Business ethics are an almost daily topic in the news, in business schools, in the workplace and in our homes. I pay close attention to business ethics and what is written about them in my daily life as a strategic thinking, planning and business coach. I am still astounded at the remarks of major corporations a few years ago when they said they “waived or suspended” the ethics code or requirements. I am still at a total loss at how anyone can “suspend or waive” ethics. While I may not be able to explain the suspension or waiving of ethics, I do hope to provide some solid advice on what business and other organizations need to do today to present, preserve and promote ethics in their organizations. Here are ten action items I would recommend:

1. Present ethical behavior as a requirement, not an option. Major business corporations are standing trial, literally and figuratively, for very strong violations of ethics. Acting unethically means that eventually you will be caught. Today is a very opportune time to take advantage of the current business environment to present ethical behavior as a requirement, not an option.

2. Present ethics in all daily interactions with internal and external stakeholders. Unfortunately too many people perceive that ethics only need to be presented to "bad" companies that need to reform. Well, my experience indicates just the opposite. Companies with strong track records of ethical, responsible behavior have the most to gain from a well thought out system to assure the cultivating of ethical corporate culture. Every action by every employee in an ethical culture will reinforce and further the company’s positive reputation.

3. Present the desired ethical behavior in an ethics code of conduct. Ethical conduct of each employee must become a habit of every minute of every hour of every day. No exceptions, no waivers and no suspensions of the ethics code!

4. Preserve ethics to let everyone know ethics is here to stay. While there may be “newcomers” to embracing ethics in business, ethical and responsible conduct have always been the standard at many companies. Even when ethical conduct may fail to improve the bottom line as strongly as desired, the alternative of operating unethically is not a viable option. This commitment will preserve and extend the reputation that has been earned through consistent ethical conduct over time.

5. Preserve an ethical culture that serves as a foundation. If you are not put to a test, then it is easy to say you act ethically. However, what do you do when you are faced with the tough ethical decisions? A very positive affirmation that your ethics program is a success is when there is an embedded culture where people will make the right choices, even when those choices are difficult, inconvenient, or adverse to the short-term interests of the individual or company.

6. Preserve an ethical culture that perpetuates ethics. Consistent compliance with a strong code of ethical conduct will be a major stimulus to having ethics become self-perpetuating. A reversal of behaviors will also occur in that those who speak out against unethical behavior will be the majority, instead of the majority being those who simply ignore and do nothing when they observe unethical behavior. A true ethical culture will evolve into a self-regulating basis on a peer-to-peer level.

7. Promote ethics and their benefits. Too many companies will always look at the cost of something, without looking at the benefits. The same goes for ethics. Too many companies sadly will only look at embracing and enforcing a code of ethics in terms of what it costs, rather than the benefits it will gain. Ethical behavior and a culture of ethics will result in many benefits, including: improved employee relations, enhanced worker productivity, positive morale and an enhanced company image.

8. Promote ethics from the top. If you read Greek history and mythology, you may have come across a well-known Greek saying that a fish rots from the head. In today’s business world, the saying is applicable. The message, spoken and unspoken, from the top is critical to reinforcing positive, responsible, ethical conduct. If top executives and top executive management say one thing but do another, the message of ethical behavior gets very confusing. Top executives need to use their positions in the company to insist on and promote ethical conduct. The top executives must “walk the talk” and hold themselves to the same high standards of ethics they expect of others and demonstrate those high standards in everything they say and do.

9. Promote a company culture where ethics is for everybody. Ethics is not just reserved for your management. It is for everyone, every day. Everyone in your company needs to be trained and persuaded to act ethically. No exceptions!

10. Present, preserve and promote ethics by rewarding ethical behavior. Develop a compensation system that provides a component of benefits and rewards for ethical behavior integrated with performance-based incentives. People who consistently demonstrate they are driven by ethical behavior need to be recognized and celebrated. There must be a clear connection between ethical conduct and potential career advancement. The consequences of a person’s unethical behavior need to be discussed immediately and be accompanied by an alteration to their career advancement within the company.

A man can fall many times, but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.” (John Burroughs)

“Fire her, she set me up!” John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was to himself, “Fire me, I set me up!” He was holding the wrong person accountable for his unethical choices.

Indeed John was set up. However, it was John’s choice to enter into the trap. She did not force him; she had no position of power to coerce him. All she did was to flirt with him and he, the manager, stepped over the boundary and entered into an unethical relationship. It wasn’t illegal and I will not judge its morality, but it was unethical because he was the manager and she was the employee.

John was not terminated for the offense. He was offered an equal position at another location with an appropriate reprimand. He did not want another location. He wanted this one. He was very angry and very bitter. He could not understand why she did not get any consequences. The company was wrong and had hurt him. After all, she blinked her eyes and seduced him! John quit the company, exclaiming “I hate her for what she has done!” he exclaimed. “I hate her and I hope she gets hers!” With that, he slammed the door and was gone.

John chose to enter into an unethical relationship and received a negative consequence. Then he created the outcome of lost opportunities by refusing the consequence and using the opportunity as a learning experience to move him forward to making ethical choices. John’s decision to leave was neither ethical nor unethical. It was merely an outcome

Every one of us, sometime in life, will be faced with temptation. It is a given. For each of us the temptation is different depending on the area of our life that needs the greatest growth. For John, it was this employee, for me it was embezzling money to maintain the illusion of success, for someone else it is drugs, alcohol, or prostitution. Take your pick, there are many lures.

You can’t wish the temptations away. An alternative to wishing is for you to know yourself and know your temptation well enough to recognize it when it raises its ugly head. Temptations present us the opportunity to strengthen our character, and create a foundation to stand on when making sometimes tough ethical decisions. Each time temptation presents itself and we choose the high road, we affirm our ethical foundation.

There are times we will choose the temptation. That is human and reminds us of the need to stay on track. The failure comes in not recognizing that we chose to enter into the temptation and hence, we blame someone else.

One of the interesting things about blame is that it gives the object of our blame power over us. In fact, we not only empower the object, but also we de-empower ourselves. How willingly we choose that. Mary Auda, founder of Change Through Transformation, shared with me an example of that principle. “Victims of sexual abuse often continue the victimization by continuing to blame their perpetrators for today’s choices.” She says that, “the perpetrators chose to cross the boundaries, violate the child and take his/her power away from them and are responsible for their unethical and immoral choices.” The damage of the abuse is significant. However, transforming from victim to survivor requires accepting responsibility for their own choices today thus taking their power away from the perpetrator. By no means is this an easy task but by holding the perpetrators accountable for the past and accepting responsibility for the present, they are able to move on in their journey.

Blame has no purpose but to cripple us. John was crippled because he continued in blaming Jane, and today still carries the grudge. Since this has happened, he learned that the employee setting him up had an ulterior motive. Jane set a trap for John so he could be removed from the location as she had chosen to defraud the company and was engaged in her own unethical and illegal behavior. She studied her prey and knew his weakness and created the trap to serve her own purposes. Because he didn’t know his temptation or himself well, he willingly walked into the trap.

While he still held anger at the events of the past, he gained some satisfaction. The consequences of her clear unethical choices resulted in more catastrophic consequences than he had experienced. Her choices resulted in jail time away from her family. He left the company and created his own competing company and is doing well today.

Choices always lead to positive results or negative consequences. We are personally responsible and accountable for our choices regardless of what motivates them in the beginning. Jane said the company was at fault for her theft because they had no controls (check and balances) on the money coming through the door. John said Jane was at fault for his unethical behavior towards her because she flirted with him. When each of them holds themselves responsible and accountable for their unethical choices, then, and only then will they be able to move forward and create different opportunities and choices in their life.

As an international keynote speaker, speaking about choices, consequences, and personal accountability, my audience is primarily business groups. In order to get the message about ethical behavior out to youth, the Choices Foundation (a non-profit organization) was created.

Twenty-one years ago I made a choice. At the time it seemed so simple and insignificant. I sat there with three questions as I pondered the “opportunity”: Who would know? Who would care? And the cost – what cost? Little did I know at the time that every, literally every, choice has a consequence. That is a universal law – a spiritual law – that governs us all…just like gravity.

Anyone that knew me, at the time, would have said that I was basically an honest and ethical person. I was respected in my community, a community and civic leader, active in my church, serving as music director. No one, not even I, would have suspected that ten years later that I would be an inmate in Federal Prison.

Have you ever found yourself over-extended? I did and I admit that I liked that lifestyle. The only problem was my bank account couldn’t support that lifestyle. This became the groundwork for the seed to be planted.

Throughout our lives, in fact many times during our lives, we are faced with temptations. It is not the temptation that's the issue; it's how we respond to it that defines us. In my case, I was more concerned with maintaining the illusion of success than I was with my own honesty and integrity.

After one Christmas, some twenty years ago, I received a call from my local banker, who said, “Chuck, we noticed that you're behind in your house payment. Is their problem?” Now, being a successful tax partner in a CPA firm, I certainly did not want to appear to be incapable of managing my own money. So, of course, I suggested that his records were wrong and asked him to check again. The reality was, however, I was behind.

I had a problem. I needed money! Then, it hit me. I was the trustee of a trust. Why not borrow money from the trust? So, I put on my trustee hat. I looked at myself and said, “Don't you need to borrow some money?” And as I took my trustee hat off, I replied, “Why, yes I do.” And with that little interchange, I stole money from the trust and changed my life forever. I planted the seed into the groundwork I laid.

Have you ever had one of those moments in your life, when you wish you could just rewind the tape? You wish you could just do it over? That was one of those moments. The fact is, when you make a choice, you have to accept the consequences. By my choice, I set the consequence in motion.

Therefore, I called the banker back, and apologizing profusely said, “My wife pays the bills. Considering this was our first Christmas with our new son, she must've just overlooked the house payment. I'll make sure you receive it today.” Of course, I took the stolen money and made the payment.

Three months later, I paid back the trust. I convinced myself that it was just a loan. Unfortunately, I found out it was easy. Nobody was the wiser. It was easy to take money, in order to maintain the illusion. Thus, over the next several years, I took more.

Ten years later I found myself an inmate in Federal prison. I was reaping the consequences of the choices I made. From that first experience, I set into motion an outcome that would define my life forever. The following is an excerpt from my prison memoirs. Perhaps it can give you a glimpse of the reality of consequences one might face.

October 7, 1995. It's Saturday morning and I just had my first prison visit. As I walked out of the visitation room, several of the inmates were standing outside near the make shift barbershop. Buck was standing there, so I stopped. From that vantage point, inmates can see their loved ones leave.

I can't begin to describe how moving this experience was. Loved ones waving to the inmates, children hollering – “I love you Daddy,” inmates waving in return. Buck said this was the saddest time for him. He saw his family leave, as I saw you leave. I choked back tears then, but feel the depth of emotion now.

As I write this now, I would prefer to be away from here. How precious is freedom, and how much we take it for granted. There is wonderful humanity here -- truly fine people, who made the wrong choice. Still, by the grace of God, I am protected. I have clothing, shelter and food.

We all seem to keep up this tough façade -- I guess it's a form of protection. But deep down, there's a level of sadness. Many have it worse than me. For now, I need to get outside. I know some changes are taking place. And yet I feel I have a long way to go.

Now, 2007 some twenty years after the crime and eleven years since I’ve seen the inside of a prison, I know the law of reaping and sowing in greater detail. I sowed the wrong seeds and reaped, what most would describe as, a negative harvest. Yet, over time I have seen the law applied in more positive ways than I can imagine.

Today I am planting good seeds. Through accepting responsibility and living an ethical life, I have been given a second chance. I am blessed to serve as a Sales Executive in a Publicly Traded Company; teaching many people how to improve their lives through success in sales. Likewise, through my efforts in speaking, various groups allow me to share my direct experiences of reaping and sowing – therefore, providing a framework for their personal growth.

We all will eventually reap what we sow – that is a spiritual truth. The question is, will we enjoy the consequences of our choices? And believe me, there are always consequences to every choice we make.

Chuck openly shares the experiences of his life through his keynote address: Success Beyond Illusion or Ethics: Negative Consequences – Positive Results.

The business world has been shocked and rocked by major corporate scandals involving unethical behavior. The real “poster” companies of ethics violations include: Enron, Tyco International, WorldCom, Global Crossing and Adelphia. The risks and costs associated with these examples of unethical behavior are astronomical in dollars, but also extremely high in other non-quantified costs and risks. Your strategic thinking business coach developed a list of these other significant risks and costs from unethical behavior and that list includes:

#1: increased risk of doing business and the possibility of bankruptcy and severely damaged company brand and image.

#2: decreased productivity.

#3: increased misconduct and conflict internally.

#4: decreased performance levels of employees.

#5: increased employee turnover and more challenging employee recruitment.

#6: decreased productivity.

#7: increased absenteeism and “presenteeism.”.

#8: decreased probability of reporting misconduct and unethical behavior of others.

#9: increased dysfunctional behaviors such as not paying attention to details, scapegoating, withholding information, under delivering & over promising, not giving credit to others, lowering goals, misrepresenting results, etc.

How We Got Here!

Not a day goes by that you don’t see one industry authority or another remarking on the ugly state the residential real estate mortgage lending industry is in. We see the reason(s) for this are the exotic loans, fraud, reckless underwriting, thinly capitalized lenders, wholesale funding sources consolidating or simply closing their doors, Congressional hearings being scheduled … it truly is a mess … and like the old saying goes, industry wide everybody has an opinion on WHY? Here’s mine:

Today’s LO’s & AE’s are commission salesmen at heart and that is the core problem. Back when I was a young broker, we were institutionally trained to help the public and do the right thing for them. Today, an originator is focused on making the almighty commission check. It puts their interests above that of the client. Most people don’t understand that commissions are actually a new payroll structure for LO’s and AE’s that first came into being nine years ago. Before that, these mortgage professionals were paid salary with small bonuses for achieving their production goals. Some industries focus on “closing sales,” but our business should focus on fixing the lives of customers; as a by product, we earn a living wage and maybe sometimes a handsome one - the pay is a by-product of the activity. After the subprime industry nearly collapsed in the Fall of 1998 and there were thousand of people unemployed, those weaken but still standing organizations (frightened to offer bigger salaries yet eager to pick up some good people, began this “commission” concept); once property values soared and rates plunged for several years following, those commissioned people had the surprising opportunity to earn big dollars – it was 'easy money' for many. This new business paradigm (commissions) went full force and has been at the core of the subsequently developing problems.

Once the hearings and etc. have all been completed, the Loan Officer & Broker force decreases significantly, and the lending consolidation and failures slow and all the blame’s been handed out – it will be time for industry leaders to determine how to fix this mess so it doesn’t happen again.

The remedy is to get back to what worked for decades before - remove the big gagging commissions from the ranks of the LO’s and AE’s. Paying the origination side of this business big commissions cannot help but attract the wrong type of individuals, and corrupt even the most honorable people. The commission approach tends to suggest that the origination force is, or should be, a SALES function, which is absolutely incorrect. The job description of AE’s and LO’s are actually a customer service type of position, not a sales/closer type of job for as far back as I can remember prior to the beginning of this last industry cycle. With this adjustment, the money saved by the owner operators will help to suitably capitalize their diluted ranks again.

The payroll structure I talk about here, is what my first employer did for the 45+ years before I started with them, and the way I did it in my own company for the next four decades. Since I was there as an employer for a long while, and have seen the effect, both before and after, this change to commissions, I have a perspective different than many.

As more owner operators revert back to this business model, there are any number of significant positive improvements which flow from it. The biggest one, is a more confident healthier attitude of the employer. And, since they already know getting a mortgage is the largest single financial transaction most Americans make in their entire life, they come to realize leaving such an important life changing event up to a “salesmen” LO who, just last week was selling used cars, etc. has been a momentous mistake. Actually showing up to a commercial office to work, will produce a better appearance/image both for their employees and the industry as a whole; no more mortgage ‘professionals’ working at home in their Jammies with the Bunny feet. One thing of course, is that since a 'salary' will be offered to new hires, employers are more sensible about who they hire/invest in, and the degree and intensity to which they'll train them; consequently personnel quality becomes far superior and more productive then previously. This also results in no more ‘work at home loan officers’ because now they’re W-2ed employees who will work in the employer’s premise where their activities can be properly supervised and monitored. Formerly, being at home, they surely violated The GLB Act daily in many ways as well.

Values Based Pitfalls

To make your strategic alliance, collaboration or partnering relationship successful, watch out for the pitfalls and roadblocks.

In looking at the issue of values, frequently partners of an alliance will have core values that are conflicting. This is especially a problem with issues like trust and integrity. Corporate culture clashes; employee turf protection, and resistance of certain employees to new ideas can wreak havoc on your efforts to maintain a prosperous alliance.

When one of the alliances partners does not completely embrace the principles of Partnering, big challenges occur. This can include top-level executives or even supervisory and functional employees in departments, divisions or regions within a Partnering organization. As an example, DuPont believes that if a contractor is looking just to maximize his profits, on just one job, then Partnering with that contractor is not for DuPont because they know there will be problems in the relationship.

Because the dynamics of alliance relationships are constantly changing, inflexibility of partners can kill an alliance quickly. Each member must be willing to give a little, especially in times of change for a Partnering agreement to work. Just as devastating is a partner making a Partnering commitment, and having a hidden agenda that would be destructive to the alliance. Not quite as bad is a partner deciding they don't want to follow through, or one that does not have the capability to fulfill their commitment.

Supplier relationships can become challenging, especially when business is great. Suppliers can make the relationship mistake of conveniently forgetting about the loyalty of smaller long-term customers, and snubbing them for the larger orders. This is short-term profitability and long-term disaster. When those large order companies go out of business or are consolidated, the supplier could be left without any customers.

Complacency of either partner is an insidious relationship-killer. Continuously ask your alliance partner questions in a way that encourages them to relate performance problems and shortcomings. Ask, "What haven’t we done lately?" And ask, “What is it you really need from us?”

Dependency on your alliance partner can put your business at a similar risk. If you become the weak link in the alliance and your alliance relationship no longer delivers value to your partner, more than not, they will discontinue the alliance.

If you or your alliance partner is not relationship oriented little problems can easily escalate. Then anger comes and the blaming others for your current situation. The not invented here, mentality often exhibited by senior management is a result of low relationship tolerance. Also the lack of commitment to the alliance or innovations developed by alliance partners can easily slay your relationship.

There is the situation where you might lose control of a technology or best practice to an alliance partner who later becomes a competitor. Staples and Office Depot were going to merge but it did not work out. A problem for Office Depot was that Staples learned of an Office Depot best practice during the merger talks. Office Depot was delivering COD to small businesses in the northeast and getting most of the business. After the failed merger, Stapled duplicated Office Depot’s practice and took away Office Depot’s competitive advantage in the area.

Whizzing in perpetual motion the minds of those in the Online Think Tank never stop considering all sides to all issues in their quest to come up with the best decisions and solutions for mankind. Recently a topic came up which pits capitalism against socialism in the ultimate challenge as one gentleman who worked 30 years in an R and D research project is now giving it all away.

Thus he stated that giving it away is best for humanity. Well yes in a way it is pretty nice of him. I agree that if you have an idea or concept that giving it is better for humanity and yet there is nothing wrong with making a profit either. I also believe that Bill Gates did give away much of what he produced if you will recall. In fact he did so well the government told him to stop it. No free browsers with the operating systems said FTC.

William Gates III continues to give away gifts to the world; he and Warren Buffet. Indeed, I give away lots of information, concepts and stuff as well. Before retirement we gave away our services often as well and carefully to the right people too. Much of the information I put out to the World now is simply to do the right thing and I have seen the World make good use of it.

I completely live up to my words and we always give to the community and we always have. Yet many say that most businesses are full of rhetoric and only PR their good deeds. That is unfortunate and sometimes it makes me wish I hadn't when I read the horrific things people say about entrepreneurs. If you condemn entrepreneurs then do not take this personally, as everyone does this, because they do not understand.

It is unfortunate that socialist are so quick to condemn me, as an entrepreneur. But to me it proves that they do not have all the facts, are not observant in their observations and thus their rhetoric comment are best saved for their mirrors. I hope this article is hard-hitting and makes you think in your quest to be the best in 2007.

The Warren Buffet essays are as good for Corporate America as Milton Friedman’s papers were for Free Markets or Henry Kissinger's essays for Foreign Affairs. The stuff Warren Buffet wrote about is timeless. They are old now, but could have been written yesterday. Remember he is old school not a stock flipper, although today you could say he is a market maker, as his investments move stocks and industries. Well, I guess Kramer on TV is too these days.

The Warren Buffet essays on Corporate Governance should be considered classics. My copy is a hard copy, so I do not even know if they are digitally available on the Internet, I bet they are somewhere

Exxon recently reported that their annual profit for 2006 was in excess of $39 billion dollars. Notice I did not say earnings, I said PROFIT. When this was being announced on the evening news, the reporters interviewed several people who were pumping gas into their Luxury SUVs at their local Exxon station. They were all singing the same song, "It is immoral for Exxon to make that much money while we are spending over $2.00 a gallon for gasoline." Some were even suggesting that the government take action to keep Exxon from making that much money.

Does it make you angry to hear that kind of news? Not me. I believe in capitalism. It is the American way. It is why this country has propelled itself to become the world leader in commerce. It is why we have the highest standard of living in the world. It is why Bill Gates can go from being broke to the richest man in the world. It is the "American Dream." To expect our government to put restrictions on corporate profits is an insult to our way of life. Besides, the report on Exxon did not explain the whole story. In order for Exxon to earn $39 Billion in profits, it had to spend $338 Billion, making its profit margin a slim 10.46%, hardly anything to write home about.

Why aren't we complaining about Citigroup who earned 24.03% margin by gouging us with credit card interest? Or how about Pfizer and Merck, pharmaceutical companies who earned 22.82% and 19.59% margins respectively, while many of the people in this country can't afford medication. No, instead we cry over Exxon's earnings, not realizing that each year we spill more gasoline at the pumps than the Valdez did off the Alaskan coast.

Exxon is no different than any other business. They sell their products at a price based upon what the market will bear in order to make money, support economic growth, and satisfy their stakeholders. If you are unhappy with the profits of Exxon, buy your gas someplace else, stop driving around in inefficient, gas guzzling automobiles, support other forms of energy as a way to reduce our dependency on oil, car pool, use mass transit, but stop whining when you hear reports that prove capitalism works.

One of the major challenges facing organizations today is to ensure accountability with its policies, procedures and philosophy. Over the years, I have seen numerous instances where there are rules, standards, expectations and policies that are continuously ignored, sabotaged, and/or broken for any number of reasons by a variety of employees.

As a manager, business owner or executive, ensuring that what you expect is actually happening on a consistent and routine basis is often a difficult, yet necessary, essential and effective task if you want to ensure that your organization operates with integrity and effectiveness.

Some examples where there can be a lack of accountability are:

-favored employees
-ego-centered management style
-inconsistent discipline for infractions
-expecting behavior without taking the time or effort to inspect that the behavior is actually happening
-inconsistent treatment of new employees
-inconsistent of family members who are employees
-varying compensation plans
-bonuses that are given with no thought for performance

There are numerous others. Why not ask yourself - Is there any area in my organization or department where there is inconsistent accountability?

You can’t manage your organization, department or group from behind your desk. You must circulate, be visible and get to know your people. This takes commitment and time, but will pay positive dividends in the long run.

Perceptions become reality in the minds of employees. It doesn’t matter if what they believe is true or not. If they believe it in their minds, it is true.

One of the best ways to determine the prevailing perceptions and attitudes throughout your organization is to conduct an employee perception and attitude audit. To be truly accurate and effective, I recommend you retain an outside organization to conduct it. It should also be confidential. The employees must feel free to share reality without the fear of retribution or punishment for delivering bad news.

There are four premises for your consideration when it comes to accountability.

One, expecting different results from repeated behavior is a mild form of insanity.

Two, you get the behavior you reward in your organization. If you want to change behavior, you must change the reward system that is in place.

Three, all culture flows top-down. You can’t change an organization from the bottom-up.

Four, when there is inconsistent accountability there will be inconsistent performance.

If your organization lacks accountability I will guarantee that you have some morale challenges. Ignore these to your peril.

What is Nanotechnology and why should I care about it?

Nanotechnology, referred to commonly as molecular manufacturing, is making huge strides within scientific and government communities. Despite its growth and the potential impact it will have on society at large, too little emphasis has been placed on the ethical considerations of nanotechnology and the ever-rippling effects of its applications.

The control of molecular matter has led to amazing breakthroughs in medical treatments, which of course is a benefit to mankind. However, the military is hard at work creating powerful weapons that are no larger than any known bacteria. In addition, molecular level surveillance techniques for surreptitiously keeping track of other organizations and individuals are changing the face of military, law enforcement and humankind in general.

Just like with human genome capability and stem cell research breakthroughs, scientists, governments and individuals need to weigh the obvious advantages of nanotechnology against the residual disadvantages. Although the power of nanotechnology is indisputable, the possibilities of irreversible harm from its indiscriminate use must also be taken into consideration.

What are the Social and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology?

This is where social and ethical dilemmas present themselves. As life saving tools, nanotechnology is unsurpassed in its promise of an absolute revolution for medical treatment of previously incurable or untreatable conditions.

Conversely, when this technology is used to manufacture miniature weapons or explosives the infinite possibilities of far-reaching repercussions is a very real prospect. Given that researchers fear that nano-machines can become self replicating, theories abound that their by-product, known in scientific circles as “the gray-goo scenario”, could result in unheard of havoc. In addition nanotechnology has the potential to erode our privacy and freedom by providing human rights violations via monitoring and tracking devices that can invade our everyday lives without our knowledge.

For this reason the social and ethical issues relevant to nanotechnology must be addressed before its many technological innovations are unleashed upon society.

Every action has a reaction and nanotechnology is no different. Whether the anticipated power of nanotechnology ever reaches fruition, as a society we must be prepared to deal with any fallout that may arise from its inception and universal acceptance.

There is no doubt that development of nanotechnology and its many proven advantages, is going to continue, yet as a responsible society we must prepare a social policy that will address the benefits in correlation with the ethical consequences of it effect on life as we know it. Why should society be concerned with the Fallout?

When trying to incorporate nano-technological advances into society, there are a myriad of items that require intensive study, such as: issues regarding equity of disbursement, privacy rights of individuals and/or corporations, security considerations, the effect on the environment and the social and ethical impact on the human race.

As responsible humans who are concerned with passing a legacy of improvement down to upcoming generations, it is essential that we develop and create guidelines and working hypotheses that address the far reaching impact that nanotechnology can have on human lives and on the universe itself.

Although it is said that 95% of companies suffer from employee theft, it is probably closer to 100%. Serious theft, however, is a different thing entirely. There is a world of difference between the theft of a few pens and the steady depletion of stock through organized crime within a large organization. This sort of employee theft is estimated as causing over 30% of all company bankruptcies, and many companies are in desperate need of a means of controlling it.

The first action a company must take is to clarify to employees the penalty for employee theft. At the very least, immediate suspension pending investigation must be stated as the initial step. The matter should then put into the hands of your lawyers, and the law processes should be allowed to proceed. You should not dismiss anyone until the case has been proven legally, or you could find that you are the one answering charges. These procedures should be clearly stated on company notice boards and should have union support where relevant.

There are some forms of employee theft that are almost impossible to control. Intellectual theft of company secrets can be controlled theoretically by the introduction of tight contracts with key personnel, such as senior managers and scientists, but if they decide to move to another company such contracts are almost impossible to enforce. Though a contract may state that a senior scientist cannot legally work for another company in the same line of business for a set period of time after employment is terminated, how do you stop them working for a competitor from home or from an overseas facility?

How do you stop customer theft, another form of employee theft that frequently involves an employee either providing a new employer with a customer list, or taking customers that they personally deal with along with them? This is very difficult if not impossible, since you cannot control your customers’ allegiances.

Proper control starts at the employment stage. Employee theft can be reduced by the use of a rigid employee screening procedure that is designed to detect potential thieves prior to employment. Criminal record and credit rating searches can detect anyone with potential problems that either indicate a previous record of theft or someone who could be tempted, and psychological profiling can achieve the same thing at the interview stage.

For best results, both of these functions are best carried out by professionals. Either company employees trained in these functions or a professional agency will be able to provide the level of service required to reduce the chances of you employing someone who will be tempted to become involved in employee theft.

This action does not resolve your existing problem, but it does help to stop it growing. It reduces the chances of new thieves joining the company. There is another benefit of introducing a strong employment screening procedure. If theft from your company continues and causes harm to shareholders through loss of their capital, they could sue you for negligent hiring. You have to be able to demonstrate that you took all reasonable steps to ensure that you did not employ people who already had convictions for theft and have tried to prevent employee theft at the hiring stage.

Part of the problem in normal companies is that it is neither fully understood, nor clearly stated, where the line is drawn between theft and what is allowed to be taken. Many companies allow substandard or rejected products to be taken home by employees, and others do not. An employee moving from one company to another may misunderstand that these policies are specific to individual companies, rather than general throughout industry. Employees should not be criminalized through ignorance and your failure to clearly state your policy. If you do not allow employees to use rejects, you should clearly state that fact with prominently placed notices. Do not assume that all employers have the same policy.

75% of victims eventually left an organization because of bullying. Since over 80% of bullies were in management positions, they had some measure of power over their victim, which they exploited to their own sadistic ends. – Campaign Against Workplace Bullying (C.A.W.B)

C.A.W.B defines workplace bullying as; “the repeated, malicious verbal mistreatment of a victim (the recipient) by a harassing bully (the perpetrator) that is driven by the bully’s desire to control the victim.”

The objective of any workplace bully is control, power, domination and subjugation. The means by which that objective is attained varies from bully to bully but can include deception, corruption and collusion, negligence, dereliction of duty, conspiracy, or even criminal acts.

The Canada Safety Council states that bullies tend to be insecure people with poor or non-existent social skills with little empathy. Like other criminal types they look for system failings and fester in the insecure corporation finding satisfaction in their ability to attack and diminish the capable people around them. A workplace bully subjects the victim to unjustified criticism and even minor fault finding. In addition, the bully humiliates the victim, especially in front of others, and ignores, overrules, isolates and excludes the victim.

“Most cases of bullying involve a serial bully: one person to whom all the dysfunction can be traced. The serial bully has done this before, is doing it now and will do it again. The serial bully in the workplace is often found in a job which is a position of power, has a high administrative or procedural content but little or no creative requirement.” - Tim Field, a workplace bullying specialist based in the United Kingdom

According to Tim Field; The bully, is adept at escaping from accountability. This is largely because of their amazing ability to use deception and misperception to turn the tables on their accuser. Field notes that, when called to account, the bully instinctively denies everything and then mounts an aggressive counter-attack based on distortion or outright fabrication. The purpose is to avoid answering the question, thus avoiding the requirement of accepting responsibility for their behaviour. This tactic forces the victim into giving another long explanation to counter the bully’s allegations. Quite predictably, the bully’s original transgression is forgotten.

Are you worried that your employees or outside contract workers have access to confidential information about your business that could do potential harm to your business if employees or contracted workers use it for their own gain or disclose it to your competitors?

If you are not worried or concerned in the business world we live in today, then I suggest you become concerned now, not later! Technology and business information have continued to expand exponentially in today’s business environment. Employees and contract workers are more likely to be exposed to a significant amount of proprietary information and therein lays a potential threat to your business. It would be very naïve and not very “business savvy” to believe you can automatically trust an employee or contract worker with trade secrets, innovative ideas, and other confidential information. The threat or risk is higher today because of digital cameras; cell phones with built-in cameras and flash drives used to snap a picture or download documents.

Due to the erosion of business and personal ethics over the last several years, I have observed several examples of the consequences of employees sharing confidential information with competitors, employees stealing business ideas and using them for personal gain; and taking proprietary information and starting a new business. My belief is that much of the above could have been prevented and/or at least made less likely to happen if everyone had signed a non-disclosure agreement in each case.

What can be done to protect you and your company from experiencing these negative and harmful actions? I would recommend one tactic be to require non-disclosure agreements be signed as part of your hiring process. The reasons for the signing of an agreement should be explained to employees at hiring and at staff meetings. These agreements are designed to legally protect proprietary information, such as a new product design or a marketing strategy, from a competitor or friend of a competitor who could steal it and then realize the benefits. Please understand that the non-disclosure agreements don’t ensure your business will always have the competitive advantage, but you will have a lead-time advantage on your competition. The agreements cannot protect someone from stealing your secrets, but it will aid your legal counsel in representing you.

Please remember this. You and your business have proprietary information. You have invested time, financial resources and creativity into the development of new ideas, products, processes, systems, etc. and you deserve to be the first to benefit. My business suggestion to you is to contact legal counsel and seek legal advice to develop the non-disclosure and confidentiality agreement(s) that will work best to protect you and your business. And after the agreement(s) are developed and approved, have everyone in your business read and sign the agreement(s). To paraphrase that old American Express Commercial –

“Your Non-Disclosure/Confidentiality Agreement – Don’t Leave The Office Without It”!

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 225 articles on business.

Are you worried that your employees or outside contract workers have access to confidential information about your business that could do potential harm to your business if employees or contracted workers use it for their own gain or disclose it to your competitors?

If you are not worried or concerned in the business world we live in today, then I suggest you become concerned now, not later! Technology and business information have continued to expand exponentially in today’s business environment. Employees and contract workers are more likely to be exposed to a significant amount of proprietary information and therein lays a potential threat to your business. It would be very naïve and not very “business savvy” to believe you can automatically trust an employee or contract worker with trade secrets, innovative ideas, and other confidential information. The threat or risk is higher today because of digital cameras; cell phones with built-in cameras and flash drives used to snap a picture or download documents.

Due to the erosion of business and personal ethics over the last several years, I have observed several examples of the consequences of employees sharing confidential information with competitors, employees stealing business ideas and using them for personal gain; and taking proprietary information and starting a new business. My belief is that much of the above could have been prevented and/or at least made less likely to happen if everyone had signed a non-disclosure agreement in each case.

What can be done to protect you and your company from experiencing these negative and harmful actions? I would recommend one tactic be to require non-disclosure agreements be signed as part of your hiring process. The reasons for the signing of an agreement should be explained to employees at hiring and at staff meetings. These agreements are designed to legally protect proprietary information, such as a new product design or a marketing strategy, from a competitor or friend of a competitor who could steal it and then realize the benefits. Please understand that the non-disclosure agreements don’t ensure your business will always have the competitive advantage, but you will have a lead-time advantage on your competition. The agreements cannot protect someone from stealing your secrets, but it will aid your legal counsel in representing you.

Please remember this. You and your business have proprietary information. You have invested time, financial resources and creativity into the development of new ideas, products, processes, systems, etc. and you deserve to be the first to benefit. My business suggestion to you is to contact legal counsel and seek legal advice to develop the non-disclosure and confidentiality agreement(s) that will work best to protect you and your business. And after the agreement(s) are developed and approved, have everyone in your business read and sign the agreement(s). To paraphrase that old American Express Commercial –

“Your Non-Disclosure/Confidentiality Agreement – Don’t Leave The Office Without It”!

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 225 articles on business.

The National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) provides an overview of ethics in the workplace and the 2005 version indicates that ethical misconduct is increasing. And this is after Enron, et al. The NBES included more than 3,000 American workers and their survey showed that more than half of American workers have observed at least one type of ethical misconduct in the workplace. Yet, employee reporting of the misconduct they observe is down by 10%. This is cause for alarm, in my opinion, and more businesses need to be aware of what is happening with ethics at work today.

The NBES defines misconduct as “any behavior that violates the law or organizational ethics standards.” And the two most common types of misconduct observed by employees are abusive or intimidating behavior towards employees and lying to employees, customers, vendors, or the public. The 2005 survey shows that types of misconduct most observed by employees include:
21% observed abusive or intimidating behavior towards employees
19% observed lying to employees, customers, vendors, or the public.
18% observed a situation that places employee interests over organizational interests.
16% observed violations of safety regulations.
12% observed discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender, age or similar categories.
11% observed stealing or theft.
9% observed sexual harassment.

It is interesting to view these results knowing that there has been regulation and other actions put in place since Enron and other corporate scandals. Ad although there has been an increased or renewed emphasis on corporate ethics, there is not solid evidence of a positive direct impact on ethical behavior in the workplace. Organizations have received yet another “wake-up call” about ethics and need to evaluate what they are doing and look at the ethics culture within their companies. The bottom line is to find out what formal program will work for them.

A recommended formal ethics and compliance program, suggested by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations, includes six (6) elements. Those elements are:
1. Written standards of conduct
2. Training on ethics
3. Mechanisms to seek ethics advice or information
4. Means to report misconduct anonymously
5. Discipline of employees who violate ethical standards
6. Evaluation of employee’s performance based on ethical conduct

Ownership and senior management must recognize the problem and the risk factors and then develop and implement a strong ethics program within the organization. A strong ethical environment must be a top priority and the owners and senior management must lead by example and create a strong ethical culture throughout the company. Good corporate ethics needs to be what is happening in your workplace.

If you are interested in learning more about the importance of business ethics and incorporating business ethics more deeply into your company culture, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his website at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or email Glenn at jgecoach@aol.com

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 225 articles on business.

Ramadan to be hanged: Good work boys!

I’m not sure why, how and when the UN came up with a policy to not kill, killers, or to save killers, or to preserve them for posterity in prison cells, but it is a bad policy. And so thinks the Iraqi government, or legal process:“Iraq's High Tribunal has sentenced Saddam Hussein's former vice-president Taha Yassin Ramadan to be hanged. He was tried alongside the former Iraqi leader over the killing of 148 Shias in the village of Dujail in the 1980s.” Now anyone in their right mind knows this high ranking devil of Iraq had his hands bloodier than simply killing only 148 Shias, which is a lot in itself, perhaps he should take credit for the mass murders across Iraq during his whole term in office. In any case, I think the UN, as I have often said, is the devils playground for world disorder.

America seems to need it for a platform to speak I guess, but at such a price. The Iraq judge paid little attention, as has Israel, and the US and Russia, and China to the UN, when it comes to self interests, and perhaps with good reason, it is the devils backyard, as I repeat myself. So good for the judging and sentencing and the good men of Iraq, who do not want to pay taxes to feed fat killers like Ramadan. Good work boys. You saved the nation a headache. Plus I’m sure if you would have let him live he would have boasted between his cell mates, how brave he was in killing this person and that person, and so forth and so on (or having them killed). He was indeed, a deadly cockroach.

How important are business ethics to being an effective leader? According to the American Management Association, it is an important characteristic of effective leaders today. In a survey of 462 executives who were asked, “What characteristics are needed to be an effective leader today?” 56% ranked ethical behavior as an important characteristic, followed by sound judgment (51%) and being adaptable/flexible (47%).

However, with all due respect to the AMA survey, I strongly believe it is much more than “important,” it is a “critical, essential and non-negotiable” characteristic of an effective leader. Strong business ethics is a pillar of my strategic planning and strategic thinking business coaching efforts each and every day. Clients are encouraged to develop a set of core values and guiding principles and publish them for their clients and stakeholders to know that this is the way they do business. And furthermore, the clients are continually reminded to make sure the core values are demonstrated in all that they do.

Examples of unethical behavior abound in business stories around the world. And individuals witness some form of unethical behavior in their workplace every day. Unethical behavior where people deliberately intend to harm themselves or others, develops from and is reinforced by, destructive states of mind, including fear, greed, anger and jealously. In contract, ethical behavior enhances the well-being of everyone because it ids developed from and reinforced by strong motives and emotions such as love, joy, generosity and compassion.

We need to ask these questions: “How ethically vulnerable is our company or organization?” “What are the core values and guiding principles of our company or organization?” “Are we committed to living and exhibiting our core values in everything we do?” The answers to these questions will define the state of ethics in our business.

Leadership in business must set the standard and “walk the talk” when it comes time to ethical behavior. There can be no compromise of ethics. There can be no “waiver of ethics.” A leader must constantly keep his or her actions above reproach. If leaders are committed to that high standard, there will be no more Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and Adelphia ethical meltdowns.

Knowing what is right is very important to personal and business ethics. Doing what is right is absolutely critical to personal and business ethics. A strong unwavering commitment to your core values and guiding principles of your business or organization will lead to the right ethical decisions and actions. In the absence of these actions, all one has is good intentions and that simply is not enough for effective leadership.

J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn Is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 225 articles on business.

Everyone in business will eventually face a real crisis of conscience at some point or points in his or her career. Before you face that critical choice, I believe most people would say it is easy to think that they will act ethically, no matter what the personal cost. However, what will you really do when you are faced with the personal cost of losing the job you love (or desperately need) and placing your family’s welfare and your own self worth in jeopardy?

How confident are you that you will act ethically? How valuable are your ethics to you? Does your salary buy blind loyalty? What is your price to keep quiet or look the other way? These are all questions you must ask yourself when faced with an ethical dilemma in your business.

Is your personal respect and integrity negotiable? It is probably safe to say that all or certainly most of us have encountered situations where there was a bending of the rules; the special person, client or coworker who gets special consideration; the dishonest deal; the telling of a blatant untruth; and so on. Do you have an ethical compass in good working order to guide you in resolving these ethical dilemmas?

There are numerous examples I could give to illustrate an ethical dilemma. I chose one that occurred in my local community where a magazine publisher skipped town without publishing a promised issue of her magazine, but had her staff out selling advertisement with the staff’s knowledge that the issue they were selling advertising for would not be published. What would you do if, as an employee, you were asked to sell advertising for a publication that you knew would never be published? Would you still sell the advertising? If yes, that says something about the value of ethics to you. What would you do if you, as someone else inside or outside the organization, knew that someone was doing just that? If you do not speak up and tell someone, this says something about your price to keep quiet.

What will you do the next time you are faced with an ethical dilemma? Perhaps the following selected quotations about ethics in business and society can provide some guidance or at least some food for thought.

+ “We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does." (from the U.S. Air Force Academy code of conduct)

+ Honor is better than honors." (President Abraham Lincoln)

+ "A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd." (Max Lucado)

+ "It has become dramatically clear that the foundation of corporate integrity is personal integrity." (DiPiazza, Sam, CEO of PriceWaterhouseCoopers)

+ "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

+ "To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men."

(Abraham Lincoln) + “To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage.” (Confucius)

+ If ethics are poor at the top, that behavior is copied down through the organization.” (Robert Noyce, inventor of the silicon chip)

In my opinion, American businesses and business people are at a crossroads in their governance and risk management processes. I also believe that the best of the best, the truly world class companies of the future will have business ethics and personal integrity as their top goal. I believe this because if ethics and integrity are second, then ethics and integrity will be subject to compromise and sacrifice where and when a choice must be made. My challenge to every business person, and especially business owners and leaders, is to ask yourself – How valuable are your ethics or what is your price to compromise your ethics?

The Warren Buffet essays are as good for Corporate America as Milton Friedman’s papers were for Free Markets or Henry Kissinger's essays for Foreign Affairs. The stuff Warren Buffet wrote about is timeless. They are old now, but could have been written yesterday. Remember he is old school not a stock flipper, although today you could say he is a market maker, as his investments move stocks and industries. Well, I guess Kramer on TV is too these days.

The Warren Buffet essays on Corporate Governance should be considered classics. My copy is a hard copy, so I do not even know if they are digitally available on the Internet, I bet they are somewhere;

Exxon recently reported that their annual profit for 2006 was in excess of $39 billion dollars. Notice I did not say earnings, I said PROFIT. When this was being announced on the evening news, the reporters interviewed several people who were pumping gas into their Luxury SUVs at their local Exxon station. They were all singing the same song, "It is immoral for Exxon to make that much money while we are spending over $2.00 a gallon for gasoline." Some were even suggesting that the government take action to keep Exxon from making that much money.

Does it make you angry to hear that kind of news? Not me. I believe in capitalism. It is the American way. It is why this country has propelled itself to become the world leader in commerce. It is why we have the highest standard of living in the world. It is why Bill Gates can go from being broke to the richest man in the world. It is the "American Dream." To expect our government to put restrictions on corporate profits is an insult to our way of life. Besides, the report on Exxon did not explain the whole story. In order for Exxon to earn $39 Billion in profits, it had to spend $338 Billion, making its profit margin a slim 10.46%, hardly anything to write home about.

Why aren't we complaining about Citigroup who earned 24.03% margin by gouging us with credit card interest? Or how about Pfizer and Merck, pharmaceutical companies who earned 22.82% and 19.59% margins respectively, while many of the people in this country can't afford medication. No, instead we cry over Exxon's earnings, not realizing that each year we spill more gasoline at the pumps than the Valdez did off the Alaskan coast.

Exxon is no different than any other business. They sell their products at a price based upon what the market will bear in order to make money, support economic growth, and satisfy their stakeholders. If you are unhappy with the profits of Exxon, buy your gas someplace else, stop driving around in inefficient, gas guzzling automobiles, support other forms of energy as a way to reduce our dependency on oil, car pool, use mass transit, but stop whining when you hear reports that prove capitalism works.

By the way, Microsoft earned 25.86% margin last year and soon we will all be forced into buying their new operating system, Vista. Are you enjoying that big screen TV you have in your living room? Texas Instruments earned 18.51% margin last year. Face it, Capitalism is not a dirty word.

One of the major challenges facing organizations today is to ensure accountability with its policies, procedures and philosophy. Over the years, I have seen numerous instances where there are rules, standards, expectations and policies that are continuously ignored, sabotaged, and/or broken for any number of reasons by a variety of employees.

As a manager, business owner or executive, ensuring that what you expect is actually happening on a consistent and routine basis is often a difficult, yet necessary, essential and effective task if you want to ensure that your organization operates with integrity and effectiveness.

Some examples where there can be a lack of accountability are:

-favored employees
-ego-centered management style
-inconsistent discipline for infractions
-expecting behavior without taking the time or effort to inspect that the behavior is actually happening
-inconsistent treatment of new employees
-inconsistent of family members who are employees
-varying compensation plans
-bonuses that are given with no thought for performance

There are numerous others. Why not ask yourself - Is there any area in my organization or department where there is inconsistent accountability?

You can’t manage your organization, department or group from behind your desk. You must circulate, be visible and get to know your people. This takes commitment and time, but will pay positive dividends in the long run.

Perceptions become reality in the minds of employees. It doesn’t matter if what they believe is true or not. If they believe it in their minds, it is true.

One of the best ways to determine the prevailing perceptions and attitudes throughout your organization is to conduct an employee perception and attitude audit. To be truly accurate and effective, I recommend you retain an outside organization to conduct it. It should also be confidential. The employees must feel free to share reality without the fear of retribution or punishment for delivering bad news.

There are four premises for your consideration when it comes to accountability.

One, expecting different results from repeated behavior is a mild form of insanity.

Two, you get the behavior you reward in your organization. If you want to change behavior, you must change the reward system that is in place.

Three, all culture flows top-down. You can’t change an organization from the bottom-up.

Four, when there is inconsistent accountability there will be inconsistent performance.

If your organization lacks accountability I will guarantee that you have some morale challenges. Ignore these to your peril.

What is Nanotechnology and why should I care about it?

Nanotechnology, referred to commonly as molecular manufacturing, is making huge strides within scientific and government communities. Despite its growth and the potential impact it will have on society at large, too little emphasis has been placed on the ethical considerations of nanotechnology and the ever-rippling effects of its applications.

The control of molecular matter has led to amazing breakthroughs in medical treatments, which of course is a benefit to mankind. However, the military is hard at work creating powerful weapons that are no larger than any known bacteria. In addition, molecular level surveillance techniques for surreptitiously keeping track of other organizations and individuals are changing the face of military, law enforcement and humankind in general.

Just like with human genome capability and stem cell research breakthroughs, scientists, governments and individuals need to weigh the obvious advantages of nanotechnology against the residual disadvantages. Although the power of nanotechnology is indisputable, the possibilities of irreversible harm from its indiscriminate use must also be taken into consideration.

What are the Social and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology?

This is where social and ethical dilemmas present themselves. As life saving tools, nanotechnology is unsurpassed in its promise of an absolute revolution for medical treatment of previously incurable or untreatable conditions.

Conversely, when this technology is used to manufacture miniature weapons or explosives the infinite possibilities of far-reaching repercussions is a very real prospect. Given that researchers fear that nano-machines can become self replicating, theories abound that their by-product, known in scientific circles as “the gray-goo scenario”, could result in unheard of havoc. In addition nanotechnology has the potential to erode our privacy and freedom by providing human rights violations via monitoring and tracking devices that can invade our everyday lives without our knowledge.

For this reason the social and ethical issues relevant to nanotechnology must be addressed before its many technological innovations are unleashed upon society.

Every action has a reaction and nanotechnology is no different. Whether the anticipated power of nanotechnology ever reaches fruition, as a society we must be prepared to deal with any fallout that may arise from its inception and universal acceptance.

There is no doubt that development of nanotechnology and its many proven advantages, is going to continue, yet as a responsible society we must prepare a social policy that will address the benefits in correlation with the ethical consequences of it effect on life as we know it. Why should society be concerned with the Fallout?

When trying to incorporate nano-technological advances into society, there are a myriad of items that require intensive study, such as: issues regarding equity of disbursement, privacy rights of individuals and/or corporations, security considerations, the effect on the environment and the social and ethical impact on the human race.

As responsible humans who are concerned with passing a legacy of improvement down to upcoming generations, it is essential that we develop and create guidelines and working hypotheses that address the far reaching impact that nanotechnology can have on human lives and on the universe itself.

Although it is said that 95% of companies suffer from employee theft, it is probably closer to 100%. Serious theft, however, is a different thing entirely. There is a world of difference between the theft of a few pens and the steady depletion of stock through organized crime within a large organization. This sort of employee theft is estimated as causing over 30% of all company bankruptcies, and many companies are in desperate need of a means of controlling it.

The first action a company must take is to clarify to employees the penalty for employee theft. At the very least, immediate suspension pending investigation must be stated as the initial step. The matter should then put into the hands of your lawyers, and the law processes should be allowed to proceed. You should not dismiss anyone until the case has been proven legally, or you could find that you are the one answering charges. These procedures should be clearly stated on company notice boards and should have union support where relevant.

There are some forms of employee theft that are almost impossible to control. Intellectual theft of company secrets can be controlled theoretically by the introduction of tight contracts with key personnel, such as senior managers and scientists, but if they decide to move to another company such contracts are almost impossible to enforce. Though a contract may state that a senior scientist cannot legally work for another company in the same line of business for a set period of time after employment is terminated, how do you stop them working for a competitor from home or from an overseas facility?

How do you stop customer theft, another form of employee theft that frequently involves an employee either providing a new employer with a customer list, or taking customers that they personally deal with along with them? This is very difficult if not impossible, since you cannot control your customers’ allegiances.

Proper control starts at the employment stage. Employee theft can be reduced by the use of a rigid employee screening procedure that is designed to detect potential thieves prior to employment. Criminal record and credit rating searches can detect anyone with potential problems that either indicate a previous record of theft or someone who could be tempted, and psychological profiling can achieve the same thing at the interview stage.

For best results, both of these functions are best carried out by professionals. Either company employees trained in these functions or a professional agency will be able to provide the level of service required to reduce the chances of you employing someone who will be tempted to become involved in employee theft.

This action does not resolve your existing problem, but it does help to stop it growing. It reduces the chances of new thieves joining the company. There is another benefit of introducing a strong employment screening procedure. If theft from your company continues and causes harm to shareholders through loss of their capital, they could sue you for negligent hiring. You have to be able to demonstrate that you took all reasonable steps to ensure that you did not employ people who already had convictions for theft and have tried to prevent employee theft at the hiring stage.

Part of the problem in normal companies is that it is neither fully understood, nor clearly stated, where the line is drawn between theft and what is allowed to be taken. Many companies allow substandard or rejected products to be taken home by employees, and others do not. An employee moving from one company to another may misunderstand that these policies are specific to individual companies, rather than general throughout industry. Employees should not be criminalized through ignorance and your failure to clearly state your policy. If you do not allow employees to use rejects, you should clearly state that fact with prominently placed notices. Do not assume that all employers have the same policy.

Your policy with regard to what constitutes employee theft should be clearly stated in the employees’ handbook if there is one, or along with the acceptance of their application for employment. If you have an induction scheme it can be introduced to them then.

The mistake that may employers make is to try to control serious employee theft themselves when there are many professional companies available that could help them to save a lot more money than it would cost to have the problem controlled.

For years conventional wisdom suggested that people do not leave companies, but rather they leave because of bad business management also known as bad managers. Poor business management practices are more related to the problem of poor business ethics or values than to the common symptoms such as poor delegation or poor communication.

Every organization, no matter size, should have a written business values statement of non-negotiable behaviors that will be demonstrated by everyone. Each employee from top down needs to consistently demonstrate the same values and ethics. Inconsistent values from managers can dramatically affect employee motivation and ultimately employee performance.

A recently released survey from Florida State University of 700 employees within numerous industries and employment levels provides an insight into the lack of ethics by many mangers.

• Failure to keep their (managers) word – 39%
• Insulting employees behind backs – 27%
• Blaming others for bosses mistakes – 23%

All of these behaviors demonstrate that these bosses lacked personal values and personal ethics. This lack of ethical behavior may be attributed to top management because upper management has probably modeled the same behaviors. Finally, there is probably no core values adopted by the organization within the strategic plan. Even if there is a values statement, it is much more for show than for alignment of organizational performance.

With all the national attention on corporate malfeasance to corruption politicians, we, as Americans, should not be surprised by the results of this study. Poor ethical behavior attracts poor ethical behavior and becomes the justifying reason for continued poor ethical behavior.

To stop this negative drain on productivity and the U.S. workforce in general demands that organizations adopt a values statement of non-negotiable behaviors within the strategic plan to be demonstrated to all external and equally important internal customers. Failure to adhere to these values is a reason for termination and termination will happen.

Ethics and values are part of the performance for all individuals. If management fails to treat everyone with respect, then how can management expect loyal employees?

Leanne Hoagland-Smith, M.S. is a business coach who specializes in strategic planning in Indianapolis and near Chicago. She writes, speaks and coaches people in businesses to quickly double results through the creation of an executable strategic plan.