearing with increasing regularity over the years. The scariest part is this: the people behind these headlines who either bring their companies down and/or end up in prison, don’t come from notorious crime families of the underworld; they are ordinary people like you and us. Board of Directors or Senior Management teams don’t deliberately plan to destroy their companies; yet headlines like these are ever so common.
What about the company in which you are a director or C-suite leader? Is it on the path of sustainable value creation or self-destruction? And as one individual within an increasingly complex web of commerce, how do you even find out before it is too late? The answer lies in understanding and proactively addressing the root cause of the problem.
So, what is the single biggest cause of such behavior and headlines? Bad corporate culture. In today’s digital economy, much of prevention really comes down to culture. Intangibles such as culture, leadership and talent form anywhere from 65-85%* of a company’s valuation at any given time. Yet, as per our latest research, Board of Directors spend only 5% of their time (if at all) on shaping and monitoring culture. Instead of shaping culture, they rely almost solely on rules and regulations to govern and manage risk, which inadvertently ends up stifling creativity and growth.
This program or talk (depending on desired time investment) addresses how Boards and Senior Management teams can pro-actively shape and nurture cultures that position companies towards sustainable growth while preventing unintentional value destruction. As a result of attending, participants will be better able to:
Identify what compels decent people to turn rogue
Recognize key elements of corporate culture
Build/shape a culture for sustainable and ethical growth
Measure the effectiveness of corporate culture and identify red flags early