Case studies in organisational ethics

Transcription

1 Case studies in organisational ethics

2 Case study 1 Winning new business After a rather barren first half to the year, the broking firm s new business has finally picked up and it looks like the end of year targets will be met. However, the bid team have been told in no uncertain terms that they need to do everything they can to secure those vital year-end prospects. Everyone is fired up and focused on bringing them in. And it works appointment after appointment comes in and everyone senses the firm is on a roll. Everyone, that is, apart from accounts, who are now pointing to some monthly limits on expenses having being seriously exceeded. You cast an eye over the list of culprits and notice the figures in serious red lie chiefly with two leading lights in the bid team. It s just what you don t need at this point in the year. You print off the table and seek out the two of them, finding one making a coffee in the kitchen. What s behind these expense figures? They re enormous, you ask. 1. You must comply with this Code and all relevant laws and regulations. Comment: The expensive tablet computers represent a gift to gain a business advantage and as such are deemed a bribe under UK law. At the same time, turning a blind eye to signs of unethical conduct would send a signal to employees that the firm accepts that corners can be cut. This is a slippery slope that leads to an ingrained culture of misconduct. We did what we were told: do everything we can to secure those prospects. Do you really want to know more than that?, comes the reply. So, do you view the situation as just one of those business things and let sleeping dogs lie? Or do you recognise there might be a problem and seek a fuller explanation? You ask accounts for a print-off of all items making up the expenses overspend and highlight items that appear unusual. After gathering together all the relevant pieces of paper, you meet with the two bid team people and ask for a full explanation. It turns out that bids were being left with prospects on expensive tablet computers, with a hint that they would only be collected if the quotes weren t needed.

3 Case study 2 Speaking up One branch of the broking firm has been having a tough few months, after an account handler spoke up to HR about a colleague who kept on presenting himself to clients as a Chartered Insurance Broker. The account handler was studying hard for his professional qualifications and saw it as wrong that someone less qualified should benefit from a free ride on the back on the firm s Chartered status. The culprit has been dealt with and the matter resolved, but the account handler is now complaining of victimisation. He s been given a deadline for some client work that means he ll have to drop out of a management training course. The client wasn t one he usually dealt with and he feels it s all part of a local campaign being mounted against him. So, do you remind him that clients always come first and that there ll be another course later in the year? Or do you ask HR to investigate the matter? 1. You must comply with this Code and all relevant laws and regulations. Comment: Firms should ensure that anyone blowing the whistle is protected from victimisation. Having a whistleblowing policy helps confirm this commitment and sends a message to all employees that misconduct (and those who don t report it) will not be tolerated. HR look into the matter and find that client s account executive was unable to give a satisfactory reason for the account handler being given that work and deadline. Along with some evidence provided by the account handler, HR decide to issue warning notices to three employees for breach of its whistleblowing policy. They re warned that any repeat could cause regulatory problems for them and the firm, as well as issues about the firm s chartered title status.

4 Case study 3 A dropped file Integrity is the watchword of your insurance broking firm. It s emphasised on the firm s website and in its marketing literature, as well as in inductions to new staff. The firm s founding directors see it as being as much part of the firm s success as the hard work put in to secure and retain a string of commercial accounts of high regional repute. Hard work is certainly called for just now, with one of the jewels of your corporate clients under attack from a competing broker. Your team is leaving the client s head office, after a meeting with the finance director. You notice one of your team pick up a file he sees lying behind a chair in the waiting room, and his eyes widen. He shows it to you it s a report on your competitor s headed paper, with placement strategy indicated on its cover. You know they were in this morning and it looks like the file dropped out of someone s bag. Comment: It may seem tempting to take advantage of a mishap by a competing broker, but if integrity is to mean something in your firm, its people need to understand how to apply it in situations that require a snap decision. That means walking the talk by setting an example for your bid team. So, do you tuck it away in your bag to look at later? It could be full of gems that could make a real difference to your firm retaining this client. Or do you hand it over to the client, asking that they return it to the other broking firm? You take the file and return to the finance director s office. She s amused to find the other broker had dropped it and interested to note that you hadn t looked at it. Two weeks later, you re back in her office, this time finalising the renewal you ve just retained. Over lunch, she casually mentions that seeing your firm doing exactly what it says on the tin counted. After all, it s something we ll need to rely on from time to time she adds.

5 Case study 4 Personal problems The board of an insurance broking firm has seen reliable evidence that its best sales person has a gambling problem. Everyone knows his personal life has been a bit tough these last few years and with a pressurised job as well, it s clear that he s struggling to cope. Yet he s more than good at his job and his contacts are superb, with a pipeline of prospects that are just what your firm needs at the moment. Some on the board are arguing that his personal life is his own affair, but others fear that he could be on a slippery slope, the repercussions of which are bound to rub off onto the firm. An informal chat with him elicited a mix of denials and veiled threats to take his talents elsewhere, so a decision now has to be made one way or another. Do you respect his privacy and let him sort out his problems himself? Or do you walk the talk and put the professional reputation of the firm before the new business forecasts? Comment: A conflict of interest can emerge in all sorts of circumstances, not all of which are covered by a set of procedures. That s where values and professional codes of ethics come in they provide guidance on how to walk the talk when one-off situations like this arise. Getting that decision right is just the sort of signal that staff will pick up on in how much attention they should pay to the more common conflicts of interest. The board asks the HR director to hold a formal meeting with the sales person, in which the firm s concerns are made clear and support offered to help him deal with the problem. A file review finds no evidence that his gambling spilled over into how bids were being handled and so, after some time off for treatment, confidence is being rebuilt and his new business is back in full swing.