Supply Chain

Bribery Ranks at the Top of the Corporate Corruption List

March 13, 2008

Integrity Interactive, a firm that helps global corporations manage and reduce the risk of compliance failures, picked an interesting time to release its study of the biggest ethics violations by companies the same day that Eliot Spitzer, a rabid prosecutor (some would say persecuter) of corporate crimes, resigned as Governor of New York due to his own, uhhhhhh, ethical transgressions.

In any event, Integrity Interactive study analyzed the compliance-training records of nearly 3 million employees, from more than 400 companies, and compiled what it calls the Top 12 Corporate Ethics and Compliance Concerns:

1. Anti-Bribery Requirements
2. Records Management
3. Antitrust Contact with Competitors
4. Mutual Respect
5. Privacy
6. Financial Integrity
7. Conflicts of Interest and Gifts
8. Careful Communication
9. Proper Use of Computers
10. Information Security
11. Export Controls
12. Product Safety and Liability

Explaining the results, Richard Cellini, a vice president at Integrity Interactive, says, "From tainted meat recalls, bribing foreign officials or lead paint in toys, to the theft of corporate intellectual property or data breaches at mainstream retailers, there is a never-ending list of issues which today's executive must worry about."

The survey results points out that anti-bribery requirements refers to helping companies "avoid the difficulties of organizations under investigation for charges related to official corruption," which presumably would include graft, illegal campaign contributions and miscellaneous payoffs to venal politicians. If not, then those concerns should definitely be added to next year's survey.

About the Author

Dave Blanchard Blog | Senior Editor

Focus: Supply Chain

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Contributing Editor Dave Blanchard provides the IndustryWeek audience his expertise in lean supply chain, reporting on topics from logistics, procurement and inventory management to warehousing and distribution. He also specializes in business finance news and analysis, writing on such topics as corporate finance and tax, cost management, governance, risk and compliance, and budgeting and reporting.

Dave is also the chief editor of Penton Media’s Business Finance and editorial director of Material Handling & Logistics.

With over 25 years of experience, Dave literally wrote the book on supply chain management, Supply Chain Management Best Practices (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), and is a frequent speaker at industry events. Dave is an award-winning journalist and has been twice named one of the nation’s top columnists by the American Society of Business Publications Editors.

Dave received his B.A. in English from Northern Illinois University, and was a high school teacher prior to his joining the publishing industry. He is married and has two daughters.