The Role of the Corporate Board (Part 1)

Richard Levy, chairman of Varian Medical Systems, talks with Jim Balassone, executive-in-residence at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University about what makes an effective board. The board's job is to look after the interests of shareholders, oversee financial performance and compliance, weigh in on strategy, understand risks, and evaluate, compensate and hire and fire the CEO and other senior managers. Effective boards have to understand the traditional compliance and fiduciary responsibilities. But beyond that, the board has to add value, to bring a different perspective that managers don't have. For this reason, boards should be diverse. A corporation needs both a heart and a soul. In a person, the heart is responsible for day to day survival, but that's not enough. People need to have meaning or soul. Companies are similar. They need to make money but they also need to serve the common good. The board needs to make sure someone is looking after the company's soul.

Material Type: Lecture

The Role of the Corporate Board (Part 2)

Richard Levy, chairman of Varian Medical Systems, talks with Jim Balassone, executive-in-residence at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University about what makes an effective board meeting. Levy advocates open ended discussion about problems rather than long, canned presentations from management. He advocates regularly reminding the board of the big picture and how individual actions fit with that picture.

Material Type: Lecture

The Role of the Corporate Board (Part 3)

Richard Levy, chairman of Varian Medical Systems, talks with Jim Balassone, executive-in-residence at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University about the relationship between corporate boards and company management. Levy identifies potential problem areas including micromanagement by the board and creating an adversarial relationship. While he says there is no formula for an effective board, he recommends: Setting clear objectives to which management has agreed, and regularly reviewing progress in meeting those objectives. Paying attention to the chemistry of the board and dealing with divisiveness.

Material Type: Lecture

The Role of the Delaware Courts in Corporate Law

Myron Steele, chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court, explains the history of the special role of the Delaware courts in creating corporate law. He is interviewed by Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

Material Type: Lecture

Role of the General Counsel: Managing Law and Ethics

Christine Di Guglielmo, co-author of "Indispensable Counsel" and Tom Lavelle, general counsel of Rambus, talk with Kirk Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, about the dual role of a company's chief legal officer in promoting both law and ethics.

Material Type: Lecture

Seven Signs: An Update by Marianne Jennings

Marianne Jennings, author of "Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse," talks with Kirk Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, about recent corporate and organizational scandals, and how companies can use her "Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse" to avoid serious ethical problems.

Material Type: Lecture

Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse - Marianne Jennings

Marianne Jennings, author of "Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse," talks with Kirk Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, about the issues that consistently arise in companies that have gotten into trouble: • Pressure to maintain numbers • Fear and silence • Young'uns and a bigger-than-life CEO • Weak board of directors • Conflicts of interest overlooked or unaddressed • Innovation like no other company • Goodness in some areas atones for evil in others

Material Type: Lecture

Start-up Ethics

Nearbuy Systems CEO and CFO talk about the particular ethical challenges in starting a company. They are interviewed by Meghan Skarzynski, a Hackworth Fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

Material Type: Lecture

Strategies for Managing Ethics - Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, offers a comparative analysis of strategies companies use to manage ethics: Relying on employee values. This approach assumes employees are ethical and that if you expect ethical behavior you'll get it. Compliance, an approach emphasizing obedience to relevant laws and regulations Ethics exhortation involves training employees to identify ethical dilemmas and ask good questions about possible ethical standards. Managing values. Corporate values and standards are defined. The company educates, models, and rewards these values and standards.

Material Type: Lecture

Ten Years of Corporate Governance: How Well Have We Done?

Lynn Turner, former chief accountant of the SEC, talks with Ethics Center Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson about improvements in corporate ethics flowing from Sarbannes-Oxley and elements of the financial situation that still need work.

Material Type: Lecture

A View from the Audit Committee: Risk Oversight and Assessment

Interview with: Robert Finocchio, Chairman of the Board, Santa Clara University Hosted by: James Balassone, Executive-in-Residence, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Material Type: Lecture

What Boards Should Know About Willful Blindness- Hank Shea

The notion of willful blindness reflects an increasing desire on the part of prosecutors, regulators, and others to hold corporate directors accountable not just for outright wrongdoing but also for neglecting to do something about problems for which they should have been responsible. Hank Shea, distinguished fellow at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and visiting professor at University of Arizona School of Law, talks with Markkula Ethics Center Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson about spreading the locus of accountability beyond the individual wrongdoer to those who were responsible for supervising that person.

Material Type: Lecture

What is Ethics? What is Business Ethics? - Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Introduction to ethics by Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University What is ethics? Ethics is the study of standards of behavior that promote human welfare and "the good." Business Ethics is the study of standards of business behavior that promote human welfare and the good. What is ethics about? Ethics is about how we behave, about the standards we hold ourselves to. Ethics is about how we treat each other, even those we don't know

Material Type: Lecture

What is Organizational Culture and Can You Change It?

Al Pierce, University Professor of Ethics and National Security at the National Defense University, talks with Markkula Ethics Center Executive Director Kirk Hanson about creating an ethical corporate culture. Pierce talks about the tangible aspects of creating an ethical culture such as creating a code of conduct, giving out wallet cards with the code to employees, etc. The intangibles, he says, are more difficult to manage and get at how employees feel about the work. Without the intangibles, a company has preaching without practice. He discusses differences and similarities between business and military cultures. Finally, Pierce addresses how to change a dysfunctional culture.

Material Type: Lecture

Where Boards Go Wrong- Hank Shea

Hank Shea, distinguished fellow at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and visiting professor at University of Arizona School of Law, talks with Markkula Ethics Center Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson about three common ways that members of corporate boards get in trouble. Three ways to get in trouble: 1) Most commonly, people make mistakes through acts of negligence or bad decision making, which creates civil liabilities. 2) An evolving area of the law deals with willful blindness, those cases in which a director is aware of problem and has the responsibility to do something about it but doesn't. Willful blindness can result in civil or criminal penalties. 3) Outright wrongdoing by directors, such as fraud, can result in criminal penalties.

Material Type: Lecture

Whistle Blowing: The Good, the Bad, and...

Michael Winston describes his experience as a whistle blower at Countrywide in an interview with Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Executive Director Kirk O. Hanson

Material Type: Lecture

White Collar Felons - Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Why do good people do bad things? Mark Faris, a convicted white collar felon, talks about the resentment and greed that led to his wrongdoing and the consequences his family suffered when he was incarcerated. With Hank Shea, professor at St. Thomas University School of Law and former Department of Justice attorney, Faris has been touring the country talking to groups, particularly of business students, to alert them to how a person just like them got into trouble. They are interviewed by Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

Material Type: Lecture

Workplace Faith - Synergy and Conflict

Does faith have a role in business? An interview with the director of the Faith and Work Initiative at Princeton.

Material Type: Lecture

Short Business Ethics Cases for Use in Class

Ten very short business ethics cases designed to be assigned in advance, or simply to be handed out in class and discussed after giving the students 2-3 minutes to read each.

Material Type: Case Study

Author: Damian Saccocio

Inspirational Guide for the Implementation of PRME: Placing sustainability at the heart of management

This very detailed guide to implementing the commitments embodied in the Principles for Responsible Management Education can provide help to any professor of business ethics, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, or general management. A short description of PRME and its principles is also available on the Jesuit Digital Network

Material Type: Case Study

Author: Damian Saccocio