i-Sight Investigations Blog: Week in Review

It seems to be that each week is busier than the last. Here are some of the things we blogged about this week- as well as some other pieces that caught our attention regarding internal investigation, human resources and ethics:

Monday:

• Blog Post- Going Public With Transparency and Social Responsibility Initiatives

“The effects of the economy impact companies in a variety of ways. In a recent survey conducted by Landor Associates, Penn Schoen Berland and Burson-Marsteller,evidence shows that the importance consumers place on transparency and corporate responsibility has increased. Consumers want to know more about the products and services that they pay for, as there has been a growing trend in consumer habits to purchase from brands that remain inline with one’s own personal interests and beliefs. The Corporate Social Responsibility Branding Survey finds that 77% of consumers feel that it’s important that companies are socially responsible.”

• Blog Post- Corporate Transparency: The “Black List”

“To create the “black list”, the magazine developed a scoring method and applied it to the companies on the Russell 1000 index of large-capitalization stocks. When analyzing the performance of companies on the ”black list” against those on their list of the ”100 Best Corporate Citizens,” those at  Corporate Responsibility Magazine continued to provide evidence to the conclusion that ethical actions and good corporate citizenship really do pay off. The companies on the “best list” had a total return on shareholder value of 2.37 % over 3 years, while the 30 worst had a negative 7.38% return during the same time period.”

Tuesday:

• Blog Post- Case Management Software: A Better Way to Manage Cases and Investigations

“A growing trend in ethics and compliance is the switch to an integrated risk, investigations, and compliance case management software. Many human resource and investigation departments are seen as laggards when it comes to the use of technology.  These departments often use Excel Spreadsheets or ancient homegrown Access databases for case management or reporting systems.   This sort of solution limits a teams ability to collaborate on cases, and doesn’t easily adapts to changes and updates to laws and policies governing workplace ethics and compliance, such as Sarbanes-Oxley. With the need to conduct efficient and accurate workplace investigations, companies must focus on using tools that will provide them with consistency during the investigation process and when producing reports of findings once the investigation has concluded.”

Wednesday:

• Blog Post- Corporate Security Investigation Software

“Corporate security investigations vary depending on the type of observed misconduct or internal policy violation reported. Internal affairs investigations that deal with instances of corporate security are highly sensitive cases that require extreme levels of confidentiality and protection. Cases involving criminal acts, such as employee property theft, fraud, embezzlement, credit card fraud, forgery and retaliation, pose greater risks for any company, therefore, making investigation information protection a number one priority.”

Thursday:

• Blog Post- Crisis Management and Ethics Best Practices: Johnson & Johnson

“Johnson & Johnson is a brand that has remained in tune with their efforts regarding transparency and consumer protection since the very beginning- they have quite the list of awards and recognition to back it up! They were ranked #2 on the Barron’s World’s Most Respected Companies list, a survey ranking the world’s largest companies on strength of management, business strategy, ethical  practices, competitive edge, shareholder orientation and consistent revenue/profit growth. Johnson & Johnson was recognized as a leader in addressing climate change challenges and for their philanthropic and sustainability efforts. Johnson & Johnson finds themselves on these lists, and many others, on an annual basis. This year they hold position #29 on the Fortune 500 list, ranking America’s largest companies, as well as securing a place just shy of the top 100 on the Fortune Global 500 rankings- J&J is #103.”

• Blog Post- Our Credo: The Johnson and Johnson Ethics Oath

“Johnson & Johnson published their own form of an “ethics oath” entitled ”Our Credo“, as a way to communicate the mission, vision and accountability that Johnson & Johnson holds itself to for a variety of groups- doctors, nurses, patients, mothers, fathers, employees, those in the communities they operate in, as well as the global community and company stockholders.In an earlier post of ours, “Corporate Ethics Oath: A Tool For Understanding and Developing Workplace Ethics“, we discussed how creating and reciting a corporate ethics oath could be used as a tool to help strengthen the ethical culture within your company.”

Friday:

• Blog Post- Investigation Guidance: Deciding When to Investigate Further

“Companies need to carefully consider whether or not incoming allegations warrant an in depth investigation. The dilemma HR managers and investigators are faced with is that they don’t want to waste time or money running a complete investigation when the allegations lack solid evidence or grounds to investigate. At the same time, the liability and risks faced by a company that delays or dismisses allegations without giving them the proper consideration, can lead to even larger problems. An investigation technique that many companies have been using is a system that “pre-screens” allegations when they are made to make a decision regarding the need to investigate any further. ”