The article ?Companies Add Ethics Training; Will It Work?, written by Richard B. Schmitt for the Wall Street Journal is a look at the ethics training programs in place at many large companies. Schmitt uses specific companies as examples, showing the programs they use to help keep their business practices ethical. Also discussed are companies that had ethics standards in place yet still did not comply with them, and the results of these unethical business practices. As well as what businesses are doing in order to prevent unethical practices from taking place.
The new Sarbanes-Oxley act requires companies to adopt ethics programs, if a company has an ethics program in place and is convicted of a crime, they are eligible for reduced sentences. Phillip Morris?s ethics officer David Greenberg has been running their ethics program since 2001 and is currently drafting their conduct code, he has also hired outside contractors to train all Phillip Morris employees on ethics.
English: Bppceb company logo.
Michael Oxley , U.S. Senator from Maryland.
Before the signing ceremony of the Sarbanes-Oxley ...After the court battles they have fought in recent years along with bad public relations due to the health concerns of cigarettes Mr. Greenberg would like to see Phillip Morris regain the publics trust.
Also discussed in the article was the Enron, Arthur Anderson, and Tyco scandals. Enron which had an ethics program in place decided to wave its ethics code in order to create partnerships which ultimately brought the company down. Arthur Anderson the auditing firm for Enron was convicted of obstructing justice, by destroying documents having to do with their audits of Enron. Tyco?s chief compliance officer was indicted on charges of falsifying records in order to hide more than 14 million dollars.
Due to these scandals many companies are now hiring outside agencies to train employees on ethical behaviors. One such company The Legal Knowledge Co. provides over 150...