I recently was at an United Nations Global Compact meeting
with a focus on supply chain issues.   Reflecting the growing importance of supply chain gobally the event was standing room only.  One of the participants, involved in procurement for a high value global brand, sought to ascertain the credentials of the factories they were using in China   Each of the 20 factories had been fully audited.  The system showed that. 

Will you be able to evidence integrity in your exams?   Fact or Fiction is a new report compiling discussions from four markets in Europe, Asia and Africa outlining the skills needed to be a successful business partner.   As finance partners more frequently with different functional units it is important to re-affirm independence and objectivity. 

With P3 resit papers around the corner how comfortable are you with your ethical performance.  Are you going for gold or are you likely to be in the dark side of the grey zone, feeling shame alongside those from recent corporate scandals for not acting in the public interest.

There are lots of resources to help you do the right thing in your exams, and the right thing professionally.

This week’s news headlines are full of Olympics glory.  It is a relief to have front pages celebrating the achievements of the world’s finest athletes, instead of unpicking the latest scandal arising from corporate misdemeanours. 

In the week we launched the CGMA ethics theme I attended a lecture at St Paul’s Cathedral  given by the eminent professor of government at Harvard University, Michael Sandel on the moral limits of the market.  The “congregation” was at full capacity at nearly 1800.

Follow the trials and tribulations of Tony Scales and his team at Miralux in this new weekly e-drama. Bookmark this blog and catch up with episodes every two weeks.

In this episode, James Turner’s projects come in on budget and win environmental prizes. Surely that should keep the low-carbon campaigners smiling? However, it doesn’t help when James’ opponent happens to be his own sustainability manager, Tallulah. And he’s never sure whose side Cameron, the CFO is on either…

Follow the trials and tribulations of Tony Scales and his team at Miralux in this new weekly e-drama. Bookmark this blog and catch up with episodes each Monday.

Does Tony Scales, the new CEO of the Miralux Corporation, believe his own rhetoric s about ethics, the environment and the company’s hard line against corruption and fraud? Is he sincere or just the master of corporate rhetoric?

In our upcoming CGMA report on ethics, our members  and students globally reported that human rights had risen in importance as an issue of priority for business.  Reflecting this, March saw the launch of the Children’s Rights and Business Principles. 

Is Tony Scales winning the war on fraud and corruption at Miralux? Is he deeply committed to a greener planet? Or is Tony, like many chief executives, caught in the trap of his own rhetoric? Find out in ‘Words in Action’, a new edrama series.

‘Words in Action’ – where rhetoric and reality collide! Learn about fighting fraud and corruption, and what real commitment to sustainability is.

In Rebecca’s recent blog she highlighted how some candidates seem ethically challenged.

CIMA invites members and students to comment on IESBA’s proposed changes to the code of ethics for professional accountants to address conflicts of interest.

The final UN Global Compact meeting of the year focused upon Rio +20 UN conference on sustainable development, scheduled for June 2012.  The day the UK UNGC participants gathered in London, the announcement of the outcome of the Durban climate change meetings was still fresh.  After protracted negotiation a level of agreement was reached.  

Earlier this week  I corresponded with a veteran of the City (i.e. someone who has survived the downturn) who described himself and his colleagues as gladiators - entering battle every day, enduring existence in a high risk environment – and feeling more bloodied than pre-2008. 

If the recent civil disturbances in England showed the worst side of human nature, the aftemath shows a more positive side.  Both the army of volunteers cleaning up affected areas (Riot Wombles, RiotCleanup)

If a “wrong doing” in your organisation came to light, would it be a road-bump, in which management would quickly figure where things had gone wrong and put corrective action into place straight away, drawing lessons for the better running of the organisation in the future? 

The irony is not lost on many that the current ethical scandal that is fuelling global media, the story making front pages around the world and clogging all that is cyber, is indeed about the media itself.  The story is the story. And the story is of ethics.

The News of the World (NoW) the most profitable UK Sunday newspaper with the highest circulation and  known as the most read paper in the English language was dramatically closed yesterday by News International.

At 00.01 this morning, 1 July 2011, illicitly received or gifted golden coaches may well turn into pumpkins, or certainly costly liabilities, as the UK Bribery Act came into force, highlighting the continued global fight against corruption.

Over a rainy London weekend I caught up on some reading, including dipping in and out of Malcolm Gladwell’s recent book What the Dog Saw, a collection of his New Yorker essays from the last several years.  It seems even relaxing at home I am never far from business ethics, as one of the pieces, The Formula from 2007, focuses on the Enron collapse in a section looking at “flawed ways of thinking”. It may be old news, but the story remains instructive.

The British Museum is an amazing place - well worth a visit if you are ever in London.  Describing itself as a museum of the world for the world, it has a bold global agenda to help us all understand the past and shape our future.  So it made a perfect location for the CIMA bi-annual Howitt lecture 'Global governance - time for a behavioural revolution' which was delivered this year by CIMA's Professor of Accounting and Financial Management at the London School of Economics, Wim Van der Stede.